Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: A Look at Some Blue-Chip WR Targets for 2018

Bob Stoops and his staff have been churning out capable receivers at a near-alarming rate during his tenure at OU. Notable alumni include recent stars like Sterling Shepherd, DeDe Westbrook, Mark Clayton and Kenny Stills, as well as mid-to-late-aught Sooner legends like Malcolm Kelly, Juaquin Iglesias, and Ryan Broyles.

This season, guys like Marquise Brown, Mark Andrews, Jeffrey Mead, Mykel Jones and CeeDee Lamb will look to fill Westbrook’s size 11’s.

Here are a few big-name guys from the 2018 recruiting class to keep an eye on:

Brennan Eagles, Alief Taylor (Houston, TX), ★★★★

You can’t say that many players are ready to make the jump from high school to college and remain impactful, but the 6’3.5”, 214-pound receiver out of Houston looks ready to ball.

According to Scout, Eagles’s verified 40-yard dash time is 4.43. At his size, the potential of being able to run anything near a 4.4 could make him a lethal playmaker at the collegiate level.

Eagles is a prototypical outside receiver who excels in the open field. His ability to high-point the ball in a dead sprint is way beyond his years:

Eagles is an athletic freak who, scarily, has a lot of room to improve and grow. The 13th-ranked wideout in the nation will draw a lot of attention, but OU seems to be firmly in the running.

One last note: Eagles is from the same high school as Obo Okoronkwo. Who knows if that will play a factor in landing Eagles, but it can’t hurt, right?

Joshua Moore, IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL), ★★★★

Moore is one of the top gets of the 2018 class, and Oklahoma is hot on his tail. One little problem, though — so is every other prominent school in the South and Southwest. 247’s crystal ball currently gives OU a 13% chance to nab Moore (Florida State leads with 53%), but, as we well know, these things can change — and sometimes change again. And again. Such is talking about recruiting a year before National Signing Day.

The third-ranked receiver in the nation is also one of the country’s most versatile athletes, as he could potentially play DB at the next level. He’s got blazing straightaway speed, lateral shiftiness, and excellent ball skills. His highlights include a lot of great defensive plays, further showcasing his athletic ability:

247 lists him at 6 feet even, 156 pounds. Obviously, his slight frame is an issue, but a little weight-room work combined with his natural growth makes that a minimal concern. It doesn’t seem highly likely that the Sooners will grab him, but you never know.

Terrace Marshall, Parkway (Bossier City, LA) ★★★★

No, not Torrance Marshall — although just saying his name brings back warm, crimson-tinged memories for me.

Terrace Marshall might be my favorite receiver of this bunch style-wise — Marshall is big, strong, and springy enough to play outside, but agile, speedy, and shifty enough to play inside like a slot receiver. Scout keeps his ‘areas to improve’ list short, simply listing his route-running ability. Good route running can be a product of more experience and coaching, so it seems as if he has all the tools to succeed in college.

Marshall is 6’4”, 190 lbs. — a walking highlight reel. Marshall is the definition of flash. Hell, he doesn’t get touched on the majority of his reel — he just runs past everybody.

Jalen Preston, Manvel (Manvel, TX) ★★★★

Jalen Preston, who attended OU’s Junior Day last month, is the personification of ‘something out of nothing.’ Preston is as creative and shifty as they come. Just watch the first play of his impressive reel to see what I mean:

Check out the third play — in which he fields a punt that has rolled to a near-stop, and then seemingly run circles around the other team right before he brings the ball all the way to the house.

I was going to keep listing the plays in which he, like a magician, fools the other defense into whiffing completely, but I soon realized that every play was like that.

Standing at 6’2”, his size is surprising for how agile and laterally quick he is. Put simply: he’s a natural, and he’d be a huge boon to OU’s receiving corps.