Oklahoma Lands Commitment from Stanford Offensive Lineman
Oklahoma landed a major component to its 2023 season on Saturday.
Offensive tackle Walter Rouse, a four-year starter at Stanford, announced via Twitter that he was committed to OU.
Rouse had been verbally committed to transferring to Nebraska on Wednesday and even had a bio as a member of the team on the Huskers’ official online roster.
But he changed his mind Friday, and the OU staff pulled off an unlikely flip.
“I never knew how the power of one’s faith and gut intuition could so forcefully persuade one’s decision,” Rouse wrote. “That happened to me this week. And on Friday, January 13th I informed the head coach of University of Oklahoma that I would be decommitting from University of Nebraska and play my last year of eligibility as part of the 129th football team for the University of Oklahoma.”
OU pulled off the flip just in time, too: the NCAA Transfer Portal closes on Tuesday ahead of the May 1-15 transfer period.
The 6-foot-6, 318-pound Rouse, who earned honorable mention All-Pac 12 accolades in 2021, played in 10 games in 2022 and graded out at 66.5 overall offensively, according to Pro Football Focus. His run-blocking grade was strong at 70.2.
Per PFF, he has played 1,383 offensive snaps the past two seasons and 2,551 in his career.
He played in 40 games overall as a Cardinal, earning Freshman All-America honors in 2019. The biomechanical engineering major was also a finalist this season for the William V. Campbell Trophy, given to college football’s top scholar athlete as the “Academic Heisman.”
Rouse’s addition solves one of the Sooners’ greatest concerns for 2023, as both left tackle Anton Harrison and right tackle Wanya Morris left early for the NFL Draft.
True freshman Jacob Sexton started at left tackle in the Cheez-It Bowl but was injured and replaced by third-year sophomore Aaryn Parks on the third play of the game. TCU transfer Tyler Guyton, a sophomore, started at right tackle.
