Tag: T.J. Pledger

21 days till the Cardinals’ 2022 season opener vs. Chiefs

With 21 days till the Cardinals’ 2022 opener, let’s see who has worn No. 21 for the Cardinals over the years.

The Arizona Cardinals play a game tonight, hosting the Baltimore Ravens for their one preseason home game of the year. It is a Sunday with a football game, and it is now only three weeks away from the Cardinals’ Week game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

They will take the field against the Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in 21 days.

No. 21 is worn by undrafted rookie running back T.J. Pledger and was worn by cornerback Breon Borders before he was released a week ago.

Check out who else has worn No. 21 for the Cardinals over the years below.

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Did the Oklahoma Sooners top 100 players from the 2018 recruiting class live up to the billing?

Taking a look back at the Oklahoma Sooners’ 247Sports top 100 players from the 2018 recruiting class and examining how they performed for OU.

Recruiting can be a hit-or-miss proposition. Every team in college football has their misses, even within the top 100. The Oklahoma Sooners 2018 class was the ninth-best in the nation according to 247Sports team composite rankings.

Earlier this week, Max Olson of The Athletic re-ranked the 2018 recruiting class. Olson’s scoring system included postseason awards. He gave points for players starting multiple seasons. In his re-rank, Olson has the Sooners 34th in the nation.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a few players from that class still in Norman or are preparing for the 2022 NFL draft. If several players from the class step into starting roles, it will help Oklahoma move up in the rankings. Players like Nik Bonitto could get drafted in the top fifty and help OU move up in Olson’s rankings.

Much of the reason for Oklahoma’s low ranking is the top of their recruiting lass not panning out. Olson took a look back at the top 100 recruits from the 2018 cycle, providing his thoughts along the way.

Here, we’re looking at what he had to say about the Sooners’ top 100 2018 recruits: Brey Walker, Brendan Radley-Hiles, Ronnie Perkins, Michael Thompson, and T.J. Pledger.

How did Oklahoma football transfers perform with their new teams in 2021?

How did former Oklahoma Sooners like Tanner Mordecai and Chandler Morris perform with their new schools in 2021?

The transfer portal has created a new era of college football akin to NFL free agency. But without the contracts. Players get much more freedom to move than they did a decade ago and are taking advantage of the opportunity to find new places to play that might provide a better chance to perform than their original home.

2021 was a good year for some former Oklahoma Sooners who departed via the portal, some making significant impacts in the chase for conference championships across college football.

Though several will still be playing in bowl games as the 2021 season winds down, let’s take a look at how Oklahoma’s transfer portal departures performed in 2021.

How are Oklahoma football transfers performing with their new programs?

How are former Oklahoma Sooners like Tanner Mordecai doing with their new schools in 2021?

The Oklahoma Sooners have been big-time beneficiaries of the transfer portal over the years. The story on QBU’s been told, but Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts transferring in helped pave the way for Lincoln Riley’s tenure in Norman. As much as those players benefited from the transfer portal, there have been some who’ve benefited by finding a fresh start by leaving the Oklahoma Sooners and finding a new place to call home.

SMU and Tanner Mordecai were off to a 7-0 start before dropping Saturday night’s game to Houston, whose only loss came to Texas Tech in the season opener. Mordecai has played great this year and set a single-game SMU record for passing touchdowns in the opener.

After Week 9, let’s take a look at what the players Oklahoma lost in the transfer portal in 2021 have been up to this year.

Former Oklahoma RB T.J. Pledger transferring to Utah

Former Oklahoma running back T.J. Pledger announced he is transferring to Utah on Monday.

Former Oklahoma running back T.J. Pledger announced back on Dec. 21st that he was entering the transfer portal to look for a new home, and now he has announced his landing spot.

Pledger announced via Twitter on Monday that he will be taking his talents to the Pac-12 to join Utah.

A lot was asked of Pledger early in the year to fill the void left by Rhamondre Stevenson while he was out due to suspension, and he did some nice things in his time. In nine games last season, he ran for 451 yards and five touchdowns. His breakout performance was his outing against Texas in the Red River Showdown when he had 131 yards on the ground and two scores in the quadruple overtime Sooners win.

Pledger now joins a Utes team that finished the season at 3-2 in their abbreviated conference slate, winning each of their final three games. He’ll be set to make his debut with his new team on Sep. 2nd at home against Weber State.

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Oklahoma RB T.J. Pledger earns Big 12 weekly award after Texas game

In the absence of Oklahoma running back Seth McGowan, not only did T.J. Pledger rise to the occasion, he didn’t miss a beat.

In the absence of lead running back Seth McGowan, not only did junior T.J. Pledger rise to the occasion, he didn’t miss a beat.

Pledger saw an expected volume uptick, racking up 22 carries, three targets and two catches. The unexpected part was what he did with the added volume, totaling 131 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

For that, Pledger was named the Big 12 offensive player of the week this week. The award marks the first weekly Big 12 award of Pledger’s career, though certainly not the last.

Pledger continues to put together quite the breakout season. He’s now put up 350 yards and four touchdowns on the season, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He’s also caught nine passes for 94 yards, averaging 10.4 yards per catch.

While McGowan’s imminent return will likely put a hamper on Pledger’s production, the coaching staff is now fully aware that either back can take over feature duties if necessary.

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Oklahoma will be without leading rusher Seth McGowan for Texas

Oklahoma will be without leading rusher Seth McGowan for its matchup with Texas on Saturday. T.J. Pledger will slide into his place.

As kickoff draws near, the bad news just keeps piling up for the Sooners.

Per Fox’s Bruce Feldman, Oklahoma will now be without the services of starting running back Seth McGowan during their bout with Texas on Saturday.

This news comes immediately after reports that Oklahoma’s 2019 sack leader Ronnie Perkins, who recently won his appeal with the NCAA in regard to his suspension, will also be unavailable.

McGowan leads the team in both rushing yards and carries as he’s slid into the RB1 role in the absence of veterans Kennedy Brooks and Rhamondre Stevenson.

Here’s the good news for the Sooners: they’ve remained committed to a running back rotation this season between McGowan and T.J. Pledger, and today they’ll be reaping the benefits of that.

Both Pledger and redshirt freshman Marcus Major will be moving into increased roles this week, but that’s highly-preferred to simply throwing a new guy directly into the fire.

Oklahoma review: T.J. Pledger was ‘setting the pace’, but here comes Seth McGowan

One of the bigger question marks of the 2020 offseason for Oklahoma was where the production at running back was going to come from. 

Sooners Wire is going to review notes from fall camp and the first week of the season as Oklahoma is set to begin Big 12 play on Saturday.

One of the bigger question marks of the 2020 offseason for Oklahoma was where the production at running back was going to come from.

The thought accelerated whenever Kennedy Brooks opted-out of playing after Trey Sermon transferred and Rhamondre Stevenson having to serve a suspension for the first half of the season. All that was left is T.J. Pledger, Marcus Major and incoming freshman Seth McGowan.

It’s a room that Lincoln Riley wasn’t too worried about heading into the season.

“It’s a good room,” he said during fall camp. “It’s definitely a good room. T.J. Pledger is setting the pace right now in that room. He’s really practiced well. He’s been our most consistent player. He’s in the best shape he’s been in here, healthy, just really doing some nice things.”

Pledger, though, missed the first game of the season due to COVID-19 implications. And in that, a budding star looked to be born.

“Exactly what we expected from him,” said Spencer Rattler after McGowan’s 61-yard performance on nine carries in the season opener. “That dude’s a monster. I even said before the game, if he touches the ball four times, he might score four times. And I think he almost did that tonight. He’s a great player.”

Stevenson, who was, probably, Oklahoma’s most talented running back on its roster heading into 2019, will return at some point in the next month for the Sooners. Pledger, under extreme circumstances, may have seen his chance go by the wayside due to a pandemic after waiting for his turn for two years.

Major played against Missouri State, too, but nothing looked like what McGowan brought to the table in his debut.

“We’ve known he’s a talented kid and has done some good things,” Riley said after that game. “The moment wasn’t too big. He was able to take some things he’d done on the practice field and carry them over to the game field. I thought those were the biggest positives. When you don’t have hesitation at a young age, that’s a great quality.”

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