Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: Fields Is On Board, but What About Josh Proctor?

Sunday saw Patrick Fields commit to the Oklahoma Sooners, a move that surprised no one and made him the fourth member of the burgeoning 2018 recruiting class.

But what about Josh Proctor, the four-star safety from Owasso who impressed in Dallas just this past weekend? Oklahoma has long been the presumed frontrunner for Proctor, who picked up his Sooners offer way, way back in November 2015 and has visited campus multiple times. But as a top-three talent in the whole state, Proctor’s been racking up offers from all over the place — Ohio State, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Texas. Proctor has seemed content to slow-walk his recruiting, which is understandable, but does OU have time for that?

Obviously Proctor is a versatile young man, and Oklahoma prizes players with positional flexibility. That was a big part of the interest in Fields, who’s as comfortable in center field as he is in outside coverage.

At 6-1, 190 pounds, Proctor is just a couple of Schmitty sessions away from ideal safety size. He overcame a junior-year injury and looks all set for next season, and he’s got a great relationship with Kerry Cooks. Maybe he’s worth waiting on. But the fact is, Oklahoma is also in great shape with Cam Jones from Mansfield and is in the running for Leon O’Neal from Cypress. OU’s even in the mix for Fresno product Steve Stephens.

Maybe I’m overselling the Sooners here. They might whiff on all those guys and crawl back to Proctor mid-season, begging him to take their final safety spot instead of some marginal three-star.

But even though prospects like Proctor don’t have to commit as early as guys like Fields, none of the schools that Proctor is looking at will have any trouble filling their DB classes. Oklahoma has already offered over 20 safeties for 2018. It’s not often that OU misses the connection with a top-three Oklahoma talent, but spring recruiting will roll on with or without Josh Proctor.

Personally? At the end of the day, I think Oklahoma makes too much sense for Proctor end up anywhere else. Fields, a fellow Tulsa-area guy, will likely assist in his recruitment, which certainly doesn’t hurt the chances of a commitment.