Top RB in Florida alledgedly has OU at top of his list...

[CTOkie]

T.J. Pledger (class of 2018), rated the top back in Florida and the 3rd rated back nationally according to Scout, wants to make an early decision with OU having the inside track. The other 7 teams on his list are Clemson, Georgia, Nebraska, ND, Oregon, Tennessee and UCLA.
He's 5'8" 200 lbs, 4.6 speed and has several impressive videos featuring breakaway speed, an explosive first step and great balance. I like his size....he can be a lethal inside runner that defense players can't see until he's passing them.

 

[CTOkie]

Remember also that Barry Sanders was 5'8" and Quentin Griffin was 5'7".

 

[UofOKalum]

T.J. Pledger (class of 2018), rated the top back in Florida and the 3rd rated back nationally according to Scout, wants to make an early decision with OU having the inside track. The other 7 teams on his list are Clemson, Georgia, Nebraska, ND, Oregon, Tennessee and UCLA.
He's 5'8" 200 lbs, 4.6 speed and has several impressive videos featuring breakaway speed, an explosive first step and great balance. I like his size....he can be a lethal inside runner that defense players can't see until he's passing them.

Looks like he knows how to do everything OU wants to do!

 

[Oklabama]

T.J. Pledger (class of 2018), rated the top back in Florida and the 3rd rated back nationally according to Scout, wants to make an early decision with OU having the inside track. The other 7 teams on his list are Clemson, Georgia, Nebraska, ND, Oregon, Tennessee and UCLA.
He's 5'8" 200 lbs, 4.6 speed and has several impressive videos featuring breakaway speed, an explosive first step and great balance. I like his size....he can be a lethal inside runner that defense players can't see until he's passing them.

There's a couple of surprising favorites on his list, IMO. Just goes to show you how differently recruits think than old farts like me.

 

[dekooning]

There's a couple of surprising favorites on his list, IMO. Just goes to show you how differently recruits think than old farts like me.

Do you think that maybe Ohio State and Alabama are not interested in him because of his height?

 

[Oklabama]

Do you think that maybe Ohio State and Alabama are not interested in him because of his height?

Maybe, but both Archie Griffin and Mark Ingram were 5'9". Coincidentally, Ingram was also about this kid's weight, too.

 

[CTOkie]

Do you think that maybe Ohio State and Alabama are not interested in him because of his height?

His size is not a factor....at all.

 

[R1950]

Do you think that maybe Ohio State and Alabama are not interested in him because of his height?

There are 3 APBs that stand out nationally from the others: Pledger, Ricky Slade (PSU commit), and Jaelen Gill. These three are high 4 / 5 star type players with all 3 having .98 + ratings on the 247 composite. The Buckeyes concentrated their recruiting efforts on Westerville, Ohio's (Columbus suburb) Gill as it was pretty much known he would eventually end up a Buckeye - he committed last week to the Buckeyes. So in reality, OSU not pursuing Pledger had nothing to do with his ability or height.

 

[Plainosooner]

Just committed on his trip to Norman. This is a good thing.

 

[CTOkie]

Just committed on his trip to Norman. This is a good thing.

Great news.

 

[CTOkie]

Let's not get hung up on Pledger's height at 5'8". Some great backs have shared this height.
I wonder if OU is looking at any more backs in the 2018 class. My bet is that they are. But consider: Adams, Anderson, Sutton, Sermon and Brooks will be available in addition to Pledger, whose credentials do not translate into being redshirted as a true freshman.
Who plays ?...who changes positions ?....a nice problem to have.

 

[Plainosooner]

I think we've learned over the last four years, that you need more running backs than you think you need. Last season, we played one road game with a banged up true freshman with no experience, and OUr fullback, who got more carries than he'd had before in his life. And we had nobody else.

Brooks was gone due to injury. Anderson was gone for the year due to injury. Samaje was unavailable that night due to injury. Mixon was unavailable that night due to a parking lot attendant.

I remember when Jacob Gutierrez was about fifth team to start a season, but started a game when nobody else was available. You need depth everywhere, but you really need depth at running back. With six, we can figure out how to play all of them. Somewhere.

 

[Senior Sooner]

Winner! Winner!

https://twitter.com/uno_tj?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[CTOkie]

Let's not get hung up on Pledger's height at 5'8". Some great backs have shared this height.
I wonder if OU is looking at any more backs in the 2018 class. My bet is that they are. But consider: Adams, Anderson, Sutton, Sermon is a potentially deep RB depth.

 

[JConXtsy]

Let's not get hung up on Pledger's height at 5'8". Some great backs have shared this height.
I wonder if OU is looking at any more backs in the 2018 class. My bet is that they are. But consider: Adams, Anderson, Sutton, Sermon and Brooks will be available in addition to Pledger, whose credentials do not translate into being redshirted as a true freshman.
Who plays ?...who changes positions ?....a nice problem to have.

I thought I saw that Brooks performed at OU's Pro Day. Are we talking about the same Brooks? Daniel is gone, isn't he?

 

[Plainosooner]

I thought I saw that Brooks performed at OU's Pro Day. Are we talking about the same Brooks? Daniel is gone, isn't he?

I think he ran just under 4.7 at Pro Day. He really wasn't there seeking a pro job, he just wanted to show what he could do, which really wasn't a great showing. I believe his retirement was a concussion issue, which shouldn't have affected his Pro Day performance.

He was another of those 4.4 high school guys, who really wasn't a 4.4. 4.4 is really fast. Most guys aren't that fast, but it does make Mixon's Pro Day performance pretty special.

888888888888888888888

Looked it up. I was wrong again, sort of. Brooks ran 4.59 twice at Pro Day, which is a solid NFL time for a 215 pound running back. But not great for somebody who's around 180. By comparison, he's 25 to 30 pounds lighter than Joe. Mixon jumped longer and higher, and was .21 faster in both the 20 and 60 yard shuttles. Joe was .16 faster in the 40 and .35 faster in the 3 Cone Drill. For a fast guy, Brooks really isn't that fast.