OU Recruiting: Sooners Land WR and LB; Could Alex Grinch Pick up a Defensive Lineman Next?

In the span of less than three hours on Friday, Oklahoma’s 2021 team recruiting ranking vaulted from 48th to 24th, according to the 247 Sports Composite.

The Sooners added 5-star wide receiver Mario Williams just after 11 a.m., and then shortly after 2 p.m., got a verbal commitment from 4-star linebacker Clayton Smith.

Sooner Nation wants to know next if (when) 5-star quarterback Caleb Williams will offer his non-binding pledge to Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma. Many assume Williams is a done deal, that he has been a silent commit since before taking an unofficial visit to the Norman campus one week before the Coronavirus shutdown, and Mario Williams’ commitment is evidence of their close relationship.

But what savvy OU fans are asking — the ones starved for a national championship (and all too aware of how many pieces it takes to win one) — is much more subtle than a 5-star quarterback.

Will there be any defensive linemen coming to Oklahoma in 2021?

“That’s much more of a situation where they should — I don’t want to say panic — but that’s where I would be a little more focused if I were an OU fan,” Sports Illustrated recruiting director John Garcia told SI Sooners.

“Because all the precedent for those other positions we talked about, running back, certainly quarterback, wide receiver, and even recruiting out of state in general, those things are very well established. But it is not the same when it comes to defense. Right now, not looking great for them to bring in an elite defensive tackle.”

Oklahoma seems very close to landing a commitment from 4-star Virginia defensive end Kelvin Gilliam (6-3, 250). Gilliam told SI Sooners on Monday that he and Caleb Williams were having “conversations (that) have just mainly been about OU.”

Gilliam told SI Sooners that he and Caleb Williams had been strategizing ways to landing Mario Williams (done) and others, like 5-star Louisiana defensive tackle Maason Smith (6-5, 316).

Getting both Gilliam and Smith on the heels of Clayton Smith could be a game-changing development for Alex Grinch and the Sooners’ defensive coaching staff.

Garcia said Grinch and Oklahoma probably will need to show a lot more progress on Saturdays to lure elite defenders too Norman.

“Maason Smith is a Louisiana guy, so the entire SEC is all over him. Leonard Taylor, a South Florida guy, the entire SEC and ACC are all over him,” Garcia said. “So to move over those types of conferences, I think there’s gonna have to be considerable perceptional progress with a school like Oklahoma on that side of the ball. And until we see that, I think it’s gonna be hard for them to do it on defense. But they are headed in the right direction.”

Garcia said sending Neville Gallimore into the NFL as a third-round draft pick is proof of positive momentum for Grinch’s defense.

“The most important part of precedence is the NFL Draft right now,” Garcia said. “It used to be winning. When I first got into this business, winning at the collegiate level was really the most common top priority for kids. Now it’s the chance to play on Sunday. So the more Sooners that show that and do that, the better, and they’re in the right direction with that department.”

What Caleb Williams chooses to do could have a broad impact on what other prospects pick Oklahoma — even ones that currently don’t have the Sooners high on their list. There may be a name or two that even the most devoted recruitniks don’t see coming.

“When the Caleb bomb drops?” Garcia said. “That’s gonna be — Caleb has talked about wanting to focus on defense. He even said, ‘Me talking to a receiver, that’s gonna be easy. That’s very tangible. Half of these kids have already caught passes from me.’ Mario Williams has, all these receivers have, at camps and such.

“It’s these defensive guys that he’s spending more time on.”

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