Oklahoma football: Sooners lose one, gain one for the 2020 roster
By Chip Rouse
Thursday was a lose one, win one day for Oklahoma football and the Sooners’ 2020 roster.
All Big 12 First Team linebacker Kenneth Murray became the second Oklahoma player to decide to leave school early and declare for the 2020 NFL Draft, announcing the decision on Thursday. Earlier in the week, All-American wide receiver CeeDee Lamb announced his plans to forgo his final season of eligibility and declare for the draft. Both players would have been seniors had they remained in school.
Murray 2019 stat line included 102 tackles, four sacks and five quarterback hurries. He started 42 career games in three seasons and produced 335 tackles, 9.5 quarterback sacks. He is tied with the great Lee Roy Selmon for 11th in career tackles at Oklahoma.
Murray is projected to go in the first round of next spring’s NFL Draft.
On the same day Oklahoma lost a player off of next season’s roster, it gained one back when four-star quarterback Chandler Morris committed to Lincoln Riley and OU as a member of the 2020 recruiting class.
Morris is the only quarterback in Oklahoma’s 2020 class, ranked by ESPN as the ninth best in the country. His commitment comes at a great time for the Sooners, who lost a five-star QB commit from the 2021 class when Brock Vandagriff decommitted from OU earlier this week.
Morris is the son of former SMU and Arkansas head coach Chad Morris, who is now the offensive coordinator at Auburn. The young Morris had originally committed to Arkansas, but decommitted when his father lost his head coaching job there.
Morris announced his commitment to OU on national television during the Under Armour High School All-America Game in Orlando.
He announced his commitment by putting on the OU cap and giving the Horns Down” hand signal.
The dual-threat quarterback out of Highland Park High School in Dallas is the 81st player overall and the No. 10 quarterback recruit, according to ESPN.