The Future at Quarterback

At what is basically the midpoint of 2017 recruiting it's time to take some inventory of what is happening in the class. And what better way to do so than to compare it to it's nearest peer. And as it's been over a year since Oklahoma first picked up a commitment in the 2017 class and as it was at quarterback it seems the logical position to start with. So it's time to compare Chris Robison and Austin Kendall and see how the Sooners situation may look for the foreseeable future at the game's premier position.

The two had nearly identical rankings in high school so separating one from the other on that measuring stick is nearly impossible.

Robison got Oklahoma's class started with a bang when he committed late last June, just prior to the Texas State 7on7 championships. He said at the time that he was solid in his commitment and more than a year later he has shown no signs of wavering with Lincoln Riley and the Sooners. In that time he has put together an impressive junior season, in spite of fighting off a few nagging injuries but has really made his impression on the camp circuit over the last six months.

He shined at regional camps for both NIKE and Under Armour before going off to the Rivals Five-Star Challenge as well as last week's The Opening. Repeatedly Robison showed off a real ability to deliver throws at each level, including at the Dallas Under Armour event that was windy and cold - far from prime throwing conditions. The thing that surprised many is that as Robison has continued to fill out his velocity has caught up with his quick decisions and release. Few players in the country are more decisive with the ball in their hands than Robison who goes from decision to 'ball gone' in the blink of an eye.

The nation's No. 4 dual-threat quarterback seems the near ideal fit for Riley's offense with his clear arm talent along with his underrated athletic ability. And though he isn't the biggest guy that's shows of little importance in the design of Riley's multi-faceted spread offense.

While Robison's commitment was one of the earliest in memory Kendall was seen as 'late' in spite of happening nearly 10 months before National Signing Day. However, unlike his previous commitment to Tennessee, Kendall never wavered from his Oklahoma decision and showed immediate interest in recruiting and trying to build a talented 2016 class.

After a junior season in which Kendall led his team to the state semifinals his senior season saw him fight off injuries, including one that cost him the better part of a few weeks of his season. In spite of that Kendall still managed to throw for over 2600 yards and had 23 touchdowns on the year as his team went to the second round of the playoffs.

He followed that up with a trip to the Semper Fi All-American Bowl where he was one of the game's better quarterbacks showing off maturity and experience beyond his years - particularly running some of the finer points of his future offense.

Kendall then arrived in Norman and promptly made a series of strong impressions culminated by a strong Red-White game performance that left a lot of people thinking the Sooners could have an able backup in spite of his youth.

Prior to the spring game this would have felt fairly straight forward in my eyes, perhaps due to considerably more familiarity with Robison however after seeing Kendall really pick up the offense at an impressive rate it's tough to make the call, so I won't.

Kidding, kidding. I'll take Robison as I think he has bit more arm and a bit more ability to deliver the ball quickly at every level.

But that being said, the thing that is clear is that should Riley some day have the decision between these two the Sooners should end up in a very good situation.