Son of former NFL defensive back commits to the Sooners and throws up the Horns down

The Oklahoma Sooners just gained an extremely promising young talent for their class of 2026 recruits when three-star cornerback Derrick Johnson II committed to OU and head coach Brent Venables.

In his announcement graphic, he made sure to toss up the Horns down, already getting a dig in at Oklahoma's rivals, the Texas Longhorns.

Johnson, the son of former NFL cornerback Derrick Johnson Sr., is a top 500 player in the class of 2026 and the No. 47 cornerback in the nation. The young prospect chose the Sooners over his father's alma mater, the Washington Huskies, as well as UCLA and TCU.

Johnson joins Niko Jandreau, a fellow three-star defensive back, in Oklahoma's secondary for the recruiting cycle. The Sooners and Venables currently have the No. 31 nationally-ranked recruiting class of 2026, dropping them to No. 12 in the SEC.

Just a day before Johnson's commitment, Venables landed another blue-chip prospect in the form of four-star offensive lineman Noah Best. However, the Sooners received pretty disappointing news when, just a few hours later, Felix Ojo, a five-star offensive tackle, cancelled his official visit to Norman.

Venables struggled during his first season in the SEC and, currently, his recruiting classes aren't promising a ton of improvement for the program. Oklahoma's class of 2025 recruits is just No. 10 in the conference, despite ranking No. 17 in the country.

Following last year's minimal success, Venables is in dire need of a successful season. Since he took over the program in 2022, the Sooners have had just one winning season (2023) and two 6-7 finishes on the year.

Oklahoma is scheduled to kick off its 2025 season with an at-home matchup against the Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday, Aug. 30. The game is set to start at 5 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+ and the SECNetwork+.