Oklahoma Football Recruiting | Why Is Joseph Paul A Two-Star Recruit?

The Sooners have absolutely enjoyed the spoils of their Sugar Bowl win with an influx of highly touted recruits making their commitments to play football at Oklahoma. Joe Mixon, Natrell Curtis and Joseph Paul all announced last week that they'd be coming to Norman for school. The recruiting experts are expecting this week to possibly be another huge week with some of Oklahoma's targets having yet to make their announcements.

Obviously the recruiting boom has OU fans ecstatic with joy but it also has brought about a fair share of inquisitive complaining and even a few conspiracy theories in regards to one specific commit. Oklahoma fans what to know why, after receiving offers from Oklahoma, Cal, Florida State, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane and UCLA,  is Joseph Paul only listed as a two-star recruit.

At 6-4/340 he certainly has the size to play the offensive line and his number of offers certainly seem to warrant a higher ranking than just two stars. Well, to help solve the mystery, I reached out to the guy who listed him for Rivals and got the answer. Some of you may be disappointed to hear that there's no conspiracy at all but just a plain ole answer that makes a lot of sense.

"Paul showed up at a few team camps and wasn't in great shape and just didn't look very good and as such most of those offers are no longer valid.

He's got some potential but he has a LOT of work to do." - Josh McCuistion, SoonerScoop.com

Well...there ya have it. My opinion hasn't changed on Paul and I'm still stoked that he chose Oklahoma. However, with a clear understanding of the challenges that are ahead for him. The coaching staff obviously still believes in this kid or their offer wouldn't have still been on the table. One thing that the Sugar Bowl should have made clear is that this coaching staff knows what they're doing and how to develop talent. They've earned enough credits in my book to warrant the benefit of the doubt.