OU's 2018 season (an observation)

[CTOkie]

While I won't project OU's won-lost record this Fall, I believe this team can be a force to be reckoned with by late October given the caliber of young talent both already on the roster and the incoming talent.
Riley tapped into some unheralded and/or unproven talent last year with the Ohio State win serving as the best example. Players such as Morris and Smallwood scored while true freshman Sermon also scored. Calcaterra caught a 21 yard pass.
As the season wore on, players like Mann, Lampkin, Uhles, Faamatua and Norwood improved and contributed well.
Except for Calcaterra, I did not expect the others mentioned to be the contributors they became.
And with a highly rated freshman class arriving (with 18 already signed), I think Riley will play at least 8-10 players.

Defensively, that might include:
DE's Tatum, Perkins and Redmond
DT's Kelley
LB's White and Bonitto
DB's Hiles and Edwards
****************************************
Offensively:
WR's Crawford, Taylor and Robinson
OL Walker and Moore
RB Pledger
TE Willis

 

[8085sooner]

DT Kelley will depend on what happens with Thompson

OL, Moore will most likely see a lot of playing time. I sucked he's not already on campus. Walker will most like get 3rd string reps. Unless we see injuries.

DB, I think Yell gets in above Edwards. He's a football player with better instincts then his ranking. I think he's size, has more to do with his ranking, then ability

 

[CTOkie]

DT Kelley will depend on what happens with Thompson

OL, Moore will most likely see a lot of playing time. I sucked he's not already on campus. Walker will most like get 3rd string reps. Unless we see injuries.

DB, I think Yell gets in above Edwards. He's a football player with better instincts then his ranking. I think he's size, has more to do with his ranking, then ability

You're saying if Thompson comes, Kelley goes ?

 

[8085sooner]

You're saying if Thompson comes, Kelley goes ?

No, I think they redshirt Kelley if Thompson comes in

 

[CTOkie]

No, I think they redshirt Kelley if Thompson comes in

Agree.
I also think the receiving corps will get upgraded, especially if Basquine is healthy....there's Lamb, Jones, Brown, Morris....and the freshmen haul of Crawford, Taylor and Robinson.
It's going to take another stellar offense to compensate for a porous defense.

 

[JConXtsy]

What do you think the 2-deep at the OLine will be?

 

[CTOkie]

What do you think the 2-deep at the OLine will be?

Humphrey and Dalton are 1-2 at center, but outside of that, I have no idea how the OL will be reconfigured.
There's OG's Samia, Powers and Ford and OT Evans who are the proven guys....then Mittermeier, Ealy, Hayes, Julious, Roberson, Robinson and Swenson....with freshmen Simpson and Walker and JUCO Moore arriving.

 

[Salt City Sooner]

Humphrey and Dalton are 1-2 at center, but outside of that, I have no idea how the OL will be reconfigured.
There's OG's Samia, Powers and Ford and OT Evans who are the proven guys....then Mittermeier, Ealy, Hayes, Julious, Roberson, Robinson and Swenson....with freshmen Simpson and Walker and JUCO Moore arriving.

Julious graduated. Don't forget Alvarez though, I don't think they'd have asked him to redshirt if they didn't honestly have plans on him at least being in the rotation somewhere.

Also, don't forget to toss in Rambo in w/ the WR's.

 

[coeSooner81]

Agree.
I also think the receiving corps will get upgraded, especially if Basquine is healthy....there's Lamb, Jones, Brown, Morris....and the freshmen haul of Crawford, Taylor and Robinson.
It's going to take another stellar offense to compensate for a porous defense.

Dont forget about Rambo

 

[CTOkie]

Dont forget about Rambo

Good catch. Anyone news on how Rambo progressed while redshirting ?

 

[CTOkie]

Signing schedule for tomorrow...all times are EST

9 am....Tank Jenkins OG between ATM, OU, Ole Miss
noon....Michael Thompson DT between OU and Missouri
1 pm....Jeremiah Martin DE between OU, ATM, Washington and Oregon

 

[bullmarket]

While I won't project OU's won-lost record this Fall, I believe this team can be a force to be reckoned with by late October given the caliber of young talent both already on the roster and the incoming talent.
Riley tapped into some unheralded and/or unproven talent last year with the Ohio State win serving as the best example. Players such as Morris and Smallwood scored while true freshman Sermon also scored. Calcaterra caught a 21 yard pass.
As the season wore on, players like Mann, Lampkin, Uhles, Faamatua and Norwood improved and contributed well.
Except for Calcaterra, I did not expect the others mentioned to be the contributors they became.
And with a highly rated freshman class arriving (with 18 already signed), I think Riley will play at least 8-10 players.

Defensively, that might include:
DE's Tatum, Perkins and Redmond
DT's Kelley
LB's White and Bonitto
DB's Hiles and Edwards
****************************************
Offensively:
WR's Crawford, Taylor and Robinson
OL Walker and Moore
RB Pledger
TE Willis

A very informative thread CTOkie.

Thanks

 

[JConXtsy]

Humphrey and Dalton are 1-2 at center, but outside of that, I have no idea how the OL will be reconfigured.
There's OG's Samia, Powers and Ford and OT Evans who are the proven guys....then Mittermeier, Ealy, Hayes, Julious, Roberson, Robinson and Swenson....with freshmen Simpson and Walker and JUCO Moore arriving.

We seem to be pretty set at the C and OG spots. Man am I nervous at the OT spots. Evans was good in my opinion, but I don't know if he can play LT. Need a new beast at LT. Stoops was always good at finding them. I hope Riley can continue that trend.

 

[CTOkie]

We seem to be pretty set at the C and OG spots. Man am I nervous at the OT spots. Evans was good in my opinion, but I don't know if he can play LT. Need a new beast at LT. Stoops was always good at finding them. I hope Riley can continue that trend.

FWIW, all three incoming offensive linemen signed letters of intent a month ago, which means they're available for Spring practice.

 

[OUnabomber]

Did Morris even have any catches after the Ohio State game?

 

[CTOkie]

Did Morris even have any catches after the Ohio State game?

Morris had only two catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.....in the first two games of the year vs UTEP (for 43 yards) and Ohio State (for 18 yards). Why he wasn't thrown to afterwards I don't know.

 

[Grimlock72]

as someone who watched a lot of Jaylon in high school, where I feel he might make an immediate impact is the return game. Dude has crazy wheels for a high schooler and his track career reflects that. Arguably the main reason he isn't ranked higher is he played for the HS equivalent of a dumpster fire up until his senior year

 

[CTOkie]

as someone who watched a lot of Jaylon in high school, where I feel he might make an immediate impact is the return game. Dude has crazy wheels for a high schooler and his track career reflects that. Arguably the main reason he isn't ranked higher is he played for the HS equivalent of a dumpster fire up until his senior year

That is WR Jaylon Robinson for those not on a first name bases with him.

 

[8085sooner]

Signing schedule for tomorrow...all times are EST

9 am....Tank Jenkins OG between ATM, OU, Ole Miss
noon....Michael Thompson DT between OU and Missouri
1 pm....Jeremiah Martin DE between OU, ATM, Washington and Oregon

Damn, Jenkins picked the Aggys

 

[coeSooner81]

Morris had only two catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.....in the first two games of the year vs UTEP (for 43 yards) and Ohio State (for 18 yards). Why he wasn't thrown to afterwards I don't know.

Morris could get a chance to see more action next year. He was a teammate of Kylers in high school.

 

[owenfieldreams]

It's all about the linebackers. Murray should be moved outside but then there's Bolton who is back. We might even start another true freshman at MLB

 

[iasooner1]

Morris could get a chance to see more action next year. He was a teammate of Kylers in high school.

If you utter the term "wildcat" I'll choke your azz out...

 

[Phaeded]

My concern is Riley's inability to counter second half adjustments versus teams with a D, with the exception of @tOSU 2017. The two 2nd halves in playoff games have been abysmal.

And of course there is the albatross around his neck, called Mike Stoops.

 

[CTOkie]

This is a good recruiting class, especially on defense.
Can these players be coached up to be a championship caliber defense ?
I’m not at all optimistic.

 

[iasooner1]

Mike's final season under contract he's being moved back on the sidelines


At Norman HS

 

[kcstorm06]

We did load up in this class...realistically I can see some of the younger cats push some of last year’s starters to special teams or the sidelines. New blood is always good. It is up to coaches now (as stated clearly above) to develop this special group into All Big 12 and All American players. I am really liking Redmond’s chances to be Obo’s replacement.

 

[JConXtsy]

Mike's final season under contract he's being moved back on the sidelines


At Norman HS

Has he really not been fired yet? April's Fools is rapidly approaching.

 

[8085sooner]

Recruiting

QB, C+, it sucks that we didn't get our 1st two options but I've heard good things about Tanner

RB, "A", TJ Pledger is exactly what we need

WR, "incomplete" I guess. Crawford and Taylor will play WR. Taylor will be our return man. We really didn't need to sign more then 2

Oline "A", Moore will get a lot of playing time. I haven't been this excited about a Juco kid since Loadholdt. Had we got Tank A+ great job.

TE/HB/FB "C- to D". Willis our only recruit didn't attend any camps so nobody knows a lot about him. Hopefully a sleeper.

Dline, "A" great class, maybe one of the best

LB," B-"we needed an ILB but still lots of talent

DB, "C+" Bookie makes it better but we lost out on the best DB class in the state of Texas, in the last 10+ years. How did we miss on so many players?

S, "D-", we lost out on every high recruit and couldn't keep an instate kid. Yell, will play CB and he is a lot better player then his ranking suggest.

Overall a solid "A-"

 

[CTOkie]

Recruiting

QB, C+, it sucks that we didn't get our 1st two options but I've heard good things about Tanner

RB, "A", TJ Pledger is exactly what we need

WR, "incomplete" I guess. Crawford and Taylor will play WR. Taylor will be our return man. We really didn't need to sign more then 2

Oline "A", Moore will get a lot of playing time. I haven't been this excited about a Juco kid since Loadholdt. Had we got Tank A+ great job.

TE/HB/FB "C- to D". Willis our only recruit didn't attend any camps so nobody knows a lot about him. Hopefully a sleeper.

Dline, "A" great class, maybe one of the best

LB," B-"we needed an ILB but still lots of talent

DB, "C+" Bookie makes it better but we lost out on the best DB class in the state of Texas, in the last 10+ years. How did we miss on so many players?

S, "D-", we lost out on every high recruit and couldn't keep an instate kid. Yell, will play CB and he is a lot better player then his ranking suggest.

Overall a solid "A-"

OU had a class ranked in the top 10 and you rate the DB's/S's a "C+" and "D-" ? And then give the entire class an overall grade of "A-" ?
Losing Proctor to Ohio State hurt, but this kid was signed, sealed and delivered to Ohio State early on (April 2017) and OU was never really in the mix for him....but OU rebounded well with two cornerbacks and 3 safeties. All 5 are highly regarded.
Mordecai was rated among the top 60 players in Texas and was recruited by Georgia, Ok-State, Baylor and Houston....4 teams that have produced some good QB's. He's a bit of a project player and will face some high end competition after redshirting this Fall with the likes of Murray, Kendall and Rattler on the roster in 2019. I'm going to be interested in seeing how he ultimately will compare to Casey Thompson and Cameron Rising at Texas.
Given OU's defensive issues in recent years, the quality of the defensive recruits in this class amazes me. As far as I'm concerned, Mike Stoops has no more excuses in developing a decent defense.
Every class by every team has its successes and failures (perhaps outside of this year's Georgia class)....most of which aren't realized until 2-3 years after signing. Issues of academics, discipline, injuries, erratic performance, etc. are factors that will hang over every team every year. Of the 22 signees by OU, I won't be surprised if 10 fail to become contributors, if history repeats itself.

 

[8085sooner]

We missed out on every Top Safety prospect. Texas had the best DB in the last 10 years, maybe the best ever and OU missed on every single one. Bookie saved the DB class and Yell is better then his ranking.

 

[CTOkie]

We missed out on every Top Safety prospect. Texas had the best DB in the last 10 years, maybe the best ever and OU missed on every single one. Bookie saved the DB class and Yell is better then his ranking.

The defensive backs in this year's class are not a D- bunch.

 

[8085sooner]

The defensive backs in this year's class are not a D- bunch.

I gave the CB/DB a C+ and the Safety a D-. So an overall average of C.

Bookie is a stud CB in HS and I think Yell could be a sleeper at CB not safety. At safety, I don't see anyone playing, except on special teams.

 

[MiccoMacey]

We missed out on every Top Safety prospect. Texas had the best DB in the last 10 years, maybe the best ever and OU missed on every single one. Bookie saved the DB class and Yell is better then his ranking.

You're grading is more about who we didn't get, and much less about whom we did get. You can't land a five star kid and a four star kid and call that position a D-.

 

[iasooner1]

Time will tell fellas, and hopefully overall we'll see a vast improvement on D next season

 

[8085sooner]

You're grading is more about who we didn't get, and much less about whom we did get. You can't land a five star kid and a four star kid and call that position a D-.

I didn't! I graded the CB's a C+. I gave Safeties a D-

 

[MiccoMacey]

"QB, C+, it sucks that we didn't get our 1st two options but I've heard good things about Tanner"

"DB, "C+" Bookie makes it better but we lost out on the best DB class in the state of Texas, in the last 10+ years. How did we miss on so many players?"

"We missed out on every Top Safety prospect. Texas had the best DB in the last 10 years, maybe the best ever and OU missed on every single one. Bookie saved the DB class and Yell is better then his ranking."

Again, your comments seem center more around who we missed out on than who we got.

I get that you separated your defensive backs, but any position with a 5-star kid as either one half or one third of a position can't be a C, unless the other two just completely suck ass. Which they don't.

JMODMIR.

 

[CTOkie]

Safeties:
Fields 3 star
Yell 3 star
Edwards 4 star
**************
Corners:
Baldwin 4 star
Hiles 5 star
***************
Recruiting defensive backs is probably more of an inexact science than any other defensive position. But all reports and videos on the 5 players above are very impressive....and right now, what else is there to go on ?
FWIW, Texas Football says of Baldwin: Brings elite speed to the football field...can run with any wide receiver in the state....needs to add weight and refine physical skills, but athleticism gives him a high ceiling. He was upgraded from a 3 star to a 4 star.
The 2017 class had (3) 4-star DB's in Tre Brown, Justin Boiles and Robert Barnes.....but Tre Norwood, a 3 star made the biggest impression and started by year's end. Go figure.