🏈 OU replenishes experience on defense
🏈 OU replenishes experience on defense
The Sooners' defense is set to lose plenty of team veterans this offseason. Brent Venables has turned to the transfer portal to restock it.
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📈 Defense reloads
Oklahoma has been as active in the NCAA transfer portal as any school, and it’s paid off with the Sooners consistently finding promising pieces for their 2022 group.
Over the weekend, OU landed commitments from Wyoming cornerback C.J. Coldon and Tulane defensive tackle Jeffery Johnson.
And telling by OU’s staff on social media, there are more commitments on the way.
Move over 👀. It’s the 🔒 era now.
Who is C.J. Coldon?
Listed at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds.
Started college career in 2017 but has one season of eligibility remaining because of the 2020 COVID waiver.
Coldon recorded 65 tackles and nine pass breakups over 12 games this past season. The year before, he had 26 tackles, five pass breakups and two interceptions in six games.
Earned All-Mountain West second-team honors this past season.
Coldon was a three-star prospect coming out of Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, Illinois.
He was recruited by the likes of Iowa, Kansas State, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska and Purdue.
Overall thoughts on Coldon: OU recently lost Latrell McCutchin to the portal but quickly regrouped adding Coldon. Entering Year 1 of the Venables era, Coldon can at the very least provide experience and depth to a group that’s struggled with both over the last few seasons. He’s an aggressive corner, who does a nice job of positioning himself to make plays. Woodi Washington is all but a lock to start at cornerback this next season, but Coldon can certainly push a guy like D.J. Graham for the other starting job.
Who is Jeffery Johnson?
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 295 pounds.
Johnson recorded 44 tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry last season.
Held offers from Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU, among others, coming out of high school but landed at Tulane due to health concerns.
Has started nearly every game since arriving to Tulane in 2018.
Overall thoughts on Johnson: Perhaps you remember Johnson logging six tackles, including a TFL, against OU in the Sooners' 2021 season opener. Johnson certainly was a major test for the Sooners’ offensive line. A few months later, he’s looking to fill the void left by Perrion Winfrey, who’s entered the NFL draft. He will be joined by Hawaii defensive line transfer Jonah Laulu in crashing Todd Bates’ highly anticipated first year as OU’s defensive line coach.
2️⃣ Down to 2
On3.com is reporting Southern Cal quarterback transfer Jaxson Dart and tight end transfer Michael Trigg are down to their final two choices — Oklahoma and Ole Miss.
This is according to Gerry Hamilton, who is a senior national recruiting analyst for On3.
Both Dart and Trigg were in Norman over the weekend and seemed to enjoy their trip, posting a video provided by OU’s recruiting team.
It’s been a wild portal cycle for the Sooners, who could have never expected to be in a position to lock down Central Florida transfer Dillon Gabriel this offseason, while trying to get one of Florida State’s Chubba Purdy and Dart to compete with Gabriel for the Sooners’ starting job.
There’s also Caleb Williams, who’s yet to announce where he’s headed. But a swap for Dart would be a fair trade for the Sooners and Trojans.
🔮 Mid-year enrollees
Oklahoma’s mid-year enrollees start classes this week. Here are OU’s Class of 2022 signees that will get a head start on their college football careers:
Now for a few thoughts on this group…
Who is most likely to see early playing time? You can go plenty of directions with this one, so I’ll say the two receivers, Jayden Gibson and Nicholas Anderson, have tremendous opportunities to see the field early. OU loses Mario Williams (transfer to USC), Jadon Haselwood (transfer to Arkansas) and Mike Woods (entering NFL draft) from last year’s group, and it’s still a bit of a mystery as to what Marvin Mims and bowl-game breakout Jalil Farooq will do this offseason. Luckily for Gibson and Anderson, they should be able to step in from Day 1 and compete for playing time with their big frames and wealth of potential.
Who still needs some time? Robert Spears-Jennings has the tools to be a multi-year starter in OU's defensive backfield. That said, the 6-foot-2 Broken Arrow product is still fairly raw as a safety. A few offseasons under Brent Venables and strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt should fix that. Luckily for OU, he won’t be without a full spring and summer under his belt if he is called on as a true freshman this next season.
Who ends up having the best OU career? OU’s linebackers were pretty hit-and-miss under former OU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, but one guy I was super intrigued to see in the Sooners’ now defunct “Speed D” was Kobie McKinzie. He already looks the part with his massive 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame. And now under Venables, it’s difficult not to feel better about McKinzie developing into an all-conference type of player for Oklahoma and getting to the NFL draft in a few years. The Sooners were fortunate to get McKinzie back on board after he briefly flipped his commitment to Texas. Had the Sooners not hired one of the best defensive minds in college football? McKinzie might be a difficult OU recruiting “what if” to process.
📚 Need to know
🏈 OU linebacker DaShaun White is returning for another season. The NCAA's 2020 blanket COVID waiver gave White an extra year of eligibility. (Read more at si.com)
🏈 Oklahoma Class of 2021 signee Mario Williams is leaving the program after one season and teaming up with Lincoln Riley in Southern Cal. Williams, a former 247Sports Composite four-star prospect, finished his freshman season with 380 yards on 35 catches and four touchdowns. (Read more at cbssports.com)
🏈 Phil Loadholt, the former OU offensive lineman and one of the best football-guy names in recorded history, is joining Venables’ staff as an offensive analyst. Loadholt was a key member of the Sooners’ offensive line in 2007 and ‘08. (Read more at oudaily.com)
🏀 OU women’s basketball is thriving under new coach Jennie Baranczyk. The Sooners stunned Baylor on Wednesday before crushing TCU on Saturday. The Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson wrote about the Sooners’ rise and the player — Madi Williams — at the center of it. (Read more at oklahoman.com)
🏀 OU men’s basketball dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday to TCU. The Sooners forced overtime, thanks to a last-second shot from Jalen Hill, but couldn’t finish the job. (Read more at oklahoman.com)