UPDATE!-Find out about Two More Next Week/Time for Pokes to Put the Foot Down on 2021 Football Recruiting Class
If the NCAA mandate isn't shifted then schools are still a month away from being able to leave campus to recruit or have prospects on campus for official or unofficial visits. Another month, but unlike the patience being shows early in the COVID-19 pandemic, now some prospects are jumping to commit. Likely being pressed by schools saying they only have so many "seats at the table." Those situations usually favor the blue bloods. In case you are wondering, Oklahoma State has game with excellent graphics and assistant coaches on the phone, face timing, and with social media savvy.
Head coach Mike Gundy has game and even has said to have taken calls from recruits while on the tractor or combine. How can you not respect one of America's farmers.
Up until now, Oklahoma State as not lost out on but a very few players they were recruiting. Now a few of the patient ones are getting antsy and committing before even taking visits.
A quick look at the current squad shows Oklahoma State with 20 scholarship seniors on the team for this coming season and when you add running back Chiba Hubbard, a red-shirt junior that will almost assuredly go in the 2021 NFL Draft, then that means you are looking at 21 prospects as of right now.
Here is our number breakdown:
| Position | Scholarship Seniors | Underclassmen that might go | Number Likely Taken in 2021 Class |
|---|---|---|---|
Offensive Line | 4-Teven Jenkins, Dylan Galloway, Matt Kegel, Ry Schneider | None | Four |
Cowboy Back | 1-Logan Carter (Dayton Metcalf is a walk-on) | None | One |
Receiver | 4-Landon Wolf, Dillon Stoner, Tylan Wallace, Dee Anderson | None | Four |
Running Back | 2-L.D. Brown and Micah Cooper | 1-Chuba Hubbard | Two |
Quarterback | None | None | One - Gunnar Gundy will be a walk-on |
Defensive Line | 2-Cameron Murray and Amadou Fofana | None | Three |
Linebacker | 4-Malcolm Rodriguez, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Devin Harper, Calvin Bundage | None | Four |
Cornerback | 1-Radarius Williams | None | One or Two |
Safety | None | 1-Kolby Harvel-Peel | One |
Specialists | None | None | One (maybe) |
Recruiting classes are always moving targets and they are always changing and evolving, so we will watch and see. Here us my latest news and updates.
As far as the commitments, the latest is on offense and the other two are on the defensive side of the football, which to me is good.
The latest is explosive running back and all-purpose offensive performer and speedster Jaden Nixon of Frisco (Lone Star), Texas. His dad played football and mom ran track, both at Oklahoma State, so Jaden is following in good stead. He will be a real threat in the Oklahoma State offense and could line up a lot of places with his 4.36 speed.
Kolbe Fields is looking good as you can check out some of his recent work here on Twitter and he and his workout mates are practicing social distancing. You might want to be more discriminating with who you look to for profiles as some sites and networks have become lazy in updating heights and weights. Some of that is not having the UA and Student Sports events. In Texas, I would trust Next Level Athlete and Texas Football. On all others Pokes Report is contacting recruits and updating information.
For instance, Fields is 6-1 and he is now 210 plus and some places still have him at 205-pounds. Fields is also a big plus in helping the Cowboys on his Archbishop Rummel teammate in running back Logan Diggs. Diggs recently narrowed down to 10, but Oklahoma State is on the better side of the 10 he is considering.
The other commitment on defense is fairly new in Ty Williams, the quarterback and safety from Muskogee. Williams is a robust 6-1, almost 190-pounds. He is a ball of energy that plays four sports, football, basketball, wrestling, and track when school is in session. Now during the COVID-19 pandemic he is taking on-line school and working four jobs, one with the county, one for church, mowing grass, and one other job.
I did ask him to confirm and he has 14 interceptions the past two seasons and as a sophomore on the Roughers varsity, while starting at quarterback played 10 defensive snaps that season (2018) and had five interceptions. That is unreal!
Two prospects that Oklahoma State is in deep on are set to announce their commitment next week.
Tulsa Union speedster and star on both sides of the ball in A.J.Green says it is "coming soon."
I've felt for a long time that this is Bedlam recruiting battle. It is also a choice for Green whether he wants to play offense and running back (Oklahoma State) or defense in the secondary (Oklahoma).
Danny Stutsman out of the Orlando area in Florida is a Baylor legacy, but the nearly 6-3, 220-pound linebacker is looking at Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Minnesota, West Virginia and OU as choices with the choice coming next week. He announced that on Twitter and he also posted his latest bench press rep max, which was really impressive.
Okay, lets hit some positions.
Jaeden Roberts on his visit to Oklahoma State looked very imposing.
Offensive line and I believe the top four for the Cowboys are big Jaeden Roberts from Galena Park North Shore, extra long Reuben Fatheree II from Richmond Foster, Jacoby Jackson from Mansfield Summit, and Isaia Glass from Queen Creek, Arizona.
The two at the top of the list are Texas Jaeden Roberts and Reuben Fatheree II. Both have been on the Oklahoma State campus and both really have established strong ties to Cowboys O-line coach Charlie Dickey.
Glass is interesting in that he is just 245-250-pounds and will need to grow into his frame, but I wouldn't be concerned about that. I've seen prospects that do that and when they finish the frame in Rob Glass' room and workouts, you get a really athletic offensive lineman.
Jacoby Jackson is a finished frame at 6-6, 315 pounds. He will get stronger and the Cowboys need to get him on campus.
Cowboy back is where Oklahoma State recently lost a prospect they liked as Texas got a commitment from Atascocita wide receiver/tight end Landon King.
Englewood (Cherry Creek), Colo., prospect Gunnar Helm and junior college prospect and Cowboy legacy Quentin Moore out of Independence C.C. and originally out of Washington are the top two contenders. Helm told me he is definitely visiting Oklahoma State and Moore is the son of former Oklahoma State All-American safety Mark Moore.
Quentin Moore has shown he is a top prospect at Independence C.C.
Independence C.C. football
Running back is a big project for the Cowboys as you can expect to see Chuba Hubbard, L.D. Brown, and Micah Cooper heading on after this season. Hubbard should make this a prime landing spot for any talented back. Oklahoma State can be a launching pad for running backs and receivers.
We talked about Logan Diggs in Louisiana. Cam'Ron Valdez of Rockdale has talked up Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys are taking at least two.
In-state there are a lot of folks that see A.J. Green as a defensive player at corner. Oklahoma State sees him as a 5-11, 190-pound running back. The question is what does Green see himself doing? What does the Tulsa Union standout want to play? The answer comes next week with his decision.
L.J. Johnson on Cy-Fair in the Houston area fit the offense well as does Jaden Nixon of Lone Star in Frisco, Texas. Alton McCaskill has a ton of offers, but likes Oklahoma State and Auburn and Penn State. He is 6-1, 195-pounds but a track speedster that averaged nearly eight-yards a carry last season.
Audric Estime (6-1, 215) and junior college back Tiyon Evans (5-9, 225) are more jumbo guys. Both show interest in Oklahoma State and ideally, you would like to get a couple of different type of backs.
The names I throw out here are ones to watch. These are guys you want to see either commit to Oklahoma State or stay open long enough to get a visit and check out campus.
Wide receiver should not be a problem for now offensive coordinator and receivers coach Kasey Dunn. The Green twins remind a lot of folks of the Wallace twins and Bryson and Blain Green are bonafide top 200 type players in the nation and they have Oklahoma State on their list. I think it comes down to the Cowboys and Minnesota where their older brother is playing.
Kasey Dunn standing between Blaine (left) and Bryson (right) Green inside the Oklahoma State locker room.
Some receivers have started committing and that is not good, but besides the Green twins, recent offers like Keon Coleman from Opelousas, Louisiana and Michael Jackson from Las Vegas Desert Pines are both good fits for Dunn and the Cowboys air raid mix in their attack. I also like Quaydarius Davis out of Dallas Skyline, speedster Bryce Stephens out of Oklahoma City John Marshall, and Norman's Jaden Bray.
Not worried about quarterback. Oklahoma State may sign one, but walk-on Gunnar Gundy is a freshman in January and he can flat out play. One coach told me that if his last name hadn't been Gundy and everybody thought he was going to OSU, that he would have had 25-to-30 offers from mostly power five schools.
Collin Oliver and is top school as he posted on Twitter.
Twitter (cloliver25)
Defensively, at this stage I would love to see a slew of in-state players commit. Oklahoma high school players have a chip on their shoulder about recruiting. The Cowboys have offered and I know they would love to lock in Thomas-Fay-Custer defensive tackle Aden Kelley, safety Kendal Daniels out of Beggs, defensive end Collin Oliver out of Edmond Santa Fe, and soon to commit linebacker Donovan Stephens out of Del City. Throw in Green from Tulsa Union and that is a solid Oklahoma haul to go along with Ty Williams, the pledge out of Muskogee.
Another defensive player recently offered that is an Oklahoma native is Midwest City athlete Makale Smith. He figures to be in the secondary somewhere if he says yes to Oklahoma State.
The search for linebackers has managed to go nearly coast to coast as two prospects are Florida standout Danny Stutsman and another player at Queen Creek, Arizona in Trey Reynolds. Stutsman may have run out of patience with the coronavirus as he has said he will announce next week, May 4-9.
Some other defenders that I really like include safety Jeffrey Bassa out of Salt Lake City Kearns High School. I love this Todd Bradford and Benny Tonga inspired recruiting run into Utah. They have a lot of good football players.
A couple of other names and prospects that I will be keeping close tabs on include DeSoto, Texas standout defensive lineman Shemar Turner. I know it may be a pipe dream, but sometimes dreams do come true.
I love Duncanville linebacker Kendrick Blackshire and also enjoy watching Texan Morice Blackwell from Arlington Martin and Del City's Rejhan Tatum.
The last name I will throw out there is safety C.J. Baskerville. The 6-2, 190-pound move in from Katy had 85 tackles last season with a pick and a forced fumble for North Richland Hills near Fort Worth.