Oklahoma Snags Commitment from 3-Star CB Caleb Johnson

OU's first verbal pledge since July 4 has elite speed and will fit nicely with Alex Grinch's Speed D

Oklahoma landed a surprise addition to the 2021 recruiting class on Thursday evening as cornerback Caleb Johnson committed the Sooners.

Johnson, a 3-star recruit out of Greenville, TX, joins Jordan Mukes and Latrell McCutchin among the Sooners’ 2021 crop of defensive backs. He’s not listed in SI All-American’s top 1000, but he’s the No. 74 player in the state of Texas, per 247Sports, while Rivals slots him as the state’s 76th-best overall recruit.

“They have a great education program and a great athletic program as well,” Johnson said of Oklahoma in an interview with the Greenville Herald-Banner.

“He’s played more wide receiver,” Greenville coach Darren Duke told the Herald-Banner, “but I think his skill set gives him an opportunity to play on both sides of the ball. Offense, defense, special teams. He’s got some ability in every one of those areas.”

It’s the Sooners’ first verbal commitment since quarterback Caleb Williams made his highly anticipated announcement on Independence Day. Williams is SI All-American’s No. 1 overall player in the 2021 class, and heads up a suddenly impressive cast of OU commits.

Johnson plays wideout and defensive back, but he'll likely be a DB in college. Last year he caught 30 passes for 429 yards and six touchdowns and ran 11 times for 53 yards.

Williams' elite speed will fit well into defensive coordinator Alex Grinch's Speed D. The Herald-Banner reports that Johnson ran the 100 meters in 10.00, and he's unofficially posted a 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash as clocked in practice by his coaches.

According to the Herald-Banner, Johnson's father Gary Johnson set a Greenville record in 2001 with the 4x400-meter relay, running a 48.12 split on the third leg as the Lions clocked a 3:15.27.

Also, Johnson's mother Patrice Watts ran on two school-record relay teams. She ran a 25.18 split in the 200-meter dash as the Lady Lions clocked a 1:39.98 in the 4x200 relay in 2001 and a 57.96 split in the 4x400 as the Lady Lions ran a 3:50.5 in 2000, according to the Herald-Banner.

“My mom used to talk about their girls track team,” Johnson told the newspaper.

The Sooners now await pending decisions from several highly regarded recruits, including Prophet Brown, Kendal Daniels, Kelvin Gilliam and Damond Harmon. With the addition of Johnson, they’ve now notched twelve total commits in their class of 2021. 

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