Tag: Oklahoma Sooners recruiting

Oklahoma receives pair of crystal ball predictions for 2024 4-star DL Nigel Smith

The Oklahoma Sooners starting to gain some 2024 recruiting momentum earning crystal ball predictions for 4-star DL Nigel Smith. From @john9williams

Oklahoma’s been firing on all cylinders on the recruiting trail since Brent Venables’ arrival. After landing in Norman last December, the Sooners 2022 recruiting class landed inside the top 10 after he and his staff were able to pull that class together by signing day. The 2023 class has the potential to finish inside the top five as they head down the stretch.

After their win over Oklahoma State, when they hosted a number of players across the next few recruiting cycles, the Sooners continue to build positive recruiting momentum.

After receiving commitments and projections for players in the 2023 class from Bedlam weekend, the Sooners are moving in the right direction for 2024 as well.

One player that seems to be trending in Oklahoma’s direction is 2024 four-star defensive lineman Nigel Smith. The Sooners received crystal ball predictions from OUInsiders’ Parker Thune and Brandon Drumm in the last few days.

Nigel Smith, from Melissa, Texas, is one of the top players in the Lone Star State, ranking inside the top 10 with ESPN, Rivals, the On3 Consensus, and the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the No. 6 defensive lineman in the 247Sports Composite for 2024.

Smith has had a fantastic 2021 season for Melissa, racking up 66 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks. Melissa’s 10-2 on the season and in the midst of a playoff run in the Texas 5A division 2 state championships. They’ve got a regional matchup with Terrell on top for this week and, with a win, would move on to face the winner of Midlothian and South Oak Cliff in the other regional on their side of the bracket.

Nigel Smith’s size jumps off the screen. He plays big and moves well for a player of his stature. He does a good job shedding blocks and getting into the backfield. He’s a versatile defensive lineman who can play as a defensive end in a three-man front or as a three-technique defensive tackle in a four-man front. Smith displays strong hand usage, which he uses to quickly defeat blocks both on the edge or along the interior. He’s a physical player looking to punish the ball carrier.

Smith is among a group of defensive linemen the Sooners have targeted in the top 10 at the position for 2024, along with David Stone T.A. Cunningham, Williams Nwaneri, and Kamarion Franklin.

Nigel Smith’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • No Rivals Futurecasts predicted at this time.
  • On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Ohio State Buckeyes as the favorite for Smith.
  • Oklahoma has received a pair of crystal ball predictions for Nigel Smith since Saturday.

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Updated Oklahoma Sooners 2023 commitment tracker

Which players have committed to the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2023 recruiting cycle?

The 2023 class is about a month away from early signing day and less than three months away from national signing day.

Since Brent Venables’ arrival in Norman, the Sooners have been one of the top recruiting schools in the country over the last two cycles. After finishing eighth in 247Sports team recruiting rankings for 2022, the Sooners sit at No. 7 and have a great chance to move into the top five by national signing day.

With the recent additions of Ashton Sanders and Taylor Wein, Oklahoma has 22 players committed to the 2023 class. Recent projections favor the Sooners to add more talent if the Rivals Futurecasts come to fruition. Oklahoma received a pair of projections from Rivals analysts to land five-star safety and Notre Dame commit Peyton Bowen after he spent time in Norman for Bedlam.

Brent Venables, his coaching staff, and the recruiting support staff have done an excellent job over the last year building out their 2023 recruiting class and they don’t appear close to being done.

The final tally will come on national signing day, but the Oklahoma Sooners look well-positioned to have one of the country’s best group of signees.

Let’s take a look at the updated commitment tracker.

PREDICTIONS: No. 18 Texas vs No. 4 TCU and Saturday’s biggest games

Crowd noise and road atmosphere could determine whether or not Texas wins or loses.

Week 11 is underway, and the Texas Longhorns figure to be in the game of the week. No. 18 Texas will host the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday evening.

TCU enters the game 9-0 and in position to play in its first College Football Playoff. The Horned Frogs have been dominant since the start of the season, in large part due to great coaching.

Sonny Dykes’ coaching staff is winning in multiple areas. For starters, their strength and conditioning program appears to be among the best in the nation. Play-calling and game planning have given TCU a noticeable edge over its opposition.

Adding to the degree of difficulty, the Horned Frogs have recruited and developed well in recent seasons. Quentin Johnston, Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, Kendre Miller, Max Duggan and Jordan Hudson come to mind.

Texas will have its hands full on Saturday. Here’s how Week 11 could play out this weekend for the top featured games.

Oklahoma Sooners earn crystal ball for 2023 EDGE Taylor Wein

On the same day Oklahoma issued an offer for 2023 EDGE Taylor Wein, the Sooners were projected to land the rising Tennessee prospect. From @john9williams

The Oklahoma Sooners wasted little time identifying defensive line talent to add to the 2023 class. Recently they offered and received Rivals futurecasts for 2023 defensive lineman Ashton Sanders, and now it looks like Oklahoma’s zeroed in on another defensive lineman to add to the class.

On Wednesday, the Sooners issued an offer to 2023 defensive end [autotag]Taylor Wein[/autotag] out of Nolensville, Tennessee. Not long after he received his offer, Brandon Drumm of OUInsider at 247Sports submitted a crystal ball prediction in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Wein is a 6-6 245-pound defensive end who primarily plays on the right side in three and four-man alignments. He displays an ability to perform in both one-gap and two-gap defensive schemes.

The first thing that jumps off the page about Wein is his first step. He’s quick off the snap, often allowing him to beat his blocker before they even come out of their stance. He displays good hand usage at the point of attack to defeat blockers. Wein shows off a strong set of pass rush moves, deploying a diverse set to keep blockers off balance. He can win inside and outside when rushing the passer.

As a run defender, it’s clear his length causes problems for offensive linemen. Despite his height, he shows a strong ability to play with leverage and does a great job at setting the edge and playing with discipline in the run game.

Taylor Wein’s a playmaker too. He’s adept at ripping the ball out of the ball carrier’s hands.

While listed as just a three-star player at the moment, Wein has the appearance of a diamond in the rough. A player that has been under-evaluated at the moment. But after picking up his first Power Five offers from Oklahoma, USC, and Virginia Tech in recent days, his value exceeds his recruiting rating.

As we inch toward the early signing period and national signing day, Taylor Wein’s recruitment will be one to watch. This is a player that has a chance to far exceed his current three-star rating at the collegiate level.

Taylor Wein’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • On the same day that he received an offer from the University of Oklahoma, Brandon Drumm submitted a crystal ball favoring the Sooners.

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Sooners receive crystal ball projection for 2024 4-star OL Casey Poe

After he visited Norman for the Sooners’ game against Baylor, Oklahoma earned a crystal ball for 2024 4-star OL Casey Poe. From @john9williams

With three games to go, the Oklahoma Sooners have a few more opportunities, including their final home game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Bedlam to make gameday impressions on the future of college football. While much of the attention is on the 2023 class with Colton Vasek’s flip to Texas and the early signing period less just over a month away, Oklahoma’s also been entertaining unofficial visitors from the 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes.

One player that Oklahoma had in Norman over the weekend for their matchup with the Baylor Bears was four-star offensive lineman Casey Poe out of Lindale, Texas.

The Sooners must have made a strong impression on the 2024 prospect because earlier this week, OUInsider’s Parker Thune issued a crystal ball prediction in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners landing Poe.

Poe stands 6-5 and weighs 280 pounds. He has the build to play tackle in addition to guard.

He’s a physical player at the point of attack. An offensive lineman that doesn’t simply want to block his opponent but wants to punish them. He moves well in space and does a great job of keeping his feet underneath him and moving.

Here’s what Thune had to say about his crystal ball prediction.

I believe Oklahoma solidified their lead for four-star 2024 OL Casey Poe this weekend. I’ve long mentioned that Poe could be a guy that commits early in the process, and I think the Sooners would be the beneficiary in that case. I’ve had a gut feeling about the kid for quite a while, and I mentioned last month that I was getting very close to putting in a crystal ball. With as well as things went on the gameday visit, I’m going to go ahead and enter a moderate-confidence prediction in favor of the Sooners. – Thune, OUInsider at 247Sports

Casey Poe’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Sooners out front.
  • Crystal Ball from Parker Thune of OU Insider at 247Sports

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Where’s Oklahoma in team recruiting rankings after Colton Vasek’s flip to Texas?

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners land in the team recruiting rankings after Colton Vasek’s flip to Texas?

Colton Vasek’s flip to Texas was surprising but perhaps not nearly as surprising as the commitment, to begin with. Vasek comes from a family of Longhorns and lives in Austin. So, the fact that Brent Venables, Miguel Chavis, and Todd Bates were able to pull the commitment in the first place was pretty impressive, even if it only last for a few months.

While Vasek was the ninth highest-rated commit for the Sooners before flipping to Texas, he’s a good player with a lot of potential. It’s a loss for Oklahoma. Vasek marks the second flip from Oklahoma in the last couple of weeks after three-star linebacker Kaleb Spencer turned his commitment from the Sooners to Miami.

It’s a bummer to lose commitments, but it’s not a sign that confidence is fading in the Sooners. There’s still work to be done to lock in the 2023 recruiting class, but Oklahoma is still trending toward a top 10 and maybe even a top five class in 2023.

With the decommitment of Colton Vasek, let’s take a look at where Oklahoma stands in the 247Sports and On3 team recruiting rankings for the 2023 cycle.

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Sooners gaining momentum in race for California defensive lineman Ashton Sanders

Oklahoma continues to be the school with the most momentum to land three-star defensive tackle Ashton Sanders. From @thatmanbryant

Oklahoma has spent the last week and a half issuing offers for the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes. One of the late 2023 offers went out to California defensive lineman Ashton Sanders. Sanders, a three-star defensive tackle who was once committed to California. He backed off that commitment in August and re-opened his recruitment.

He received his offer on Halloween and, in short order, received a prediction from Sooner Scoop’s Josh McCuistion.

If that wasn’t curious, more recruiting insiders have also logged predictions for Oklahoma to land the disruptive interior defender. Memphis Publisher’s Bryan Moss and Badger Blitz’s Jon McNamara have each flipped their predictions from Cal-Berkeley to Oklahoma in the last two days.

Oklahoma has seemingly positioned itself in a great spot for Ashton Sanders’ commitment. Todd Bates has locked in on another player as they continue to makeover the defensive line.

He looks more like a straightforward nose tackle in a four-man front akin to current Sooner Jeffery Johnson. In that scenario, he’d line up right over the center and try to collapse the interior from there. He’s got the size and strength to play in multiple defensive schemes.

With Early Signing Day in December, Oklahoma could have an answer soon on Sanders. Sanders told 247Sports’ Greg Biggins he plans to sign at Early Signing Day and graduate high school early.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

Where Texas stands among Big 12 championship contenders

Looking at the five conference contenders most likely to make the Big 12 championship game.

The Big 12 championship picture got clearer on Thursday night. The West Virginia Mountaineers handed the Baylor Bears their second conference loss of the season. With that loss, Baylor fell from the ranks of conference title favorites.

No team in the conference is yet eliminated, but there’s a significant separation between the bottom and top half of the league. Oklahoma and Iowa State are both 0-3 in conference, while Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia have already lost twice. Barring chaos, those five likely won’t make the championship game.

Texas stands at 2-1 in conference play heading into their home game against Iowa State. The Cyclones could be the Longhorns’ least difficult remaining game, but shouldn’t be considered an easy win.

Let’s look at the five conference contenders most likely to make the Big 12 championship game.

Examining the remaining games on the Longhorns’ schedule

Four of Texas’ six remaining opponents are ranked in the Top 25.

The Texas Longhorns are halfway through the season. While there are two games they’d like to have back, Steve Sarkisian’s team is very much in the thick of the Big 12 title race.

Texas let the rest of the conference know they still mean business in a 49-0 win over Oklahoma on Saturday. Quinn Ewers picked up where he left off against Alabama, looking as good if not better against the Sooners. The Longhorns will need him to play great down the stretch to escape their second half gauntlet of games.

Four of the Longhorns’ six remaining opponents are ranked at the midway point. Kansas, TCU and Kansas State have emerged as surprise contenders, while Oklahoma State stands atop the league through Week 6.

Let’s look at what Texas will face over the next six games.

Red River Unfiltered: What we learned in Texas’ 49-0 win over Oklahoma

Oklahoma messed around and found out.

Texas embarrassed Oklahoma on Saturday. The win unearthed multiple doses of reality for both teams. For Texas, reality tasted much sweeter.

Oklahoma went down quietly for the most part. The Sooners did their best to run out the clock and prevent further damage. The apathetic performance may have done damage control, but it didn’t hide what Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense were able to accomplish.

Texas took what they wanted offensively. The Sooners made Quinn Ewers beat them, and he certainly did. Venables’ defense sold out to stop the run and Ewers made them pay to the tune of four touchdown passes and 289 yards.

Despite the efforts to stop the run, Bijan Robinson still ran for 130 yards and two scores on 22 carries.

Let’s examine what we learned in Texas’ dominant win over Oklahoma.