Not to sound ungrateful "Pat" but this an SEC Focused Blog. However I will go ahead and throw it up. Thanks "Pat"
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When Oklahoma began its search for quarterbacks, the Sooners had to cast their net far and wide and do it in out of the ordinary ways. Because the search began in the middle of the quiet period and no quarterbacks could be called. The Sooners were forced to send out letters, fire off text messages and contact high school coaches to gauge interest from quarterbacks committed or not.
The original target group started with about 25-30 names on it.
The Sooners didn't send offers out right away to players like some other schools do when they need to fill a position of need. OU asked for the players to contact them if they were interested or not, and while many said thanks but no thanks (including names like Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Mallett and Peter Lalich), there has been some great response from others.
The name that everybody knows about is Cameron Newton, and Scoop will have more him here in a minute. Another is Stephen Garcia, as both he and Newton have received offers after expressing serious interest in the Sooners. Garcia remains high on Florida and South Carolina, but so does Newton, so the Sooners are hoping to get a visit from Garcia and hopefully they can win him over.
Kodi Burns has talked about Oklahoma openly over the past few weeks and it appears OU is going to evaluate some early senior film before making an official offer, but he's a serious candidate if OU likes what it sees. The good news on him is that he's going to take some visits before he decides, the bad news is that Auburn and Arkansas have a substantial lead on him.
There is another quarterback that OU has targeted and has targeted on the high school level since day one. Sources say that target remains a viable target.
On the juco front, the Sooners continue to scour the Kansas, California and Mississippi jucos for targets. While it's a lean year nationally for players, one name has started to really catch the eye of coaches in Mississippi – Mike Greco out of Poplarville (Miss.) Pearl River C.C.
Out of high school Greco signed with N.C. State and was ranked as the nation's No. 9 dual threat quarterback. He also had offers from Auburn, Iowa and South Florida, but picked the Pack based on a shot at getting some early playing time. That never happened because Marcus Stone had established himself as the starter, and this spring the Pack asked him to try his hand at receiver because he was too good of an athlete to not get on the field somewhere.
Greco didn't want that. He believes he's a quarterback, so that's how he ended up at Pearl River.
"Pearl River Community College got a lot better the day Mike Greco arrived on campus," Pearl River coach Tim Hatten said. "He's a talented player, and we're happy Mike decided to be a part of our team. Looking at him and the way he runs, he may be the fastest player I've ever coached."
The summer before his senior year in high school Greco ran an electronic timed 40 of 4.37 seconds. He's been timed consistently around the same range during fall workouts at Pearl River.
"I really like making big plays and stretching the field," Greco said coming out of high school. "I like Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, because they're always making big plays. That's what I'm hoping to do in the future."
Southern Miss was the first school to offer Greco, but it's believed that he might be just days away from landing an offer from the Sooners.
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There were some obvious, and warranted, concerns about the real chances of Oklahoma landing a player that might not visit campus. But that is just the situation that the Sooners are staring down with Atlanta Westlake three-star quarterback Cameron Newton.
The 6-foot-4, 232-pound Newton has rocketed up the recruiting charts after a strong summer and accordingly has become arguably the Sooner coaching staff's No. 1 choice at quarterback.
So can the Sooners stand any real chance without hosting the player?
"Like I said, we're not ruling a visit out but I just think it will be tough to do," said Cecil Newton Sr. "But yeah, we're definitely real interested in Oklahoma."
Scoop's buddy Josh had a chance to speak with Newton Sr. for about 30 minutes Tuesday night and had some interesting things to say:
He kept talking about how much of a business decision he wanted this to be and how concerned he was with Cameron making a choice with his heart and not his head. He then continued to bring up the fact that he could find all the 'real' information they needed on the internet.
So finally I asked him, 'the way you want this to play out it almost seems like you'd trust Cameron's decision more based on a school he had not seen?'.
"You know I had not really thought of it like that, but yeah I guess you're kind of right," he said. "That would take a lot of the emotion out of it, from the perspective of liking a stadium or being caught in the tradition, or coaches, or whatever it might be.
"Without seeing a campus he'd be picking it on the things we've decided are most important to his decision."
Some were fretting earlier in the week that the possible arrival of Sam Keller could hurt Oklahoma's chances with Newton but nothing could be further from the truth.
"I don't want him to get thrown to the dogs out there, I mean playing time is important but it doesn't necessarily have to be as a freshman. If he goes out there and wins the job and is ready to take it, that's great. But I don't want him to win by default; a redshirt year could be perfect for him," he explained.
Finally, perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle, how does Newton Sr. feel that Oklahoma fits the needs of his youngest son?
"Like I say we look on the internet a lot and while we're still learning more and more about Oklahoma, on paper it seems to fit best."
Strong words, and lots of rumors around Atlanta back up that the Newton's are quite high on Oklahoma now.
Will that hold up? It's tough to say because there is plenty of SEC pressure being applied to the talented passer.
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With the media and fans shutout virtually from almost any access to the Sooner team this fall, you have to take nuggets of information anyway and anywhere you can. Sooner sources publically have been gushing about stud freshman Jermaine Gresham and for good reason. Sooner insiders are privately calling Gresham the most impressive freshman tight end they've ever had on campus.
"From a physical standpoint, there isn't a more impressive player in our entire freshman class and maybe on the entire team," the source said. "This kid will be a linebacker's worst nightmare. And if you try to match up a safety on him, he'll just outmuscle them. This kid is going to be a very big part of our offense this fall.
"We've got some stuff up our sleeves that will cause defenses a lot of headaches this fall. Just wait and see."
Sooner coaches also can't stop gushing over true freshman receiver Adron Tennell.
"I think freshman go through a time where they kind of peak a little bit early in camp and as we put more in, instead of playing, they start thinking," wide receiver coach Kevin Sumlin said. "(Adron) kind of battled through that, and I think he's coming back now and as we start to narrow the schemes down for certain games, he's right in the mix. I look for him to contribute and make plays for us in that first game."
Privately the Sooner coaches feel Tennell could be a big-time weapon that will be unveiled later on in the season as he gets more playing experience behind Malcolm Kelly.
For those of you that followed Tennell's recruitment last year, there were quite a few people from South of the Red River that kept repeating that Tennell wasn't good enough to play for their team. How exciting would it be for Tennell to have his breakout game in the Cotton Bowl later this fall?
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The Sooner targets at receiver still has Terrance Toliver at the top of the list, and with him set up to visit the weekend of the Washington game, there are many people hoping that the first impression on him will be a good one.
"He's the type of guy that will remember an experience he had for a long time," a source said. "If he has a good time on his official visit, even though it's early in the process, he'll remember that good time for a long time. We feel really good about him coming up for a big-time game and seeing what we're all about."
Some have questioned on whether or not Oklahoma's future quarterback situation could hurt the Sooners in the battle to land Toliver, the nation's top receiver. The good news is that apparently it won't.
"He's said time after time that he knows (Oklahoma) will get another big time quarterback to play with," he said. "He's talked with (Oklahoma) and knows if he were to jump on board that it could really help pull in a big-time guy either this year or even next year."
Most still agree that Toliver won't go too far from home.
"Oklahoma is a real factor in this battle," Rivals.com recruiting analyst John Talman said. "I've really gotten to know Terrance through the process, and I just don't see him going that far from home. That's why you look at teams like Oklahoma or LSU and see them all having a great shot at landing him. OU getting that early visit from him, maybe indicates a little bit about how excited he is about the Sooners."
Toliver did openly talk about his interest in the Sooners this week.
"I just like coach Sumlin a lot and really their whole program," he said. "I know they have a chance to compete for a national championship, and I want to check them out. Even though they lost their quarterback, I still think they're going to be good. Their offense is the type of scheme I want to play in."
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The Sooners are going to try and seal the deal on Corey Wilson , the talented receiver from Carrollton, Texas, in the next few weeks. To be honest, many Sooner insiders believed that Wilson would already be locked up and don't understand what is taking him so long to make up his mind.
Wilson at one point even had a long talk with coach Stoops in early August, telling him he would commit a few days later on Rivals Radio. That commitment never happened and Wilson continues to look hard at Colorado State and Kansas State also. Wilson says he wants to be 100 percent sure about his pick and wants to make the decision for his own reasons, not just because his brother played in Norman.
But with the low number of scholarships OU has, will they wait on him or not? Only time will tell, but there's no doubting how talented Wilson is and he would be welcomed with open arms by the Sooner coaches.
So just how good is this Wilson kid?
Very.
After he blew up at the NIKE Training Camp in College Station, Texas, Wilson has become one of the hottest receiver recruits not just in Texas, but the entire country. It's already clear how talented Wilson's older brother is, but coach after coach thinks that Corey is going to be an even better player that Travis.
"He's better athletically now than Travis was, and he went in the third round," one Big 12 source said. "I'm sure if he works hard and listens to coaches, he could be that type of guy that stars for a big-time school some day.
"His brother was a little stiff and wasn't the greatest athlete, but he did a lot of good things by working hard and playing smart. Corey is the type of kid that just has so much God-given athletic ability that he's going to be a great one. He has a lot of things that you can teach because he's so athletic."
So in other words, while the Sooners might not want to wait, he's worth waiting on.
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September 1 is the first day that college coaches can call prospects again, so it'll be interesting to see if the Sooners can get back in the hunt with receivers James Kirkendoll and Ron Brooks. Both have seemingly pushed Oklahoma way down their lists and it's tough to figure out why.
Kirkendoll just flat out said Oklahoma isn't on his list anymore and Brooks has talked up every other team, but the Sooners. The OU coaches will step up their pursuit on both players when the calling period begins and if no interest is returned, then look for the Sooners to pursue their efforts elsewhere.
OU would like to get involved in the battle to land Ahmad Paige out of Sterlington, La., but he's scheduled to make an announcement on September 7th with in-state LSU and Florida State leading the way. If Brooks, Kirkendoll and Paige don't show interest, look for more new names to pop up at the position as OU definitely wants to sign a slot receiver or two in this class.
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Introducing Chickasha, Okla. quarterback Wyatt Kinnamon:
Scoop tagged along with Josh on Thursday night to watch the big southpaw scrimmage against both Piedmont and Woodward and Scoop's got to say there is a lot to be excited about.
Don't misunderstand Kinnamon still has plenty to learn about the position. Things like not forcing passes, and just proper understanding of the game. For example, Kinnamon often is a split second late in reading a play and instead of checking down will simply try and fit the ball in tight space. Sometimes it works, but obviously at the next level, it just won't.
But as they say 'those are things you can teach'.
Now for the things you can't.
Kinnamon has one of the strongest arms I can remember seeing around Oklahoma, there is little doubt in my mind it will exceed –and may already- that of current Sooner, and former Putnam City North standout Sam Bradford. Kinnamon shows great arm strength and throws a nice ball when he does whistle it.
The thing that surprised Scoop the most was Kinnamon's touch. Usually big 'gun-slinger' quarterbacks are constantly trying to throw off such arm strength but the talk by head coach Steve Chard last week with Josh proved true as his deep ball was much improved and he dropped in two should-have-been touchdown passes into the corner but both were dropped.
He's also quite a good athlete and Scoop would be willing to be that with time he'll be right around 4.7-seconds in the 40-yard dash fairly consistently. He won't frighten anyone with his running ability but he at least has the ability to do so.
Another name to remember, defensive end Jeffrey Jones. He's about 6-2, 205-right now but like Kinnamon is just a junior. He's got a great first step and was just devastating as a pass rusher and weakside defensive end even tracking down a few ball carriers from behind.
Jones will have to grow and fill out some, but pass rushing defensive ends aren't easy to come by.
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