Who to Watch this Weekend

Signing day has come and gone, meaning almost all the focus for Oklahoma turns toward the 2019 and 2020 classes.

The Sooners will be hosting their second junior day in the last four weeks, bringing a bevy of top prospects to Norman on Saturday afternoon.

There are a lot of things that make this a little bit different than usual. Some of it out of OU’s control. Some of it because it’s what the program wants.

OU has never been a school to brings loads of recruits to junior day, opting to make it as elite as possible. That number has been decreased even more as OU has essentially said this weekend is about commits, offers and recruits expecting to get offered.

Usually, OU’s junior day begins around 2 p.m. CST, but this one is also going to be different. OU’s basketball team takes on Texas at 11 a.m. CST, and the Sooners are hoping to showcase that atmosphere to the football recruits so the day is starting considerably earlier than usual.

That makes traveling a bit different. Prospects either have to leave very early in the morning to get to Norman or get a hotel Friday evening.

That’s what OU has chosen to do. What it had no say over is the fact Texas and Illinois are both having junior days Saturday as well.

Texas and OU will continue to compete for top 2019 recruits, and Saturday is another battle between the Sooners and Longhorns.

Now you don’t put the Illini as regular competitors against the Sooners, but when you’re dealing with top-tier kids from St. Louis, it becomes something to watch.

OU initially figured to have a strong St. Louis presence this weekend, but now it feels as though that’s dwindling. Doesn’t mean the Sooners have fallen out of favor, but the expected names took a hit as they’re choosing the shorter trip to Illinois compared to OU.

So yea, this makes for an interesting junior day event for the Sooners. Will it work out? Will it backfire? It’s what we’re about to find out.

Here are five recruits to be on the watch for Saturday.

There’s no evidence of this, but it just feels better when there’s a major commit at the junior day. Bridges qualifies as that. It would be great to get Phoenix Pinnacle quarterback Spencer Rattler to Norman again, but that’s a lot to ask for a kid from Phoenix. Bridges is the next best thing and has built great relationships with other top prospects in the class. There’s also a sigh of relief for OU fans. In the past two weeks, Bridges has been offered by Alabama and Ohio State. However, he won’t be in Columbus or Tuscaloosa. He’s returning to Norman.

Just when it almost felt safe to close the door on Green, he breaks it wide open by choosing to attend OU’s junior day. Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has built a great relationship with Green in the last year, but you started to get the impression that it simply wasn’t going to pan out. Green has appeared to be a battle between Texas A&M and LSU so it’s up to OU to make up a lot of ground and do whatever it can to change that narrative.

OU fell just short at Cajon in the 2018 class with Jeremiah Martin. But in trying to close the show there, it gave OU multiple chances to check in with Perkins. The Sooners became a player back in October, and there’s a real sense OU is the team to beat for the one-time UCLA commit. Perkins has family in the state, which make this a little bit easier than most cross-country visits. Perkins also has outstanding relationships with top recruits in California. OU most likely won’t land Perkins this weekend, but it could go a long way toward separating itself from the rest of the crowd.

Sooners could use a win here. Receiver targets Dylan Wright and Garrett Wilson are both attending the Texas junior day instead of OU, but a lot of that pain can be alleviated as long as Wease, a five-star prospect, shows up once again in Norman. It was at this event last year where Wease originally committed to the Sooners and back in the fall OU was the clear favorite once again. Here comes Texas A&M. The Aggies are rolling with momentum with Wease and other top-tier Texas kids. This is the weekend where OU puts an end to that in Wease and starts making its charge once again.

Young has become one of the hottest names not just in Texas but in all of recruiting for the 2019 class. OU offered recently, and the prevailing thought has been defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks has the Sooners in a good spot. A visit this weekend with teammate fellow OU offer Jamal Morris could put the Sooners in the right direction. As OU continues to put in work for #NewWave19, it’s not unnoticeable at this point that the bulk of the success has occurred offensively. This is a big weekend for Cooks and the rest of OU’s defensive coaches.