Oklahoma football rising in 2021 team recruiting rankings
By Chip Rouse
It’s still relatively early to read too much into the team recruiting rankings for 2021. That’s good news for Oklahoma football fans because the Sooners are really just getting started.
For much of the early spring, with COVID-19 cases growing like wild fire throughout the country, Oklahoma was hovering close to the tail end of the top 50 in the class rankings with just four verbal commitments. The Sooners added three more commitments in May, including a five-star wide receiver (Mario Williams) and four-star linebacker commit (Clayton Smith).
The May commitments, along with two more picked up in June, boosted the OU recruiting stock and moved the Sooners up into the mid-30s in the Rivals 2021 team rankings and to the mid-20s in the ESPN class rankings. This was much better news for a program that has finished in the top-10 in Lincoln Riley’s two previous recruiting cycles as head coach.
After the Sooners’ double-header on the 4th of July, picking up commitments from the No. 1 quarterback prospect Caleb Williams and four-star defensive back Latrell McCuthchin, who had previously been committed to Alabama, made a major move on the Rivals’ board, jumping all the way to No. 15 from the No. 36 spot and passing heavyweights Alabama and Georgia in the process.
Oklahoma was already in the No. 16 spot in the 247Sports 2021 recruiting rankings and advanced two spots, to No, 14, after the two commitments on Saturday.
The most recent ESPN class rankings, which was last updated on June 23, has the Sooners at No. 24, but this is certain to change after the commitments from Williams and McCutchin.
Ohio State, with 18 verbal commitments, including three or four five-star commitments depending on which recruiting service you are referencing, currently ranks No. 1 in all of the rankings.
Texas, with 14 commitments to date, is the only Big 12 school ranked ahead of Oklahoma in the 2021 recruiting battles. The Longhorns rank 9th or 10th depending on which source you are following. Baylor, with 17 total commitments but no five- or four-stars, was also ahead of OU previously.