NORMAN — All it took was glimpse at Oklahoma’s last two games to see upgrading its offensive talent was going to be a major emphasis as National Signing Day neared.
Well, the fax machine will be running at full steam on Wednesday and the Sooners are expected to bring in a class heavy — perhaps too heavy — at the offensive skill positions.
If nothing changes in the next four days, OU only has five defensive players in this year’s class. The four they have are solid. Junior college cornerback Kassiem Everett is already on campus along with junior college defensive end Chaz Nelson. Rivals.com has both pegged as three-star recruits.
They’re joined by defensive tackle Jordan Wade, who was a four-star recruit in the 2011 class, but wasn’t able to enroll until the spring semester.
On Wednesday, OU expects to receive signatures from four-star linebacker Eric Striker and three-star defensive end Charles Tapper.
Noticing a glaring omission?
The Sooner defense didn’t lock down any team that was proficient at throwing the ball last season.
“I guess they don’t see the need at linebacker and the defensive line as much as they do on offense. A couple years down the road that could end up biting them in the butt,” Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Brian Perroni said. “But there’s no doubt they’ve made a conscious effort to go after more offensive players this season.”
OU hopes a little of that slant will be corrected by Wednesday. The Sooners hosted four recruits this weekend. Cornerback Zach Sanchez, a 6-0, 175-pound cornerback from Keller, Texas, junior college wide receiver Courtney Gardner, junior college offensive tackle Will Latu and Edmond Santa Fe defensive end Michael Onuoha were all on campus.
St. Petersburg, Fla., cornerback Gary Simon isn’t in town but he’s getting the hard sell from new Sooner defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. Perroni expects both Simon and Sanchez to buy what the Sooners are selling.
That will be a tribute to Stoops. He had to hit the ground sprinting after he was hired 16 days ago.
There was no other choice.
The exodus of former defensive coordinator Brent Venables and secondary coach Willie Martinez cost OU two potential difference makers in the class.
Mesquite, Texas, cornerback DeVante Harris jumped to Texas A&M after Martinez left. When Venables departed for the Clemson defensive coordinator job, Wagoner cornerback Kevin Peterson shifted his verbal pledge to Oklahoma State.
It hasn’t left OU with many recruiters to find other options.
“When you bring a guy back like Mike Stoops, who is a noted recruiter and a fiery guy and a guy players like to play for, he’s the kind of coach who’s gonna go out and target defensive guys right off the bat,” ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill said. “Now, he hasn’t had a lot of time.”
But it appears the decision was made long before OU head coach Bob Stoops brought his younger brother back to the coaching staff, that 2012 was going to be about restocking the offense. The Sooners appear to be in position to do it.
The receiver position is where OU has really shined on the recruiting trail. Finally getting former five-star receiver Trey Metoyer into school is a huge boost.
But the Sooners also have verbal pledges from St. Louis native Durron Neal, Heritage Hall’s Sterling Shepard and Inglewood, Calif., wideout Derrick Woods. All three are four-star recruits.
They are the biggest reason ESPN currently has OU with the 10th best class in the country. Rivals.com has OU at No. 9.
There’s also still the hope around the Switzer Center that Dorial Green-Beckham — the 6-6, 225-pound wide receiver who is regarded as the best offensive player in the class of 2012 — will sign with the Sooners.
Bob Stoops and receivers coach Jay Norvell visited Green-Beckham at his home in Springfield, Mo., earlier this week. But Green-Beckham never took an official visit to OU and spent the weekend being wooed by Missouri. Landing him appears to be a longshot. He’s spending the weekend on an official visit to Missouri.
Either way, the Sooners’ receiver cupboard appears to restocked.
“The offensive talent, especially at wide receiver, that they’ve accumulated is definitely impressive,” Perroni said.
Adding four-star quarterback Trevor Knight from San Antonio, Texas, running backs Alex Ross, from Jenks, Midlothian, Ill. product David Smith and Port Lavaca, Texas athlete Daniel Brooks, will help out a depleted position.
The Sooners have received commitments from offensive linemen John Michael McGee, Ty Darlington and Kyle Marrs. Darlington is ranked as the No. 1 center in the country, while McGee is a four-star prospect and Marrs has garnered three stars.
Those are just the players who’ve either already enrolled in school or have given their verbal pledge. OU believes it will still add more.
Even it results in more signatures for Wednesday, it won’t change the perception that OU hit the recruiting with a one-track mind to bolster its offense for next season and the future.
“I believe this has been more about an approach that they felt they needed to do with this class on offense more than anything else,” Luginbill said.
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
