OU Football: Breaking Down the Sooners' Signing Class

We're taking a look at all the Sooners' signees and breaking down the 2015 Oklahoma signing class. <br/>

Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 9:00 am

By: News 9


Despite a disappointing 2014 football season, National Signing Day was good for the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners closed strong in the recruiting period, but this year's finish might be more impressive than last year's close since OU didn't have any on-field momentum to cash in with recruits.

The 2015 class is in and we've broken down the group by position and then analyzed how the recruits address the needs on the Oklahoma roster.

Quarterback

The Sooners didn't take a quarterback in this class because of the depth already on the roster. Oklahoma has four quarterbacks ranging from redshirt freshman to redshirt junior, so there's no shortage of depth or experience at the position. With the hiring of Lincoln Riley as offensive coordinator, Oklahoma will have a better idea of what it wants its quarterback to look like going forward. Look for OU to sign one in the 2016 class.

 

Running Back

Rodney Anderson- RB- 6'1, 205, Katy HS, Katy, Texas

-Four-star Rivals, No. 24 running back

-Four-star ESPN, No. 23 running back

-Four-star Scout, No. 21 running back

Same scenario as the quarterback position. The Sooners' depth at the running back position is incredible, especially with the emergence of Samaje Perine this past season and the return of Joe Mixon from suspension. Anderson put up some gaudy numbers in high school, but he's a redshirt for sure.

Related Story: OU Football: Signing Day Press Conference Notebook

Wide Receiver

John Humphrey- WR- 6'0, 160, Clear Falls HS, League City, Texas

-Three-star Rivals, No. 61 wide receiver

-Four-star ESPN, No. 23 wide receiver

-Three-star Scout, No. 83 wide receiver

DeDe Westbrook- WR- 6'1, 170, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, Texas

-Four-star Rivals

-Four-star ESPN, No. 4 JUCO wide receiver

-Four-star Scout

A.D. Miller- WR- 6'4, 175, Bishop Dunne HS, Dallas, Texas

-Three-star Rivals, No. 79 wide receiver

-Three-star ESPN, No. 78 wide receiver

-Three-star Scout, No. 74 wide receiver

Dahu Green- WR- 6'4, 188, Westmoore HS, Moore, Oklahoma

-Three-star Rivals, No. 49 wide receiver

-Three-star ESPN, No. 71 wide receiver

-Three-star Scout, No. 98 wide receiver

While the Sooners are still currently without a wide receivers coach, they still have a very solid class of receiver. Jay Norvell left a nice parting gift with Humphrey and Westbrook before heading off to Texas to be the Longhorns' receivers coach. Humphrey has a lot of speed and Westbrook has already made a lot of heads turn in voluntary workouts. Lincoln Riley is already proving his worth on the recruiting trail, as Miller and Green came on board thanks to Riley's efforts. Neither were seriously considering the Sooners before Riley was hired.

 

Tight End

Dalton Wood- ATH- 6'4, 250, McAlester HS, McAlester, Oklahoma

-Three-star Rivals, No 44 athlete

-Three-star ESPN, No. 103 athlete

-Three-star Scout, No. 51 tight end

Wood was a quarterback for the Buffaloes this season, but with size comparable to Blake Bell, he'll most likely make the move to tight end in Norman. Wood is a lot like Bell in many different ways and has surprising speed for a big guy.


Offensive Line

Jamal Danley- OL- 6'5, 305, East Mississippi Community College, Scooba, Mississippi

-Four-star Rivals

-Three-star ESPN, No. 1 JUCO offensive guard

-Three-star Scout

Bobby Evans- OL- 6'5, 270, Allen HS, Allen, Texas

-Four-star Rivals, No. 25 offensive tackle

-Four-star ESPN, No. 16 offensive tackle

-Four-star Scout, No. 9 offensive tackle

Cody Ford- OL- 6'4, 322, Pineville HS, Pineville, Louisiana

-Four-star Rivals, No. 22 offensive guard

-Three-star ESPN, No. 87 offensive guard

-Three-star Scout, No. 31 offensive guard

Dominique Hearne- OL- 6'3, 288, Lancaster, HS, Lancaster, Texas

-Three-star Rivals, No. 46 offensive guard

-Three-star ESPN, No. 45 offensive guard

-Three-star Scout, No. 76 offensive guard

Dru Samia- OL- 6'5, 280, San Ramon Valley HS, Danville, California

-Four-star Rivals, No. 23 offensive tackle

-Three-star ESPN, No. 59 offensive guard

-Four-star Scout, No. 14 offensive tackle

A healthy offensive line class is important for any football program, so the Sooners definitely accomplished that. Evans tore an ACL this past season, so he'll be coming in unable to practice for some time. This group focuses on the guard position more than the tackle position, thanks to Orlando Brown and Kenyon Frison already on the roster from last season's class. Bill Bedenbaugh has done an excellent job bringing in linemen since he got to Norman, and the task of paving the road for backs like Samaje Perine seems to be appealing to recruits.


Defensive Line

Gabriel Campbell- DE- 6'6, 250, Yazoo City HS, Yazoo City, Mississippi

-Three-star Rivals, No. 23 defensive end

-Four-star ESPN, No. 27 defensive end

-Three-star Scout, No. 32 defensive end

Neville Gallimore- DT- 6'3, 303, Canada Prep Football Academy, St. Catharines, Ontario

-Four-star Rivals, No. 9 defensive tackle

-Four-star ESPN, No. 16 defensive tackle

-Four-star Scout, No. 9 defensive tackle

Kenneth Mann- DE- 6'4, 240, Burleson HS, Burleson, Texas

-Three-star Rivals, No. 26 defensive end

-Three-star ESPN, No. 40 defensive end

-Three-star Scout, No. 82 defensive end

Marquise Overton- DT- 6'2, 300, Jenks HS, Jenks, Oklahoma

-Four-star Rivals, No. 19 defensive tackle

-Four-star ESPN, No. 20 defensive tackle

-Four-star Scout, No. 24 defensive tackle

The Sooners have three of the best defensive line prospects in the entire Big 12, yet another sign Jerry Montgomery is one of the best recruiters around and someone the Sooners desperately need to hang on to in the future. Oklahoma has a lot of great defensive linemen already on the roster, but you can never have too much depth in the trenches. Gallimore in particular is a great pickup due to the loss of Jordan Phillips. There's a bit of uncertainty surrounding Overton and his academic eligibility, but he's confident things will work out.


Linebacker

Ricky DeBerry- LB- 6'2, 231, Atlee HS, Mechanicsville, Virginia

-Four-star Rivals, No. 11 linebacker

-Four-star ESPN, No. 14 defensive end

-Five-star Scout, No. 3 outside linebacker

Arthur McGinnis- LB- 6'2, 228, Warren Easton HS, New Orleans, Louisiana

-Four-star Rivals, No. 18 outside linebacker

-Three-star ESPN, No. 30 outside linebacker

-Three-star Scout, No. 24 middle linebacker

This is an area where the Sooners are sorely lacking, but these additions are extremely important for OU. Not including the signees, Oklahoma has just 11 linebackers on the roster, a low number for a team that runs a 3-4 scheme. That also doesn't include the possibility of Frank Shannon returning to the team after a year's suspension. This is a problem area, but at least McGinnis and DeBerry are really good and should provide enough of a bridge for the Sooners to look at some junior college prospects for next season.

 

Secondary

William Johnson- DB- 6'0, 180, Monroe Community College, New Rochelle, New York

-Three-star Rivals

-Four-star ESPN, No. 2 JUCO cornerback

-Three-star Scout

P.J. Mbanasor- DB- 6'1, 180, Hendrickson HS, Pflugerville, Texas

-Four-star Rivals, No. 28 cornerback

-Four-star ESPN, No. 6 cornerback

-Four-star Scout, No. 13 cornerback

Kahlil Haughton- DB- 6'1, 178, Midway HS, Waco, Texas

-Four-star Rivals, No. 28 safety

-Four-star ESPN, No. 28 safety

-Four-star Scout, No. 23 safety

Prentice McKinney- DB- 6'2, 180, South Oak Cliff HS, Dallas, Texas

-Four-star Rivals, No. 19 safety

-Four-star ESPN, No. 27 safety

-Three-star Scout, No. 35 safety

Will Sunderland- DB- 6'2, 186, Midwest City, HS, Midwest City, Oklahoma

-Four-star Rivals, No. 7 safety

-Four-star ESPN, No. 17 safety

-Four-star Scout, No. 7 safety

Antoine Stephens- DB- 6'2, 187, Kimball HS, Dallas, Texas

-Three-star Rivals, No. 77 cornerback

-Three-star ESPN, No. 30 cornerback

-Three-star Scout, No. 89 cornerback

This is another strong group that should bolster a unit that struggled mightily at times a year ago. There's a lot of youth at the cornerback position, including these new signees, so the competition for the open cornerback position opposite Zach Sanchez should be fierce. This safety crop really is outstanding and adds a lot of talent to an already solid group of players.

 

Special Teams

Austin Seibert- K- 5'10, 195, Belleville West HS, Belleville, Illinois

-Three-star Rivals, No. 2 kicker

-Three-star ESPN, No. 1 kicker

-Three-star Scout

Seibert will replace Michael Hunnicutt, whose fall from consistent to erratic was equally quick and shocking. Seibert has been shown on videos kicking 60+ yard field goals, so the Sooners are getting a really talented player here. Hopefully the consistently Hunnicutt had for the first three and a half years of his career will be a defining trait of Seibert's as well.




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