In the last couple of years, OU has been a fan of offering high school teammates and subsequently getting both kids to commit to OU. The 2011 class is no different once Klein Oak teammates TE Max Stevenson and DE Nathan Hughes (refresher on Hughes here) chose to verbally commit to the Sooners. OU got two good ones in both these kids and as you'll see in the video above, Stevenson almost is often able to split out and play more as a WR than a true TE. This is not uncommon in high school football and the primary drawback to such a scheme is a lot of h.s. TEs come into college needing significant work on their blocking technique.
Stevenson is 6'6" 240, so in addition to working on his blocking he'll also need to add around 10-20 pounds to really be able to compete on the inside. That said, at his size and speed (4.53 forty) he could be that down the middle seam threat this offense has been missing since the departure of Jermaine Gresham (although James Hanna certainly did come on late in 2010). Like Gresham, you'd expect at his size to eventually be a nice red zone threat as well.
Stevenson is listed as a four star recruit by Rivals and the #12 TE overall. He turned down offers from Notre Dame, LSU, Arizona, and Texas A&M in order to commit to OU. With Ratterree, Hanna, and Haywood all returning for OU in 2011, expect Stevenson to redshirt, put on some needed muscle, and learn the system. Then look out in 2012!
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