How’s it going, friends and fans? I hope you all had a happy and safe Independence Day! The night sky was filled with fireworks across the country, and when the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense steps onto the field this fall, expect even more fireworks.

One player in particular will have many NFL scouting eyes on him, and that’s Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, because when NFL.com put together a list of the top 10 college receivers to watch in 2018, and Hollywood came in at No. 1.

Now before you object, yes, Oklahoma has another wide receiver who may end up having an even better season (statistically) than Brown in CeeDee Lamb, but since Lamb won’t be eligible to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, Brown is the primary receiver scouts will focus on when they watch Lincoln Riley’s offense this fall.

It’s always nice to have that kind of national recognition, especially for someone like Marquise, who has totally earned it every step of the way. Now onto Hot Links! Trae Young bought his mom a new car with his new money, Baker Mayfield threw some friendly shade at his former receivers, Kirk Cousins might be a grilling cannibal and more!

OU Links

• Now that he’s getting paid the big bucks, Trae Young did a really nice thing for his mom. How sweet is this? Congratulations, Mrs. Young!

• Speaking of Trae Young, he’s now played two summer league games with the Atlanta Hawks so far and has struggled considerably from the field. Young admits the game is a lot more physical than it was in college. Still, his teammates are noticing his day-to-day growth, and that’s the most important takeaway.
• I don’t always agree with ESPN college football analyst David Pollack, but we’re on the same page on this one:

• Baker Mayfield recently participated in a Madden 19 promotional video along with other NFL rookies, and in the video, Mayfield said he could catch better than his receivers at Oklahoma, but not in Cleveland. Of course, because it’s Baker, some want to make a bigger deal about it, but Mayfield is just having a little fun with his former teammates. Nothing to see here, folks.
• Four-star cornerback for the class of 2020 Darion Green-Warren committed to the Sooners yesterday. Green-Warren currently plays for national powerhouse Mater Dei in California, but was born and raised in Edmond. Green-Warren tells SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuistion that he grew up watching Jason White and the Sooners, and ultimately that’s what led him to choose Oklahoma.

Around the Sports World

• People are trying to figure out what Kirk Cousins was grilling on July 4th. Are they rocks? Kidneys? Rock kidneys? The world may never know (I think they could be venison steaks).

• After all the major dust has (hopefully) settled in NBA free agency, who are the top remaining unrestricted free agents left on the market?
• Georgia QB Jake Fromm has suffered two separate injuries this summer, but neither figures to hinder his ability to play once the season starts. The first injury happened when a fishing lure became stuck in Fromm’s leg, and the most recent was a break in his non-throwing hand.
• Sandro Rosell, the former president of Club Barcelona, has been alleged to have illegally purchased a liver for former player Eric Abidal in 2012. In Spain, organ trafficking is punishable by 6-12 years.
• ‘Fortnite,’ a popular video game across several major platforms, has swept the nation over the past year. Even high school football recruits have joined in on the craze. So what are the most popular Fortnite strategies for some of the nation’s top recruits?
• We’re just gonna leave this here...

Stick to Sports!

• Instead of a trailer for Khali the Killer, the entire film was uploaded to Sony Pictures Entertainment’s YouTube account. The feature length film was online for approximately six hours before being removed, but not before being viewed thousands of times. This is the kind of error that makes me wonder if it was more of a publicity stunt than anything else, because I don’t see how this could actually happen, let alone go unnoticed for so long.

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