This is officially the Brent Venables era for defense at Oklahoma. The Sooners didn’t have one defensive lineman that weighed more than 300 pounds during the 2021 season.

One of Venables’ first commits is already over 300 pounds as Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High defensive lineman Alton Tarber becomes the third pledge for Venables in the last two days.

Tarber had been committed to Georgia Tech since August, but Venables made him a priority after taking over as OU’s head coach last week.

Tarber was one of the first 2022 offers, and Tarber, a three-star prospect, took an official visit to Norman over the weekend.

It didn’t take long as Tarber announced he was decommitting from Georgia Tech following his OU visit and the countdown was on.

His size says he’ll be in the middle of the defense, but his film shows someone who moves very well for someone his size. The addition of Tarber definitely gives you an idea of what Venables wants going forward for the defensive tackles at OU.

That makes OU three-for-three so far in terms of recruits who visited Norman over the weekend and have committed.

Tarber joins four-star prospects in Flower Mound (Texas) High quarterback Nick Evers and Lubbock (Texas) Cooper linebacker Kobie McKinzie as the other recruits to pick OU. Both Evers and McKinzie picked the Sooners on Monday.

Tarber continues the fun, but he shouldn’t be the last one for OU, either, as Venables and staff continue to pick up the pieces and get the 2022 class back on track.