Jermaine Gresham unplugged
Former Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham ran a 4.76 40-time today at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, not horrible considering he’s 6-6, 260-plus pounds and coming off knee surgery. While that time won’t vault him higher in the draft, it shouldn’t knock him out of the late first/early second round, either.
Friday, Gresham met with the media Friday to discuss his knee, if he had any regrets about coming to school for his senior season and which NFL teams had contacted him.
(Thanks to our friends at the Cincinnati Enquirer for passing this Gresham video along)
-JT
Breaking down OU’s 2011 commitments
The ink on the 2010 class is still drying, but that hasn’t slowed down the Sooners from going after the class of 2011.
Already, the Sooners have five verbal commitments.
TE Chris Barnett (Euless, Texas)
It’s hard not to envision Barnett being a Top 100 player nationally when the rankings come out. Barnett (6-6, 245) had offers from just about every big-time school, including Notre Dame, Florida State and Miami. Imagine the tight end trio of Barnett, Austin Haywood and Trey Millard in Norman in coming years. Wow.
WR Kameel Jackson (Arlington, Texas)
OU’s first pickup for this class, Jackson committed six games into his junior season. A knee injury kept him from playing much though last season. But as a sophomore, he was dynamite with 54 catches for 761 yards and seven TDs. Arlington Sam Houston is looking at Jackson returning to that form next season.
LB P.L. Lindley (Round Rock, Texas)
The Sooners have once again doubled up from a school in Texas. Last year it was West Orange-Stark. This year, Lindley and Wade from Stony Point, which is located along the outskirts of Austin. Lindley had 90 tackles last season to go along with 4 sacks and 2 INTs.
QB Kendal Thompson (Southmoore)
The son of former Sooner Charles Thompson, Kendal Thompson, a probable Top 10 QB nationally when the rankings are released, figures to have plenty of attention on him when he arrives in Norman. Unlike his father, Thompson is pocket QB and will duke it out with Blake Bell for the title of OU QB of the future. With Thompson and Bell, OU is more than set at QB for the next five years.
DT Jordan Wade (Round Rock, Texas)
Lindley and Wade will team up next season to give Stony Point one of the best defenses in the state of Texas. Wade had offers from A&M, Baylor and Houston. He was a Class 5A second-team all-state selection last season.
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
Chat with Jake Trotter at 11 a.m.
OU adds two more verbals
Saturday was a big recruiting day for the Oklahoma football team.
Hours after getting a commitment from Euless, Texas, tight end Chris Barnett, the Sooners snagged verbals from a pair of defenders, P.L. Lindley and Jordan Wade, from Stony Point High School (Round Rock, Texas), according to Rivals.
Lindley, an outside linebacker, had offers from Houston, SMU and Rice.
Wade, a defensive tackle, was being courted by LSU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
OU now has five commitments for the class of 2011.
-JT
OU picks up No. 3 for class of 2011
Oklahoma has added its third verbal commitment to the recruiting class of 2011.
Euless (Texas) Trinity High School tight end Chris Barnett joined Southmoore QB Kendal Thompson and Arlington, Texas, WR Kameel Jackson in pledging to OU, Rivals.com reported.
Barnett is 6-foot-6, 245 pounds.
He had additional offers from Miami, OSU, TCU, Tennessee and Texas.
-JT
Bradford to work out March 25
Former Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford will attend the NFL Scouting Combine, but won’t work out in front of scouts until March 25, according to former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah of MoveTheSticks.com.
Tom Condon, Bradford’s agent, sent an email to all NFL teams letting them know that at the combine Bradford will participate in the medical evaluation, interview process and wonderlic testing, but will hold off on the workout.
Bradford won’t throw for scouts at OU’s pro day March 9, either, and instead will have his own pro day March 25, presumably in Norman.
In his email, Condon also attached a letter from Dr. James Andrews, who performed Bradford’s shoulder surgery in the fall.
Andrews reports that Bradford is ahead of schedule and is increasing distance on his throws by the week. But Andrews has advised Bradford to wait until late March before working out before scouts.
Bradford, who is being projected to go in the Top 10 of the upcoming NFL Draft, is coming off shoulder surgery, which repaired an AC sprain Bradford suffered in his throwing shoulder.
-JT
OU announces 2010 football schedule
OU officially released its 2010 schedule. Opponents’ 2009 records are in parenthesis.
9/4 Utah State (4-8)
9/11 Florida State (7-6)
9/18 Air Force (8-5)
9/25 at Cincinnati (12-1)
10/2 Texas at Dallas (13-1)
10/9 Open
10/16 Iowa State (7-6)
10/23 at Missouri (8-5)
10/30 Colorado (3-9)
11/6 at Texas A&M (6-7)
11/13 Texas Tech (9-4)
11/20 at Baylor (4-8)
11/27 at Oklahoma State (9-4)
12/4 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship at Arlington, Texas
-JT
Chat with David Ubben at 11 a.m.
OU updates football depth chart
Oklahoma updated its depth chart late this week for the first time since the close of the 2009 season. Scan past the chart for a few thoughts.
| Offense | ||||
| LT | 59 Donald Stephenson |
Jr.
|
6-6
|
285
|
| 76 Jarvis Jones |
Jr.
|
6-7
|
297
|
|
| LG | 77 Stephen Good |
Jr.
|
6-6
|
291
|
| Bronson Irwin |
Fr.
|
6-5
|
322
|
|
|
C
|
61 Ben Habern |
Jr.
|
6-3
|
288
|
| 84 Gabe Ikard |
R-Fr.
|
6-4
|
252
|
|
| RG | 75 Tyler Evans |
So.
|
6-5
|
280
|
| 72 Tavaris Jeffries |
Sr.
|
6-4
|
309
|
|
| RT | 70 Cory Brandon |
Sr.
|
6-7
|
310
|
| 73 Josh Aladenoye |
R-Fr.
|
6-5
|
342
|
|
| TE | 69 Eric Mensik |
Sr.
|
6-6
|
265
|
| 47 Trent Ratterree |
Jr.
|
6-3
|
225
|
|
| WR | 24 Dejuan Miller |
Jr.
|
6-4
|
224
|
| 8 Brandon Caleb |
Sr.
|
6-1
|
187
|
|
| WR | 16 Jaz Reynolds |
So.
|
6-2
|
181
|
| 6 Cameron Kenney |
Sr.
|
6-1
|
190
|
|
| SL | 85 Ryan Broyles |
Jr.
|
5-11
|
178
|
| 17 Mossis Madu |
Sr.
|
6-0
|
200
|
|
| QB | 12 Landry Jones |
So.
|
6-4
|
216
|
| 15 Drew Allen |
R-Fr.
|
6-5
|
224
|
|
|
FB
|
32 Marshall Musil |
R-Fr.
|
6-2
|
218
|
| 48 Brandon Crow |
Sr.
|
6-1
|
221
|
|
| RB | 7 DeMarco Murray |
Sr.
|
6-1
|
214
|
| 23 Jermie Calhoun |
So.
|
6-0
|
218
|
|
| Defense | ||||
| DE | 44 Jeremy Beal |
Sr.
|
6-3
|
261
|
| 90 David King |
So.
|
6-5
|
236
|
|
| NG | 97 Jamarkus McFarland |
So.
|
6-2
|
296
|
| 53 Casey Walker |
So.
|
6-0
|
302
|
|
| DT | 86 Adrian Taylor |
Sr.
|
6-4
|
291
|
| 92 Stacey McGee |
So.
|
6-4
|
272
|
|
| DE | 84 Frank Alexander |
Jr.
|
6-4
|
259
|
| 95 Justin Chaisson |
R-Fr.
|
6-4
|
257
|
|
| SLB | 56 Ronnell Lewis |
So.
|
6-2
|
234
|
| 12 Austin Box |
Jr.
|
6-2
|
220
|
|
| MLB | 42 Tom Wort |
R-Fr.
|
6-0
|
220
|
| 31 Daniel Franklin |
So.
|
6-2
|
219
|
|
| WLB | 28 Travis Lewis |
Sr.
|
6-2
|
232
|
| 55 Jaydan Bird |
So.
|
6-1
|
227
|
|
| FCB | 19 Demontre Hurst |
So.
|
5-9
|
165
|
| 9 Gabe Lynn |
R-Fr.
|
6-0
|
186
|
|
| SS | 27 Sam Proctor |
Jr.
|
6-0
|
208
|
| 5 Joseph Ibiloye |
So.
|
6-3
|
208
|
|
| FS | 20 Quinton Carter |
Sr.
|
6-1
|
193
|
| 13 Marcus Trice |
So.
|
5-8
|
178
|
|
| BCB | 3 Jonathan Nelson |
Sr.
|
5-11
|
172
|
| 32 Jamell Fleming |
Jr.
|
5-11
|
178
|
|
Surprises:
* OU’s lack of depth on the offensive line for the spring is underscored by 1) freshman tight end Gabe Ikard being the top backup at center and 2) incoming freshman Bronson Irwin being the top backup at left guard. The Sooners should have more players to work with on the line come August, barring injury. But with Ben Habern and Jarvis Jones expected to miss the spring, OU will remain thin there for awhile. Still, it’s hard to believe that Ikard will remain on the line with Austin Woods, Habern and Brian Lepak all expected to man the position in the fall. Like Brody Eldridge, Ikard will probably be an emergency center. But who knows? If Ikard shows something at center in the spring, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson could leave there full time.
* It’s not really a surprise, but the fact that Jaz Reynolds is starting at WR over Brandon Caleb shows just what the Sooner staff feels about the rising sophomore’s performance late in the season, notably the Sun Bowl. Reynolds had a pair of crucial third-down catches that went for first downs in that game. It appears the starting job is now his to lose.
* Eric Mensik is back at tight end. Mensik was solid in two games at right tackle, which is why many believed he may stay considering OU’s lack of boides on the line couple with its rising total of bodies at tight end (Trent Ratterree, James Hanna, Austin Haywood, Trey Millard, Lane Johnson, allegedly Gabe Ikard). But with Ikard now working at center and Haywood questionable to qualify and Johnson still viewed as somewhat of a project, perhaps moving Mensik back to tight end makes sense numbers wise.
* Bob Stoops has been touting the talent of left tackle Donald Stephenson for the last two months. Now, it seems Stoops has backed up that talk by penciling in Stephenson as the starter at left tackle, ahead of Cory Brandon, who currently remains at right tackle. Stephenson, who was suspended all of last season by Stoops for off-the-field reasons, has some talent. How he develops as a starter in protecting Landry Jones’ blind side will be paramount for OU getting to the 10-win mark next season.
Notable omission:
* Quick trivia: who was the No. 1 recruit from the class of 2008? Well, you won’t find him on this depth chart. Defensive end R.J. Washington continues to be overtaken. First it was fellow class of 2008 member David King. Now, it’s Justin Chaisson, listed as Frank Alexander’s backup at end instead of Washington. This is a pivotal year for Washington. If he falls behind Chaisson on the depth chart, then Washington will find it very difficult to garner playing time in a Sooner uniform, especially with talented freshman Geneo Grissom on the way as well.
Other thoughts:
* Marshall Musil’s all-around game apparently has placed him ahead of Brandon Crow on the chart at fullback. But that doesn’t mean Crow won’t play. Expect the senior to see the field in short-yardage situations as a blocking fullback, similar to the role he played last season.
* Mossis Madu is currently backing up Ryan Broyles in the slot. That experiment, however, hasn’t gone completely to plan, as Madu has been slow to develop in his new position (to little fault of his own; Madu is a lifelong tailback). Madu could take some snaps at running back in the spring, especially since the staff is likely to take it easy on starter DeMarco Murray, and third-stringer Jonathan Miller is recovering from knee surgery. With Jermie Calhoun all that’s left to take live reps, seeing what Madu can provide at running back might be worth the look.
* Cameron Kenney needs a big spring. If he fails to produce, WR coach Jay Norvell will take a hard look at moving up freshman Kenny Stills in the spring, and freshman Justin McCay in the fall in the rotation.
* The LBs are currently placed where expected. Tom Wort in the middle, Travis Lewis on the weak side, Ronnell Lewis on the strong side. Look for safety Joe Ibiloye to get a lot of work at strong-side ‘backer too. He’ll play a lot there next season in passing downs as the nickel back. Austin Box is going to be key for the Sooners. He’s listed on the strong side right now, which makes sense. Box’s previous experience is in the middle and on the weak side. Spending the spring learning strong side will give Brent Venables the option of inserting Box at any of the three LB spots and feel comfortable he’ll know what he’s doing.
* Jonathan Nelson, as expected, is being moved back to corner to compensate for the graduation of Brian Jackson and early NFL departure of Dom Franks. Demontre Hurst is listed as the other corner. This is an educated guess, but Nelson is probably on the boundary side because he’s a couple inches taller than Hurst, and about 10 pounds heavier. The boundary corner usually needs to be a little more physical. Hurst has good speed, so putting him on the field side also makes sense. That leaves the original 2009 safety starters: FS Quinton Carter and SS Sam Proctor, who was replaced by Nelson in the starting lineup midway through this past season.
-JT
McCoy takes over the No. 1 spot
ESPN’s Todd McShay released his newest mock draft (ESPN Insider), and on top is a bit of a surprise.
Gerald McCoy.
The Oklahoma junior defensive tackle grabbed the No. 1 spot from Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, who McShay tabbed as the No. 2 pick.
If the pair ends up being the top two picks in the draft, it will be the first time since 1999 that the top two picks played the same position. In 1999, Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith, all quarterbacks, were the top three picks.
McCoy is one of four Oklahoma players McShay projects to be drafted in the first round.
Other Sooners on McShay’s mock draft:
8. OL Trent Williams, Oakland Raiders.
9. QB Sam Bradford, Buffalo Bills
21. TE Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals
