We know how good quarterback Caleb Williams is.
Or, we think we know.
But now is not the time for that. Now, at least until mid-December, possibly in early February, Williams will add real value to Oklahoma’s 2021 recruitment class in another area.
As a recruiter.
Lincoln Riley won’t need Williams to take photos for a while, at least 14 months, probably longer.
What Riley needs from Williams now is her unbridled enthusiasm for OU, her passion for everything that is crimson and cream, her new devotion to turning off the Horns when the lights come on.
And no one recruits better than a quarterback. Williams, who has already been actively working with others to join him in his next assignment, is now the face of this class. Now that she knows that fate, Riley should expect her to further increase her recruiting efforts.
With Williams and Austin defensive defense Latrell McCutchin pledging on Saturday, OU jumped to 35th in the ranking of rival teams and 33rd in the sports team’s ranking 247-15 and 14, respectively.
For rivals, OU has the fewest verbal commitments (11) of any team in the top 16. More commitments will produce a higher ranking, of course.
But more front-line recruits could push the Sooners into top-five territory in the final ranking of 2021.
That’s where Williams comes in.
Williams, the third highest-rated Sooners promise in the ratings era behind Adrian Peterson and Rhett Bomar, according to 247 Sports and Rivals, says he wants to win a national championship at Norman.
The best way for him to achieve his ultimate goal is to convince others like him now that they can do just that at OU.
Bryce Foster? Low. Camar Wheaton? Low. Maason Smith? Low. Kelvin Gilliam? Low. Jalil Farooq? You are the next contestant on “Caleb Williams is right.”
Of them, Smith seems the most unlikely to land at OU. He is the most talented defensive lineman in the 2021 class, and those types of players inevitably end up in the SEC. Houma, LA’s 5-star defensive tackle revealed Saturday that the Sooners are in their top eight choices, but according to how their preferences are ranked by 247 Sports, the 6-foot-5, 316-pound Smith has Alabama, Florida. , Georgia and LSU ahead of OU, Miami, Oregon and USC. Both Rivals and the 247 Sports Smith project will end at LSU.
MAASON SMITH FOLLOWS SOON IN TOP 10
Two 5-star Texas schoolchildren coming to Oklahoma could be more realistic.
Wheaton is considered the No. 1 running in the 2021 class. 247 sports projects that will end in OU. Rival projects either Texas or Alabama. Most say it is the third in Lincoln Riley’s “Serious Three”, along with Caleb Williams and Mario Williams. Caleb Williams will need a talented running back to lead football on Riley’s prolific offense. Is the 6-foot, 190-pound Garland, TX native sold at Williams as his quarterback?
A LITTLE GOOD KARMA DE CAMAR?
Foster, a 5-star prospect from Rivals, is ranked by Rivals as the nation’s best guard and ninth overall player overall, while 247 Sports ranks fourth as guard and 64th overall. Both services project that the 6-5, 320 pound product from Katy, TX will go to Oklahoma, although Texas AANDM and others are at stake. Williams certainly needs elite blockers, and he’s going tough after “The Mountain.”
Williams has long lined up with Foster, even as recently as today:
Gilliam is ranked as the No. 9 defensive final prospect in the nation by both Rivals and 247 Sports. 247 Sports projects that it will go to Oklahoma, but Rivals projects that it will end at Penn State. 6.44-pound, 255-pound Gilliam has OU in his top 10. Being from Highland Springs, VA, less than two hours from Williams’ home in Washington, DC, he is friends with Williams. Is that relationship enough to attract the 4-star Gilliam to Norman?
OKLAHOMA DOMINATES GILLIAM’S CONVERSATIONS WITH WILLIAMS
GILLIAM’S TOP 10
Farooq is another 4 star from the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia). He is from Upper Marlboro, MD, just 30 minutes from the capital. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Farooq is considering OU along with Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Maryland, but both 247 Sports and Rivals project it to be a Soon. Farooq attended Williams’ announcement ceremony on Saturday, and they even posed for photos together, including one in which they horned.
WILLIAMS CARE TURNS TO FAROOQ
That’s the kind of ardor Oklahoma’s latest promise is trying to cultivate among its peers: come stand with me, play with me, and achieve these goals with me.
Now that he has promised Lincoln Riley that he will play for Oklahoma, Caleb Williams has become hooked on delivering more than one signature.
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