Big Board | 24K Tight End
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 28, 2023
Continuing the roll out the class of ’24 Big Boards.
Today we will take a look at the Tight End board.
You can find the Running Back Big BoardHERE.
You can find the Wide Receiver Big BoardHERE.
You can find the Offensive Line Big BoardHERE.
Joe Jon Finley, the Sooners Tight Ends coach, has a long history with Oklahoma. He played at OU, was a graduate assistant at OU under Bob Stoops, and eventually, he was hired as Oklahoma’s associate head coach for offense and tight ends coach in January 2021 after cutting his teeth at various other stops along the way, including a year at Ole Miss under offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
At the conclusion of the 2023 season, the Sooners are slated to lose one scholarship tight end, Austin Stogner, who will exhaust his eligibility.
OU, without attrition, would have Blake Smith, Jason Llewellyn, Kaden Helms, Kade McIntyre and possibly Taylor Heim as members of the room who are either on scholarship or project to contribute in some form or another. While Heims position is not settled at this point, I will include him in this group and I will note that Josh Fanuiel is a project as a freshman walkon at this point.
So with that in mind, I am working under the assumption that OU would like to take one tight end in the ’24 class with a slim possibility of adding a second should the right guy present himself.
At the time I am writing this, OU has extended nine offers to tight ends in the ’24 class (’24 class being the key wording here, will explain more below)
Christian Bentancur – Marian Central Catholic (Woodstock, IL) – 6’5 240 – Clemson Commit
Max LeBlanc – Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN) – 6’3,5 222
Walter Matthews – Hiram (Hiram, GA) – 6’7 245
Carter Nelson – Ainsworth (Ainsworth, NE) – 6’4 205
Brady Prieskorn – Adams (Rochester, MI) – 6’6 225
Jaden Reddell – Raymore-Peculiar (Peculiar, MO) – 6’5 225
Roger Saleapaga – Orem (Orem, UT) – 6’4 195
Michael Smith – Calvary Day School (Savannah, GA) – 6’4 235 – South Carolina Commit
Landen Thomas – Colquitt County (Moultrie, GA) – 6’4 235 – Georgia Commit
The Sooners are also looking at several others in the ’24 class such as Decker DeGraaf (6’4 230) out of Glendora, CA who visited Norman for the ‘Future Freaks’ event.
The elephant in the room is the status of ’25 tight end Davon Mitchell. Mitchell, 6’4 245, is currently playing football at Los Alamitos in California after playing at Allen High School in Texas previously. While he was at Allen, he became very close with Sooners QB target Michael Hawkins. It has been no secret that Mitchell has been a fan of the OU program for a long time as he has made multiple visits to Norman, most of which came prior to his move to California.
The rub here is, Mitchell is apparently debating on reclassifying to the ’24 class. Should he reclassify, he would go right to the top of OU’s priority list and OU would move right to the top of his own list for ’24. It’s a good elephant to have in the room by the way.
As things stand with the guys that have been offered by OU in the ’24 class, there really hasn’t been much traction with them. Saleapaga and Reddell are likely the guys that OU still has much traction with at this time so chances are, your ’24 TE has not been offered yet…unless Mitchell reclassifies, because he holds an offer.
Bottom line is, if Davon Mitchell becomes a ’24 recruit, OU will be all in on him and they will be in good shape at the very least. I would not be so bold as to say I think it is a slam dunk for OU as once he reclassifies the intensity and pursuit across the country will pick up, but OU would absolutely be in a good position.
If Mitchell does not reclassify, you likely haven’t seen OU extend the offer to the recruit who ends up in the Sooners class at this point.
Recruiting Update | Sooners Move Into Better Position
– Super K – Posted on: March 28, 2023
This past weekend, the Sooners hosted 4-star Cali CB Marcelles Williams (St. John Bosco).
Yesterday we were talking about Emmett Jones picking a fight with USC over Xavier Jordan. Well, Valai is in a battle here with SC, as well.
Williams is the younger brother of USC DB Max Williams. Although, given the state of affairs for SC’s defense, I’m not so sure that helps them.
I was told by someone close to the family that going into the visit, the Sooners were not particularly high on the list. After the visit, it seems that has changed.
Was told that the Sooners are now in the mix along with USC and Ohio State. Also, told Williams will be back in Oklahoma for an official visit.
It does sound like this visit made a significant impression on the family.
More Future Freaks Visit Notes | Jones & Nickens
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 28, 2023
Was in touch with a couple more visitors who shared some interesting notes from the Sooners ‘Future Freaks’ event last weekend…
***Carter Jones(6’0 210) is a 2025 linebacker who made the trip out to Norman from Irvine, California. Jones picked up an OU offer back on February 27th and he wasted little time in getting out to see OU.
Jones started with the highlights of the trip. He told me “I had a great trip. I got to have dinner with Coach Barry Switzer which was an incredible experience.” Pretty cool way to start off a visit I would say.
When I asked him what stood out he said “Watching practice and seeing the pace and intensity was great and spending time with several of the coaches was really special. Coach Valai made sure our trip was memorable. It was also really great to spend some time with coach Venables in his office.”
Carter went on to say “Oklahoma is a very special place and I could see myself playing there one day. If I would rate the visit I would say that it was an 8 and that I want to go up again during the season to watch a game.”
***’25 wide receiverJaden Nickens(6’3 190) is one of the top receivers in his class. He also happens to be from Oklahoma City (Millwood) and has already picked up an OU offer. Every time OU can get him on campus, that is a very, very good thing. This trip didn’t do anything but help the Sooners in their pursuit of the in-state stud.
When asked about this trip, Nickens said “OU was great, love the coaching staff and how they run their program.” He went on to say “I love the brotherhood they have! You can tell they’re definitely a winning program!”
Nickens continued by saying “And a visit to OU will always be a 10 for me because it’s a pleasure to be on their campus! They don’t owe me anything so I just always wanna be grateful for the opportunities!”
The Sooners are putting in the work here early which should help their chances when decision day rolls around for Nickens. He is a must-get, in my opinion, in the ’25 class and OU has positioned itself well.
Quick Hitter | ’24 OL Bennett Warren
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 29, 2023
Super K was out to see ’24 OL Bennett Warren (6’7 315) recently following his trip to Norman in early March.
Warren let K know that he will be taking an official to Norman in June.
Super K came away believing that the Sooners are very much in the thick of this recruitment and he will expand more on this in the future.
Big Board | 24K Safety
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 30, 2023
Continuing the roll out the class of ’24 Big Boards.
Today we will take a look at the Safety board.
You can find the Running Back Big BoardHERE.
You can find the Wide Receiver Big BoardHERE.
You can find the Offensive Line Big BoardHERE.
You can find the Tight End Big BoardHERE.
The Sooners and Coach Brandon Hall have changed the complete complexion of the Safety room over the course of the last 15 months with high school recruiting and through the transfer portal.
They will be looking to continue the reconstruction of the room in the ’24 cycle and they have sent a ton of offers out.
Oklahoma heads into the ’23 season with a room with more talent and potential, on paper, than at any time in the last 10-15 years. There are at least five players who could be first or second day NFL draft picks based on their potential in that room right now. You have guys like Bowman, Bowen, Key, and RSJ who have NFL early round talent, or as we refer to it ‘potential’…have to coach them up and develop them to their fullest for them to get drafted, but their ceilings are all very high.
Below you will find a list of the high school recruits that OU is targeting for the safety position:
Michael Boganowski – Junction City Sr (Junction City, KS) – 6’2 195
KJ Bolden – Buford (Buford, GA) – 6’1 185
Josiah Brown – Holy Trinity Diocesan (Hicksville, NY) – 6’0 170
Noah Dixon – Troup County (Lagrange, GA) – 6’2 185 – Clemson Commit
Ka’Davion Dotson – Duncanville (Duncanville, TX) – 6’0 180
Edrees Farooq – St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) – 5’11 180
Xavier Filsaime – McKinney (McKinney, TX) – 6’1 180
Aaron Flowers – Forney (Forney, TX) – 6’0 190
Marquis Gallegos – Chaminade (West Hills, CA) – 6’1 175
Ashton Hampton – Florida State Univ. School (Tallahassee, FL) – 6’2 175
Jaydan Hardy – Lewisville (Lewisville, TX) – 5’10.5 165
CJ Heard – Woodward Academy (Atlanta, GA) – 6’0 200 – Florida State Commit
Jaylen Heyward – Rockledge (ROCKLEDGE, FL) – 5’11.5 180 – Georgia Commit
Kenyan Kelly – Denison (Denison, TX) – 6’1 180
Joshua Lair – Fort Bend Marshall (Missouri City, TX) – 6’1 185
Dejuan Lane – Gilman (Baltimore, MD) – 6’3 195
Xavier Lucas – Dillard (Fort Lauderdale, FL) – 6’0.5 185
Damani Maxson – Clear Lake (Houston, TX) – 6’0 180
Mykel Patterson-McDonald – Westmoore (Oklahoma City, OK) – 5’11 175
Willie Nelson – Longview (Longview, TX) – 5’9 170 – Oklahoma State Commit
Jacob Oden – Harper Woods (Harper Woods, MI) – 6’1 188 – Michigan Commit
Zaquan Patterson – Chaminade-Madonna Prep (Hollywood, FL) – 6’0 185
Jordan Pride – Blountstown (Blountstown, FL) – 6’1.5 175 – Florida State Commit
Isaiah Thomas – Clearwater Academy International (Clearwater, FL) – 6’2 197
Damian Thompson – Mars Hill Bible School (Florence, AL) – 6’0 170
Vaboue Toure – Irvington (Irvington, NJ) – 6’1 185
Joel Rogers – West Feliciana (Saint Francisville, LA) – 6’0 180
Jordon Johnson-Rubell – IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) – 5’10 180
Brayshon Williams – Lakeland (Lakeland, FL) – 5’11 173
Peyton Woodyard – St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) – 6’2 188 – Georgia Commit
When looking at the big board, the first name you see is Michael Boganowski. While he is listed as a linebacker on recruiting services, he is being recruited as a safety by OU. Could he be a hybrid guy? Absolutely, but right now, they view him as a safety target. Boganowski was on campus for the Future Freaks and the Sooners made a tremendous impression on him and if they push, OU likely can be in as good of a spot as they want to be.
Mykel Patterson-McDonald is a guy who is very high on OU and it is my belief that should the Sooners continue to pursue and push there, it would be just a matter of ‘when’ and not so much ‘if’ he commits.
OU was in the pole position for Aaron Flowers for much of the early part of his recruitment, but as K reported recently, things seem to be moving toward the field for him and he is scheduled to make his announcement in the near future. Right now, we do not feel like OU would be the choice, but there is some time between now and his announcement, and even if he chooses elsewhere, if the Sooners continue to recruit him and introduce new people to the process, I wouldn’t shut the door on him.
While Xavier Filsaime was a popular name with Social Media Insiders and other places who were convinced that OU led, we never had that impression and he just dropped his top schools list and it did not include the Sooners.
It will be interesting to see when the juice is turned up and who it is turned up with. Jaydan Hardy and Vaboue Toure are guys I would keep a close eye on in this regard. Hardy has been to campus multiple times and he has a couple official visits he would like to take so that may take a little time to play out unless he decides to shut things down earlier than planned. Toure was just in Norman and came away very impressed and he will be back for an official later this spring.
We are working under the impression that OU would like to take two ‘true safeties’ this cycle. While OU values versatility and being multiple, they are seeking two guys they identify as safeties for the majority of their career. There are some corners out there that could wind up in the safety room and we will talk about them as we get to the corners board, but right now, I believe Coach Hall could lock up his room with guys like Boganowski and Patterson McDonald without breaking much of a sweat.
Feels like OU will be just fine at the safety spot and they may pull in another very good class at the very least.
Quick Takeaways From Pro Day
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 30, 2023
Over the course of the past two or three years, we here at TFB have hammered home one message consistently and that was the Sooners lacked overall team speed.
That situation revealed itself in a pretty pronounced way today at the Sooners pro day…which should actually give you some excitement about the potential of the future in Norman.
Let’s look at four starters from last years team real quick…
Safety Justin Broiles, who played 60% of the snaps defensively last year for Oklahoma, ran a 4.69 40 (according to the OU site). His role will be likely replaced by a pool of Key Lawrence, Robert Spears Jennings, and Billy Bowman. Each of those players is substantially faster (and larger) and they will run times that are much lower in the 40.
DaShaun White played over 90% of the snaps at Cheetah. He ran a 4.67 40 at OU’s pro day. The plan for OU to replace his snaps is fronted by Dasan McCullough who is larger and faster than White. Other possibilities to take snaps at Cheetah are guys like Justin Harrington (Bigger and faster), Peyton Bowen (faster) and Reggie Pearson (not sure about where he matches up with DaShaun but I’ll lean towards being faster).
Running back Eric Gray, who accounted for 41% of OU’s rushing attempts and 1,300 of the Sooners 3,000 yards ran a 4.62 40 at the pro day. The plan to replace his snaps includes getting super speedster Gavin Sawchuk more involved in the running game as well as Jovantae Barnes (faster), Marcus Major (faster) and possibly guys like Daylan Smothers (faster) and Kalib Hicks (faster).
Then you look at Marvin Mims at wide receiver which has been a sore spot for Oklahoma for multiple years now in regard to the speed in the room. He ran an impressive time of 4.38. While I don’t see a guy on campus at this point who will match that (Farooq may get close and Freeman may be around that neighborhood) they are bringing in some speed via freshmen Jaquaizie Pettaway and sneaky fast Keyon Brown. In the immediate timeframe, you hope that Andrel Anthony can be a guy who takes the top off the defense (we have reported through sourcing that he has been fast) and guys like Anderson and Gibson can get on the field and have an impact. So losing Marvin is tough, but it’s not like OU isn’t starting to address the speed issues there.
Overall, you can already see what should be a major improvement, speed-wise, from three of last years starters (S/Cheetah/RB) and that is definitely a good thing for the Sooners and the rest of the roster is heading that way as well.
For example, Jaren Kanak is in line to replace David Ugwoegbu at MIKE…Jaren Kanak is a substantial speed upgrade over Ugwoegbu as well. Gentry, Rowe, Vickers…all have well above average speed at corner and they will push to get reps.
Now it’s all about developing these fast guys as football players and then you would be cooking with bacon grease!
Sourced Team Notes | March 30th
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 30, 2023
The Sooners hit the practice field today and had a portion of live team session (scrimmage)
Got a couple sourced notes to pass along for y’all!
***Source I spoke with noted that there were 1uite a few PBU’s – Dasan McCullough got his hands on a ball, Kendel Dolby, and Makari Vickers as well as a few others.
***Same source did add that the CB room is down several players – Jaden Davis, Gentry Williams and Jayden Rowe are out right now – and Jasiah Wagoner and Kani Walker are getting a bunch of reps.
***Source said Justin Harrington had a monster day with an interception and some big hits
***Was told Nic Anderson was really good today, had a long TD from Arnold and a slick 1 hander.
*** Source said Barnes and Sawchuk looked really good and didn’t miss any pickups.
***Was told the offensive tackle situation is still thin with Parks, Sexton, and Rouse are out.
*** Source said Cayden Green had a good day at left tackle against the 1’s on defense. Got turned around a couple times but also stoned a few guys
***Sounds like Gabriel looked very comfortable with Stogner, they hooked up a few more times
***Source said Farooq caught a bunch of passes, and looked smooth
***Another source felt like Gavin Freeman had the best day on offense
***Was told Jaren Kanak was in the backfield so quick on one snap he could have picked off the handoff but QB kept and it went for a sack
*** Nice note here, was told Kobie McKinzie had a big hit on a back in the hole.
Post Visit Update | ’24 WR Isaiah McMorris
– Charlie S – Posted on: March 31, 2023
The Sooners hosted ’24 wide receiver Isaiah McMorris for an unofficial visit yesterday. McMorris (6’0 168) made the trip down to Norman from Bellvue, Nebraska.
McMorris holds around a dozen offers from the likes of Nebraska, Penn State, USC< and Texas Tech among others.
I caught up with Isaiah to check on how the visit went and he said ‘The visit to OU was really great.” He added, “the hospitality the way the coaches interacted with me and how they really showed me that I am a priority for them stood out”.
I asked him about his relationship with new Sooners wide receiver coach and he said “Coach Jones has been recruiting me since he was at Tech, he offered me my first scholarship and since then we’ve been growing our relationship. McMorris continued by saying “when he (Jones) got the job at OU I was one of the first receivers he offered.
McMorris told me “I really love coach Jones’s philosophy on how he wants his receivers to play. I love the energy he coaches with.
While at OU he was able to take in the practice/scrimmage and he said: “overall the vibes in Norman have just been great and what I saw at practice is everything is full speed and they get a lot of reps in and the energy was electric.”
OU made a great impression on him. As far as his recruitment goes, Isaiah said “I have a USC visit this upcoming weekend and then Penn state the week right after.” He went on to tell me “OU definitely gets an official visit” and he said, “I don’t really have a timeline for when I want to make a decision I’m just taking it day by day.”
Back on the ’24K Wide Receiver Big Board’ post (HERE) I mentioned that McMorris was a guy that‘OU is well within striking distance for and in a solid position in their recruitment’.Following the visit, I think it is safe to say he has moved into the‘The guys that OU is in very good spots with at this time’category.
