Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: 2023 RB Daylan Smothers commits to Oklahoma

Demarco Murray continues to do work on the recruiting trail by stacking the Oklahoma Sooners backfield with more top end talent— this time with the commitment of 2023 Charlotte, NC product Daylan Smothers. A far cry away from losing commitments of highly-touted RB’s, Murray has consistently brought in talented backs so far even as the Riley Regime change happened overnight — keeping the commitments of Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk in the 2022 class. For the quality talent the Sooners are looking for in Jeff Lebby’s offense, it’s easy to see why Smothers would choose OU as his home over schools like Florida State, Penn State, Alabama, Miami and many more.

The Sooners are getting an all-purpose back in Smothers. He has an acumen for being a pass-catcher but also possesses the ability to diagnose what’s happening in front of him as the play is developing. It’s cliché, but if there were a “lightning and thunder” to the tandem of committed RB Kalib Hicks and newly committed Smothers, Daylan is certainly the lightning. He has vision beyond the first and second levels of the defense and his cutback ability is so seamless and natural that it looks easy. He stands at 5’11” and about 180 lbs, so he’ll certainly get some work with Schmitty prior to becoming the running back that he has the ability to be.

Smothers is Oklahoma’s 15th commitment for the 2023 recruiting cycle so far. According to 247Sports Composite, Smothers is the No. 9 overall RB, the No. 9 player from the state of North Carolina, and the No. 218 player overall, nationally. Daylan has a nickname: “Hollywood”. That, accompanied by elite skills, Sooner fans will certainly welcome him to the new iteration of this offense that is fast, physical and downhill. Smothers will get the chance to showcase those abilities in a Lebby offense that highlights getting elite athletes into 1 v 1 scenarios and I like the talented back’s chances of breaking a chunk play when he gets into them.