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Oklahoma Football: Sooners Place 10 Recruits on ESPN’s Signing Day All-Big 12 Team

By Chip Rouse

Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners take the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners take the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Oklahoma football recruiting class for 2017 ranked eighth in the ESPN team rankings and well ahead of every other team in the Big 12.

Jan 2, 2017; New Orleans , LA, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners enter the playing field before the 2017 Sugar Bowl against the Auburn Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2017; New Orleans , LA, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners enter the playing field before the 2017 Sugar Bowl against the Auburn Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

The next closest Big 12 team was Texas with the No. 33-ranked class, according to ESPN.

The 27-member Sooner recruiting class, with 17 or 18 four-star recruits, depending on which recruiting service you follow,  was one of the best in Bob Stoops’ 18 seasons at OU.

It’s probably not surprising then that Oklahoma would place 10 recruits on the ESPN All-Big 12 Signing Day Team.

As ESPN staff writer Jake Trotter reports: “This is not a personal prediction of how these recruits will develop, nor a guess at what the All-Big 12 team might look like three years from now. It’s simply a reflection of the top-rated players at each position from ESPN’s recruiting rankings (junior college transfers not included).

Of course, Trotter also points out that rating recruiting prospects is far from an exact science. “Five-star players often become busts, and two stars blossom into All-Americans.” he acknowledges.

The ESPN All-Big 12 Recruiting First Team includes five Sooners on the offensive side and five on defense. The Sooners also placed five members of the 2017 recruiting class as “top-rated players from each position that did not make the first team.

Of the ten Sooners who made the All-Signing Day First Team in the Big 12, three were from Oklahoma, two each from California and Texas and one each from Missouri, Louisiana and Georgia.

Sooners on the First Team All-Big 12 Signing Day Offense

RB – Trey Sermon (No. 8 RB)

TE – Grant Calcaterra (No. 2 TE)

OT – Adrian Ealy (No. 32 OT)

OG – Tyrese Robinson (No. 9 OG)

Sooners on First-Team Defense

OLB – Addison Gumbs (No. 10 OLB)

ILB – Levi Draper (No. 6 ILB)

CB – Justin Broiles (No. 5 CB)

CB – Tre Brown (No. 18 CB)

S – Robert Barnes (No. 15 S)

Texas and TCU each placed four players on the All-Big 12 Signing Day Team, Baylor two players and Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia one each.

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