Take a gander at the players who will be in Norman this weekend for Oklahoma’s football banquet and their official recruiting visits, according to SoonerScoop.com. It’s a stellar group of recruits, including Rivals’ top-rated prep in the country, wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, and defensive end Mario Edwards, who Rivals has ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Studs like DGB and Edwards are no-brainers for any program – they will have a spot on every roster in the country made available to them.
However, if you take a step back and look at the entirety of the players being pursued by OU coach Bob Stoops and his staff, you’ll see some hints about how they really feel about the Sooners’ personnel going into 2012.
*Jucos
Plenty of time has passed since OU has pursued this many junior college players this aggressively.
The Sooners already hold surprising commitments from two jucos in tight end Brannon Green and defensive end Chaz Nelson, and they’re making a push for more.
Generally coaches bring in jucos in hopes of finding instant-impact players to shore up glaring holes or foster some immediate competition at foundering positions. Among the jucos being targeted by OU are safety Gerald Bowman and cornerback Kasseim Everett. In other words, OU’s DBs need to watch their backs, and you can expect some attrition there.
*Running Back
Another juco who recently received a scholarship offer from the Sooners is Marion Grice, a running back out of Blinn Community College. Grice joins Georgia prep Mike Davis as running backs who have apparently caught the staff’s eye recently.
Keep in mind that Alex Ross of Jenks, Okla., Rivals’ 11th-rated running back in the 2012 class, has committed to OU already, as well as “athlete” Daniel Brooks, who figures to start his OU career as a running back.
The offers to Davis and Grice shouldn’t really raise any eyebrows in and of themselves. The timing, on the other hand, is a different story. Seeing as the offers are coming so late in the game, it lends credence to the rumors swirling that hyped freshman Brandon Williams, who’s missing the Insight Bowl with a “neck injury,” is leaving the team.
*Wide Receivers
The Sooners have already secured commitments from four-star prospects Durron Neal, Sterling Shepard and Derrick Woods. Five-star pass catcher Trey Metoyer is supposedly on his way to qualifying after a year in prep school. If that’s not enough, DGB and Stefon Diggs, the top two high school receivers in the country this season, are in OU’s crosshairs, too.
Get the feeling that the coaching staff isn’t sold on its current group of wide receivers?
Ryan Broyles, the best the Sooners have ever had to play the position, is graduating, along with sometimes starter Dejuan Miller. Broyles is clearly a huge loss, but does that alone necessitate potentially adding six receivers in this class? If I’m a receiver on the roster now, I’m wondering where I stand.