Oklahoma football recruiting: Sooners add another WR commit for 2018
By Chip Rouse
Lincoln Riley’s success on the recruiting trail continues to grow, with seven new additions for 2018 since taking over as the lead man for Oklahoma football six weeks ago.
The latest commitment to the Sooners’ 2018 recruiting class is 5-foot, 10-inch playmaker Jaquayln Crawford from Rockdale, Texas. Crawford is listed as a 4-star “athlete” because he can play wide receiver and cornerback and also can be utilized as a return man.
The Sooners won out over archrival Texas, TCU and Texas A&M. Crawford is the No. 135 prospect in the ESPN 300 for the class of 2018.
ESPN staff writer and college football recruiting expert Tom Luginbill says the Sooners haven’t had s player quite like Crawford since Ryan Broyles, especially from a size and speed standpoint.
The scouting report on Crawford is that he is lightning quick with great change of direction and explosiveness. He has good pass-receiving ability and game-changing skill as a return man.
Crawford is the eighth commitment Riley has obtained for 2018. When Riley took over as the Sooners head coach after Bob Stoops’ retirement announcement in early June, there were seven commitments in OU’s 2018 recruiting class. The class size is now up to 15 as Riley and the OU coaches go after a second consecutive top-10 recruiting class.
Riley also has two commitments for 2018: a quarterback and a tight end, both four-star prospects.
The Sooners’ 2018 recruiting class currently consists of nine four-star and five three-star prospects, according to ESPN. The class can be broken down further to seven offensive players (three wide receivers, two offensive linemen, a quarterback and a running back), five defensive players (four defensive backs and two defensive linemen) and two athletes.
Riley was complemented on his recruiting success by a reporter at Oklahoma’s press session on Monday during Big 12 Media Days. Often when there is a coaching change at the top of a program, there is a falloff — or, at least, fallout — on the recruiting trail. That has not been the case with Riley.
Riley acknowledged that Oklahoma football is one of the truly great programs to sell. “That’s the great thing about selling something” he said, “when you’ve got something great to sell, its a great start.”