Oklahoma Football Signing Day Recap

Taking a look at the Sooners' class and breaking down each of the Sooners' signees on National Signing Day. 

Wednesday, February 5th 2014, 8:58 am

By: News 9


It's National Signing Day and 26 players are officially heading to Norman to begin their college football careers with the Oklahoma Sooners. We've broken down the signees by position and looked at how the Sooners did addressing needs at each position.

Quarterback

Justice Hansen- quarterback, Santa Fe HS, Edmond, Oklahoma, 6'4" 216

- Rivals: 4-star, No. 7 pro-style quarterback

- Scout: 4-star, No. 16 quarterback

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 5 dual-threat quarterback

-The Sooners are well-stocked at the quarterback position. In fact, that may be a gross understatement. Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield will indeed join the team as a walk on. Bob Stoops confirmed at Wednesday's press conference he had met Mayfield for the first time Tuesday night. With Blake Bell's move to tight end and Kendal Thompson's transfer, the Sooners won't be dealing with six quarterbacks in the spring, but needless to say, OU has plenty of options here for the next several years.

Running Back

Joe Mixon- running back, Freedom HS, Oakley, California, 6'2" 207

-Rivals: 5-star, No. 1 all-purpose back

-Scout: 5-star, No. 5 running back

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 6 running back

-The Sooners are a bit uncertain at running back going into the 2014 season. They have a couple of talented options in Keith Ford and Alex Ross, but depth is a concern. Getting one of the top running backs in this year's class in Mixon will go a long way toward solidifying this unit for both next season and the next couple of years, and will probably see the field some right away.

Fullback

Dimitri Flowers- athlete, Churchill HS, San Antonio, Texas, 6'3" 219

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 42 athlete

-Scout: 3-star, No. 5 fullback

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 98 athlete

Samaje Perine- running back, Hendrickson HS, Pflugerville, Texas, 6'0" 213

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 13 running back

-Scout: 3-star, No. 2 fullback

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 17 running back

-Losing Trey Millard was a big blow to the Sooners this past season, but these two players could give Oklahoma a big boost at the position for the future as they learn behind veteran Aaron Ripkowski. Flowers has drawn comparisons to Millard with his athleticism and ability to play multiple positions. Perine is switching over to fullback after playing running back in high school and is a load.

Wide Receiver

Michiah Quick- athlete, Central East HS, Fresno, California, 6'0" 170

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 4 athlete

-Scout: 4-star, No. 6 wide receiver

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 9 athlete

Jeffery Mead- wide receiver, Union HS, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 6'5" 179

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 71 wide receiver

-Scout: 3-star, No. 89 wide receiver

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 56 wide receiver

Mark Andrews- wide receiver Desert Mountain HS, Scottsdale, Arizona, 6'6" 225

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 13 wide receiver

-Scout: 4-star, No. 10 wide receiver

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 7 tight end-H

Dallis Todd- wide receiver, La Mirada HS, La Mirada, California, 6'4" 205

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 48 wide receiver

-Scout: 4-star, No. 40 wide receiver

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 37 wide receiver

-The Sooners have a good crop of receivers already on the roster, but none of them boast the size and strength that the incoming signees have. All three of the incoming recruits stand at least 6-foot-5. It will be interesting to see how the Sooners use these big, physical receivers, luxuries the Sooners haven't had a lot of in the past. The addition of Quick is big and it's likely the Sooners will use him all over the field, possibly even as a change-of-pace running back. One can never have too many weapons on offense. Wide receivers coach Jay Norvell continues to pull in impressive classes and because of that, the wide receiver position is one of the deepest on the team.

Tight End

Isaac Ijalana- tight end, Pierce Community College, Woodland Hills, California, 6'5" 235

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 2-star

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 1 JUCO tight end-Y

Carson Meier- tight end, Union HS, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 6'7" 220

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 25 tight end

-ESPN, 4-star, No. 6 tight end-Y

-This is a big need for the Sooners and they've addressed it nicely in the past couple of signing classes. This might be the best one, with Ijalana being the No. 1 JUCO tight end in the country. The tight end position was something that made the OU offense pretty potent in 2007-2010, but since then, it's kind of gone away. It could be on its way to a comeback in the OU offense now.

Offensive Line

Kenyon Frison- offensive tackle, Granger HS, West Valley City, Utah, 6'5" 290

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 32 offensive tackle

-Scout: 4-star, No. 24 offensive tackle

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 34 offensive tackle

Jonathan Alvarez- offensive line, Mesquite Horn HS, Mesquite, Texas, 6'3" 300

-Rivals: 2 star

-Scout: 2-star, No. 27 center

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 58 offensive guard

Natrell Curtis- offensive line, Mountain Pointe HS, Phoenix, Arizona, 6'3" 325

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 17 offensive guard

-Scout: 3-star, No. 32 offensive guard

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 23 offensive guard

Alex Dalton- offensive line, Troy HS, Troy, Ohio, 6'4" 280

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 7 offensive guard

-Scout: 3-star, No. 24 offensive guard

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 6 center

Joseph Paul- offensive line, St. Augustine HS, New Orleans, Louisiana, 6'4" 340

-Rivals: 2-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 63 offensive guard

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 39 offensive guard

Orlando Brown- offensive tackle, Peachtree HS, Duluth, Georgia, 6'8" 340

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 46 offensive tackle

-Scout: 3-star, No. 68 offensive tackle

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 35 offensive tackle 

-Oklahoma needed some depth on the interior of the offensive line and they certainly accomplished that with this foursome. None of these players is an incredible talent, but right now, there's not a need for them to be able to play right away. However, their development is key for the future of the OU offense, especially at tackle, where the Sooners are thin, The addition of Frison was absolutely huge for the Sooners and a very impressive signing. He's just another example of how the Sooners' Sugar Bowl win translated into big things in the recruiting game.

Defensive line

Dwayne Orso- defensive end, Homewood HS, Homewood, Alabama, 6'6" 255

-Rivals: 2-star

-Scout: 2-star

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 107 defensive end

Courtney Garnett- defensive tackle, St. Augustine HS, New Orleans, Louisiana, 6'2" 280

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 59 defensive tackle

-EPSN: 4-star, No. 39 defensive tackle

-Once again, the Sooners aren't hurting at either defensive end or defensive tackle, so these are two players that will be given plenty of time to learn and develop into solid players. It hurt to lose commit Brandon Glenn due to academic reasons, but the addition of Garnett softened that blow considerably. Garnett will be a quality backup for Jordan Phillips and Jordan Wade in the middle, while Orso will probably take some time to crack the rotation.

Linebacker

Devante Bond- linebacker, Sierra Community College, Roseville, California, 6'3" 240

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 9 JUCO outside linebacker

Curtis Bolton- linebacker, Vista Murrieta HS, Murrieta, California 6'2" 215

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 44 outside linebacker

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 79 outside linebacker

Tay Evans- linebacker, Allen HS, Allen, Texas, 6'3" 202

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 52 outside linebacker

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 44 outside linebacker

-Now this is a position that needed a bit of help as far as depth is concerned. The Sooners have a very solid starting group, as well as two good backups. However, more depth is always a good thing, and these signings are excellent for OU. Bond is especially helpful because he could be a guy that comes in and plays right away as a backup. Bolton and Evans have good size and should bulk up nicely in the OU strength program in order to contribute in the future.

Defensive back

Steven Parker- defensive back, Jenks HS, Jenks, Oklahoma, 6'2" 185

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 6 safety

-Scout: 4-star, No. 11 safety

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 9 safety

Marcus Green- defensive back, Cedar Hill HS, Cedar Hill, Texas, 6'1" 176

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 46 cornerback

-Scout: 3-star, No. 35 cornerback

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 29 cornerback

Vontre McQuinnie- defensive back, DeSoto HS, DeSoto, Texas 6'1" 204

-Rivals- 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 42 outside linebacker

-ESPN- 3-star, No. 37 safety

Tito Windham- defensive back, Harrison Central HS, Gulfport, Mississippi, 5'10" 181

-Rivals: 3-star

-Scout: 3-star, No. 57 cornerback

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 62 athlete

Jordan Thomas- safety, Klein Collins HS, Klein, Texas, 6'1" 180

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 31 safety

-Scout: 3-star, No. 42 safety

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 55 athlete

-The OU secondary has definitely benefited from the return of Mike Stoops as defensive coordinator, and the recruiting at the position has picked up a lot as well. There's a lot of young talent in the secondary on the Sooners' roster, and all five of these players will only help, especially Parker, who will come in with a chance to start right away at Gabe Lynn's vacated position. The secondary was the key part of Stoops' defenses in the early years of Bob Stoops' time in Norman, and it's looking like it could be once again.

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