Spring Scoping: 2021 Cowboy Backs and OSU Makes First Cut List on Pair

We continue our recruiting series taking a look at our favorite prospects at each spot for the Cowboys in the 2021 recruiting class. Time for the Cowboy backs.

STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State has offers out to at least nine prospects for the Cowboy back position. These offers can be a little hard to decipher since the position is a multi-position that brings in the talents and responsibilities of fullback, inline tight end, and h-back or big wide receiver. The three players that I picked out are capable of doing of of those and each has their own "sweet" spot for the position.

The Facts: Landen King is a fabulous athlete that has excellent speed and athletic ability. At 6-5 and 218-pounds he is more of a jumbo wide receiver in his frame, but you can expect that he will thicken some at the college level. He will also get introduced more to playing more at the line of scrimmage as an attached tight end. He was a first-team All-District H-back for powerhouse Atascocita.

He has 26 offers but recently cut his list down to a top 10. That is not unusual for this recruiting cycle as with the COVID-19 pandemic and no on-campus recruiting and visits this spring until May 31, prospects are cutting lists down to schools they are interested in and just leaving off the schools they don't want to hear from anymore. Oklahoma State made King's list along with Arizona State, South Carolina, Penn State, Texas, Washington, Texas A&M, Alabama, Oregon, and Georgia. The schools cut was an impressive list. 

The Stats: His receiving stats are flat-out off the chart as he had 53 receptions for 853-yards and nine touchdowns. He averages 15.4-yards a catch. Most wide receivers would go crazy to get that kind of production, but that is the way Atascocita uses King.

Our Take: As you might imagine from his size, King is most comfortable as a big wide receiver and that is what Atascocita uses him for the most. He bounces from lining up in the backfield and going in motion, to h-back, to outside. He runs really good routes and has high end speed for his size. The catch radius is good and with 53 receptions as a junior, he has the experience of a wide receiver in a pass happy offense. Blocking is not as polished, but his effort is clearly there and with more experience there is no doubt from here that he will be better. The thing you want to see is the effort and the pride in taking care of your responsibility and that King has that. 

The Facts: Originally out of Kenmore, Wash., Moore wound up at Independence C.C. in the Jayhawk Conference and had a solid freshman season. He is big, but at 6-5 and a solid 250-pounds he can still run a 4.7 in the forty. He primarily lines up as an attached tight end, but I can see him being capable of moving around. He is just the opposite of King in that he never really lines up split wide. I look forward to seeing him move around. 

I would like to thank all the coaches who have offered me to this point, with that being said I will be focusing on these 15 schools moving forward. #Top15 pic.twitter.com/tecUOerAmi

— Quentin Moore (@Quentinmoore88) April 9, 2020

He recently cut his 25 offers down to a list of 15 with Oklahoma State in there along with West Virginia, Texas Tech, Florida State, Tennessee, Arizona State, Mississippi, Nebraska, Michigan State, Miami (Fla.), Connecticut, Washington, Arkansas, Colorado, and TCU

The Stats: Not as impressive, but not his fault as the Pirates need to do a better job of using the tight end. He had six receptions for 65-yards and a touchdown in six games. You can see where he could explode if used more. 

Our Take: Moore is most comfortable as an inline tight end, although he does some h-back as well for Independence. He is the opposite of King in that he has lots of experience blocking and is a mauler in that role. He puts his blocking target on the ground more times than not. He has a good understanding of leverage and brings some violence to the task, whether he has a big guy at the lone of scrimmage or a linebacker, even a defensive back downfield. As a receiver, I like his feet. Independence's offensive concepts limit what you see, mainly flat routes and curls. I could see him doing more downfield and believe he is capable. The catch radius is there too. He can go up and get it or pull it in off the carpet.

The Facts: Helm is a favorite of mine. I like his personality and he seems to be a really strong student. None of that matters if he can't play, but he can. He moves around more than either King or Moore. He actually lines up at the tight end, slot or H-back, in the backfield, and split wide as a jumbo wide receiver. He played for a Class 5A State Champion in Colorado last season and did a lot to contribute. He is 6-5, 225-pounds and very athletic. 

The offer list is really good with the likes of Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Washington, Utah, UCLA, Arizona State, Auburn, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa State, and Nebraska. He has 26 offers in all. 

The Stats: They are good with 25 receptions for 370-yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged 14.8-yards per catch. 

I would like to thank all the coaches who have offered me to this point, with that being said I will be focusing on these 15 schools moving forward. #Top15 pic.twitter.com/tecUOerAmi

— Quentin Moore (@Quentinmoore88) April 9, 2020

Our Take: Helm is really talented and maybe the most versatile coming out. Some of that has to do with the Cherry Creek offense and they do line him up all over. As a receiver his body control is impressive and his catch radius is very impressive. He goes up and brings the ball down. He can go low for it and he makes a quarterback look good and feel very confident as he can reach out in front and pull the ball in from behind, really behind. He has good feet and stays balanced as he catches it, so that helps with yards after catch. He can run a variety of routes and really reminds me of current Dallas Cowboys tight end and former OSU Cowboy back Blake Jarwin. In my notes, I wrote down he is Jarwinesque. 

As a blocker he is more than solid. He has good leverage and good feet. He stays attached and is equally solid in blocking down the field in the open and in a confined area. I also like how he sets the edge.