Many of us have been puzzled as to our approach thus far. We're taking a lot of 'off the radar' kind of kids. Not that this is necessarily a 'wrong' approach, but just different from what we've gotten used to over the last several classes. Of the early verbals, it looks like 3 will be 4-stars and 3 will be 3-stars.
Ronnell Lewis is a kid who is going to blow up this year. He's from Dewar, OK, and has been playing 8-man football up to this point. His recruitment was over before it got started which will probably hurt his perception a little nationally, but he was dying to be a Sooner, so who cares? It was so weird when he committed b/c all of us were like, "What the hell?," but the coaches must've thought he was amazing on film and in person b/c normally we don't give much play to these small school kids. We were essentially the only school to offer. He is a classic OLB.
Jaydan Bird is part of the Brian Butler posse out of Kansas. He's a great athlete and fits the mold of a Brent V linebacker: tough, instinctual, explosive to the ball. He appears to be slated for MLB.
Johnathon Miller is from Garland. He put up sick numbers last year in a tough district. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed w/ his film. He doesn't appear to have much explosion. That said, there's something to be said for production, and he's had plenty of that. He reminds me of Chris Brown, who is one of current backs. That isn't a slight to Miller, either, as I respect Brown's ability quite a bit.
I'm thinking we take a max of 4 OL this year, but more likely 3. That position is kind of strange right now as well. We've got 5 returning starters, but will lose all 5 next year. We've got good depth, but little in the way of experience. I'm thinking we'll see a lot more of those kids this year to prepare for '09 when they'll be pressed into duty. The coaches are really high on Donald Stephenson and Cory Brandon and also think Good and Habern can contribute this season as well. We'll see.
As far as Texas kids, we seem seriously interested in Tom Wort, Chris Williams, Jamarckus McFarland, Casey Pachall, Jacob Karam, Ryan Mossakowski and Kevin Brent. There are several kids who've now moved to the forefront of the coaches' efforts and those include Uzoma Nwachukwu, Steven Terrell, Brandon Mahoney and Joel Gray. I think all of those are guys we can get at this point. We obviously offered several kids who've looked elsewhere (Craig Loston, Marcus Davis, Thomas Ashcraft, etc), but you asked who we're still pursuing.
I'd say we've got a great shot at Wort, Gray, Mahoney and Brent. We seem to be the favorite for Karam, but that relationship seems to have cooled over the last few months. I'd like to think we may get Pachall, but not sure where he's leaning. Mossakowski is hot with us right now also, but who knows?
The highest priority this class is on LB's and DB's. We're razor thin at LB right now and can't even field a 2-deep this spring b/c of injury. I'll bet Wort commits this weekend or shortly thereafter, as unlikely as it may seem. He's gonna see so few bodies, it wouldn't surprise me if Brent V. told him to suit up on the spot. He strikes me as the kind of kid who'd do it, too. He and Bird seem to be the epitome of a "Brent V. kid."
We've really focused on in-state kids this year, moreso than recently. That has more to do with it being an especially good year for D-1 talent in OK. Yes, UT has been cleaning house, but they usually get who they want early in the process, so that isn't anything too different than normal. In the end, we usually both get great classes. I'd bet the same holds true in '09 as well.
