Tag: Rivals

Oklahoma Sooners receive new Rivals Forecast for 2024 DT David Stone

The Oklahoma Sooners received another favorable prediction for 4-star DT David Stone, this time from Sooner Scoop’s Josh McCuistion.

The Oklahoma Sooners are making a strong case to land the commitment of one of the best players in the 2024 recruiting class, David Stone. Stone, who was once the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida will be a recruit that the power players from across the country will be chasing.

Led by Todd Bates and Brent Venables, it appears the Oklahoma Sooners are making a strong case for the top talent in the 2024 class. Just a few days ago On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons issued a prediction for David Stone to wind up with the Oklahoma Sooners.

And now, Josh McCuistion of SoonerScoop.com, a part of the Rivals network has issued a Rivals Forecast in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners landing Stone for the 2024 class.

Stone is a consensus four-star defensive tackle across Rivals, On3, and 247Sports and has a chance to keep rising the recruiting rankings as he adds weight to his already massive frame. At 6-feet-4 inches and 255 pounds, Stone is already massive for a high school sophomore.

In 2021, Stone earned Under Armour All-American honors and was a member of the Max Preps first-team defense.

There’s a long way to go in the 2024 recruiting cycle but the Sooners are already in a great position to land the talented player from Del City.

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.

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Oklahoma football’s official recruiting class after national signing day 2022

A look at the 2022 recruiting class and where each player ranks with the four major recruiting services after national signing day.

The Oklahoma Sooners put together one of the eight best recruiting classes in the country through national signing day. The declarations of the Sooners’ demise was greatly exaggerated as Brent Venables and his staff has breathed new life into a program that had struggled to maintain its top spot in the Big 12 over the last couple of years. That ultimately led to missing the Big 12 title game altogether in 2021.

Unlike other major college programs that experienced a coaching change, the Sooners were able to create positive momentum heading into the spring despite the coaching change.

The Sooners are the only team in the top 10 without a five-star recruit. While it would be nice to land Josh Conerly or Lebbeus Overton in the 2022 cycle, the teams high ranking in the cycle reveals just how good their four and three-star players are.

The Sooners have several incoming freshman that could come in and earn an opportunity right out of the gate. A top eight class is nothing to sneeze at and it speaks to the tremendous talent of the players and the work done by the coaching staff to get the guys on board.

As we continue our look at national signing day, here are where the Sooners 21 incoming freshman rank across the four major recruiting services; 247Sports, On3, Rivals, and ESPN.

Where the Notre Dame 2022 recruiting class ranked according to the experts

It was a solid “first” cycle for Freeman

It was once called Christmas in February, when there was not an early signing period in college football. When it first started, no one really knew what to expect, but after the first one in 2017, the precedence was set.

The majority of athletes would go on to sign in December, making the first Wednesday in February not nearly as exciting. That was exactly the case for Notre Dame, who entered the day with 21 commits and will finish the day with the same number.

Even though there wasn’t much excitement, there Irish still finished among the top class in the county and here is where they ranked according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

USC lands prized quarterback Caleb Williams

Huge get for a huge rival

Notre Dame plays at USC to close the 2022 regular season and today Lincoln Riley officially found his quarterback at USC both for the future and for the present.

Caleb Williams, a five-star recruit who began starting for Oklahoma midway through the 2021 football season entered the transfer portal shortly after the year.  Early speculation was that he’d wind back up with his former coach at USC and that’s exactly what Williams announced on Tuesday.

Williams completed over 64% of his passes in 2021 while throwing for 1,912 yards, and 21 touchdowns to just four interceptions.  He added an additional 442 rushing yards and six rushing scores on the year.

The writing was on the wall as USC lost a pair of quarterbacks to the transfer portal this off-season so this is hardly a surprise but is certainly newsworthy for being completed.

Buckle up Notre Dame and USC fans, the rivalry between the two is about to get as heated as it was in the seventies.

Related:

Fun facts about epic Notre Dame-USC rivalry

Notre Dame transfer portal tracker (2022)

Notre Dame football coaching staff tracker

Two Notre Dame commits make big jumps in Rivals 2022 rankings

The Irish once again have shown a keen eye for recruiting

With the final signing period just over a week away, many recruiting outlets are finalizing their rankings for the 2022 class. Rivals today published their final update and when looking back they had two Irish commits seriously under-rated.

First on their list that made a big leap was defense end Aiden Gobaira, who went from outside the top-200 to firmly inside the top-100 at 82nd overall in the country. It wasn’t what Gobaira did during the season, it was his impressive all-star circuit that prompted the rise. “Gobaira hadn’t played against elite college prospects in the past but really performed well at the All-American Bowl and in the practices that week,” noted Adam Friedman, Rivals’ national recruiting analyst.

The other Notre Dame commit to make a move north was offensive lineman Aamil Wagner. The Ohio native went from 196th nationally all the way up to 124th, a jump of 72 spots. Friedman thinks that Wagner will be more of a project but “has the potential to be a multi-year starter for the Fighting Irish if he can add the necessary mass to his frame.” Remember the last “project” offensive lineman the Irish recently added to their roster? Well, Joe Alt was one of the best true-freshman in the country regardless of position.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

USC quarterback to transfer out, Caleb Williams next in?

Did Lincoln Riley then land Caleb Williams?

USC quarterback Jaxson Dart has entered the transfer portal.  Dart threw for over 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns in six games as a true freshman in 2021 after he enrolled early last January.

Dart enrolled at Southern California with high praise as he was graded by 247Sports as a top-10 quarterback in the 2021 recruiting cycle and the 69th overall player in the entire class.

Dart now joins former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, who transferred to Pittsburgh earlier this off-season.

The recent entry of star Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams to the portal combined with the sudden opening for a starting quarterback at USC would make it appear that Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley may have gotten Williams to follow him.

Notre Dame will conclude the 2022 regular season at USC on November 26.

Related:

Notre Dame transfer portal tracker 2022

Early look at Notre Dame’s 2022 schedule

Mike Farrell of Rivals believes Quinn Ewers is the best QB pickup from transfer portal

Mike Farrell deems Quinn Ewers the best QB pickup from the transfer portal.

The transfer quarterback market has been as active as ever, as dozens of high level starting caliber quarterbacks have hit the portal.

With players like Spencer Rattler (South Carolina), Dillon Gabriel (UCLA), and Bo Nix (Oregon) finding new homes, there have been constant debates as to who will have the most impact for their new school.

Rivals national columnist Mike Farrell doesn’t think it is any of those three players, as he has gone with Texas’ Quinn Ewers. Farrell took to Instagram to express his beliefs that Ewers is the best quarterback pickup from the transfer portal this offseason.

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Ewers came to Texas by way of the transfer portal where he was ranked as the best player available, after spending a year at Ohio State behind Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud.

Ewers is expected to be one of the best college quarterbacks in the nation, with the possibility that he goes down as one of the best to ever play if he is able to live up to his perfect rating as a recruit. A mark that just five other players have ever achieved, along with just one other quarterback in former Longhorn Vince Young.

That is a lot of pressure on a player who only has a couple handoffs under his belt as a college quarterback, but Texas’ staff and fan base have all the faith in the world in the young quarterback to turn around this struggling program.

Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen is Rivals’ No. 5 true freshman in the country

Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen is Rivals’ No. 5 true freshman in the country

Rivals.com’s Mike Farrell puts together an annual ‘Freshman 15‘ list after the college football regular season. He’s gone down to No. 4 on the list thus far, with players including Oklahoma’s Mario Williams (No. 14), Ohio State’s Denzel Burke (No. 11) and Texas’ Xavier Worthy (No. 4) highlighting the names listed.

There is a player Wisconsin fans will recognize at No. 5: Wisconsin true freshman running back Braelon Allen.

Here’s what Farrell had to say about Allen’s first collegiate campaign:

Considering Allen did not become a significant part of the offense until the fourth game of the season, his performance in 2021 was even more impressive. Finishing with 1,109 yards and 12 touchdowns, while averaging 7.1 yards per carry, Allen has the potential to become the next great Wisconsin running back.

Farrell’s take: Allen is a monster. He accelerated high school, was recruited as a linebacker and then switched to running back, and now he’s the next star of the Wisconsin offense. He has a chance to be a 2,000-yard rusher.

A few comments here on both Farrell’s take and Allen’s freshman season:

First, he’s spot on about Allen having the potential to be Wisconsin’s next great running back and the potential for 2000-yard seasons. I think it’s also significant to note that Allen produced this season after just playing a full high school season in the spring (meaning he played two full football seasons in one calendar year).

What Allen did this season was remarkable given the circumstances (yes, and given his age). What we’ll wait for now is whether the offensive line can return to 2017-level play and help the Fond Du Lac native capitalize on his potential.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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What to expect from Notre Dame during early signing period

Will the Irish keep their Top-10 ranking after tomorrow?

A few years ago when college football changed their rules and implemented the early signing period, some of the first Wednesday in February’s shine wore off. That now has switched to mid-December and tomorrow is that new day. The Irish head into tomorrow with a Top-10 class, numbering 22 total commits. Here’s a quick preview of what we might see happen tomorrow during the early signing period for Notre Dame.

What does Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy’s commitment mean for the Oklahoma Sooners?

What does the commitment of five-star defensive tackle Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy mean for the Oklahoma Sooners?

Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy is so similar to the most recent five-star defensive linemen that have come through Norman it’s kind of scary. The comparisons look the part on the field and off. For any long-time recruiting enthusiasts like myself, the Oklahoma Sooners closing on Brownlow-Dindy is a feat that’s been quite rare in Norman for the last decade or so. Just looking at 247Sports recruiting rankings history, Brownlow-Dindy is the first five-star defensive linemen since 2006.

Gerald McCoy, a legendary Sooner and the last five-star defensive tackle the Sooners landed, is the most natural comparison for him. Tommie Harris, another former five-star, also fits as a comparison. Both had stellar Oklahoma careers before being first-round NFL draft picks. And both grew up with families heavily involved in the church.

It remains to be seen what Brownlow-Dindy will do as a collegiate player, but the Sooners will be anxious to find out. They won’t have to wait long as Brownlow-Dindy plans to enroll early. His senior season was cut short after a torn ligament in his hand during a game.

The impact of landing Brownlow-Dindy is immense for Oklahoma’s defensive recruiting efforts. Yes, the Sooners had a leg up as Brownlow-Dindy is the son of Sooners alumni. However, their efforts should not be downplayed. They had to fight tooth and nail for his services while in a state dominated by SEC and ACC powerhouses.

The Sooners will have to land more defensive linemen of his caliber as they make their move to the SEC, where games are won and lost in large part due to the seismic gap in talent in the trenches.

Will the Sooners land every five-star defensive line prospect? No, but they need to show the ability to snag one when given the opportunity, and the same goes for getting close with other top 100 defensive line recruits. Brownlow-Dindy is a top 20 player across most recruiting rankings, including the USA TODAY High School Sports Composite Player Rankings, which averages the grades from the three biggest recruiting services: 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. Closing on Brownlow-Dindy was Oklahoma’s announcement to the college football world that they are legitimate competition for elite defensive talent.

Furthermore, this commitment may signal a significant development in the caliber of assistants on Oklahoma’s roster. Calvin Thibodeaux, defensive line coach at Oklahoma, has been the subject of a lot of chatter with his previous inability to bring in top 100 talent on the interior since he’s been at OU.

It reached such a point that people began to speculate if head coach Lincoln Riley would eventually let him go in favor of someone capable of landing four and five-star talent. After his two-year recruiting efforts on Brownlow-Dindy, culminating in a recruiting win over Texas A&M, it’s probably safe to assume unless a better opportunity comes knocking, Thibodeaux will not be leaving Oklahoma.

In the immediate future, Brownlow-Dindy looks to be a day one contributor for Oklahoma next year, with the likelihood of at least three Sooners on the defensive line heading to the NFL in the spring. Brownlow-Dindy has 4.7 speed, and his background as a state champ in the discus while training using mixed martial arts all but likely point to him being a perfect fit as a defensive end with the ability and versatility to slot inside ala Isaiah Thomas and Jalen Redmond. He and Kelvin Gilliam are the foundational pieces of this defensive line for years to come.