Sooners Recruiting Update: Offensive prospects
Sorry for the delay in writing this update, but the firestorm surrounding OU's ex-SAE chapter took away some of the attention from the Sooners' second junior day.
It’s going to be impossible right now to assess the long-term impact of this incident on OU’s overall reputation, let alone football and basketball recruiting.
Offensive line recruit Jean Delance decommitted, citing the video, but Delance was going to decommit regardless. Only he can know, but prior to the video's release, it sure seemed like OU’s four young tackles were a huge deal to Delance. Landing high school OLs is not exactly a huge priority for 2016, as OU will have 9 young linemen in the system come August 2015.
OU was back down to one verbal commitment for about two days until Adrian Hardy from Houston verbaled to OU. Hardy was present at one of OU’s junior days and received an OU offer despite being somewhat under the radar at this point. Hardy (6-3, 190, 4.55) is your classic "best athlete on the team playing quarterback." Recruiting services often underrate these prospects because they have zero film on them at their projected positions. This isn’t some reach: The OU coaches obviously feel like that they are ahead of the pack in getting/offering Hardy. Check out his highlight reel at QB.
Offensive targets
Here’s a best early guess at OU’s offensive targets, taking into account that it’s early in the cycle. With new coaching staff members across the board, things can change easily.
Quarterback
Offensive coorindator Lincoln Riley’s adding new names to this list, and new names are reaching out to him, too. OU might take two QBs in this class.
Dwayne Haskins (6-3, 195, 4.7) – A top three QB nationally, Haskins out of Maryland has been recruited by Riley since his East Carolina days. I get the sense Riley at OU is much more interesting to Haskins than the previous ECU pitch. According to his twitter traffic, Haskins will be in Norman around the spring same. If Haskins verbals, Riley probably closes down the QB spot.
Woody Barrett (6-3, 205, 4.7) – Florida kid with a huge arm. Kind of reminds me of RG3 in how Barrett throws a beautiful accurate deep pass. Underrated right now by the services – big-time talent with a high ceiling.
Joshua Jackson (6-2, 200, 4.6) – A new name that has appeared in the last week or so. Excellent passer from Michigan with good mobility. Based on twitter traffic, he’s also hoping to visit OU during spring practice.
Running Back
With OU’s depth at RB, the Sooners aren't offering many kids at the position. OU could, in theory, skip this position this year. Look for more offers, but I think an early verbal is likely.
Abdul Adams (6-0, 195, 4.45) – Another player familiar with Riley from ECU. Hailing from the Washington, D.C., area, Adams has serious home run speed and excellent receiving skills. He’s talking about a decision soon before a trip to Norman has occurred. Not usually a good sign for OU.
Trayveon Williams (5-9, 190, 4.45 Houston) – Very similar to Adams. Would give OU a different look at RB than anyone on the current roster. He’s got OU in top seven right now, and OU is working Williams and the rest of the Houston area very hard.
Wide Receiver
OU could take two. Or three. Or four. It really depends upon the current crop of WRs and how they perform this fall. Look for a focus on speed.
Devin Duvernay (5-11, 180, 4. 4) – Texas speedster who has been holding an OU offer since last year. Riley and Dennis Simmons have made him a priority along with his high school teammate Jared Mayden.
Jack Jones (5-11, 160, 4.4) – Simmons has connections on the West Coast and will try and pull OU’s first prospects from Long Beach Poly. Jones has elite speed and is an ideal fit for the OU offense.
Tren’Davian Dickson (5-11, 180, 4.4) – Had more than 2,000 yards receiving last year. He was committed to Baylor, but he is wide open now. OU seems to be in the hunt.
Dee Anderson (6-3, 190. 4.45) – LSU verbal out of Texas who visited OU for the second junior day. Big-time talent who will be hard to pull away from the Tigers. If the OU offense clicks, anything is possible.
Offensive Line
Kind of back to square one for Bill Bedenbaugh after losing his lynchpin recruit. OU won’t sign a big class and could even sign a juco OL to add some depth.
OU is currently tracking a number of in-state prospects, but the Sooners have yet to offer any.
Chris Owens (6-4, 285, 5.2) – Texan already visited for a junior day. He’s the kind of aggressive, attacking guard that Bedenbaugh likes. Figure that OU will be a factor in his decision.
Kellen Diesch (6-7, 265, 4.8) Texas – A Lane Johnson-type elite athlete who can easily project to OT after adding some weight. With the recent tackle depth that has been added, OU has time to let Diesch develop. (Highlights are at defensive end, but it’s easy to see how he might move to OT.)
J.P. Urquidez (6-6, 300, 5.2) – After Greg Little and Delance, Urquidez might be the best tackle prospect from Texas. Seems to be leaning to UT, but he has visited OU as well.
-Atlantasooner