Oklahoma football: Sooners continue o-line recruiting hot streak

It’s hard to find a hotter position coach in the country right now than Bill Bedenbaugh.

The Sooners’ offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator is smack dab in the middle of one of the best months of any assistant in the the entire NCAA after putting all four draft-eligible starters (Cody Ford, Dru Samia, Bobby Evans and Ben Powers) in into the NFL draft, he has hit the recruiting trail in earnest and picked up a pair of bookend tackles to bolster his 2020 class.

Noah Nelson, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound prospect out of Arizona became the latest member of the Sooners 2020 class, making his verbal commitment on Monday evening. Nelson is the No. 27 offensive tackle in the 2020 class, No. 14 prospect out of Arizona and the No. 232 player overall according to Rivals.com.

Nelson was a highly-coveted player with a lengthy list of blue chip suitors that included Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Auburn and USC.

Watching his film, Nelson is still raw and unpolished, but possesses a mix of size, power, length and agility that could make him a successful left tackle at the college level and beyond if he can continue to develop. He has the ability to get to linebackers and pull when needed, a trait that is crucial for a Bill Bedenbaugh lineman.

Nelson joins Frisco, Texas product Nate Anderson as one of two Sooner offensive line commits so far for the 2020 class and second in as many weeks.

It is clear that coach Bill Bedenbaugh is using his white-hot momentum to his full advantage out on the recruiting trail right now and continues to stockpile talent for the future. It will be interesting to see what the Sooners do at center, where they will almost certainly be on the lookout for the heir apparent to Creed Humphrey. Humphrey is already drawing NFL attention after just his redshirt freshman year and his days in Norman may be numbered.

Don’t be surprised to hear more big news sooner rather than later.