As the Sooners Offensive Tackle Offers Turn

Roughly 24 hours ago things were starting to feel like they might be easy, ok well, not easy but at the very least the Sooners had a clear path to a big-time offensive tackle commitment. For more than a year they’ve been in hot pursuit of some of the nation’s absolute best offensive tackles and in the coming weeks they may get to find out just where they stand. The first player expected to make a decision is Mesquite (Texas) Horn offensive tackle Lamont Rogers. We’ve been told that the nation’s No. 7 offensive tackle will make the call on Saturday, July 6.

And on Tuesday it felt as though the choice would almost certainly come from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas A&M. Then Rogers made a tweet late Tuesday night and the recruiting world began spinning.

Wait, the Longhorns?

That’s right, it seems that Texas has started to make a real run at the big man from the east side of Dallas. Why they’ve been able to get more heavily involved is up to some conjecture – more on that below – but there is some real confidence around Austin that they are making a dent in his recruitment.

But what’s interesting is that every other program heavily involved in this case doesn’t seem to see Texas as all that likely.

“He rarely mentions Texas, almost never,” one source said.

In speaking to some other sources that basic idea kind of matches up – Texas hasn’t seemed a real threat in this recruitment for quite some time. In fact, Texas’s lack of a role for Rogers is something a lot of Texas reporters have reiterated.

So it’s a bit of a case of who to believe – some Texas sources who believe the Longhorns may have taken the lead in a day or folks around Columbia, Norman, and College Station who see each other as the real contenders.

It seems easy but Texas has made runs like this before and with the priority they are undoubtedly placing on landing one of the big three in Dallas, it’s not hard to fathom a very serious push coming from Austin.

Still though, the NIL talk is something that those around Rogers have long rebuffed. It matters, of course it does, but as one person put it ‘once you get to a certain amount, it’s all kind of the same to him. That’s just not where his focus is.’

For now, we still like where the Sooners are but we’re intrigued to see how Rogers takes to the changing circumstances.

Sooners a Cause for the Texas Pivot?

If you’re to believe the sources that Texas is making a real impact on Rogers, there is a flip side to that coin. That side? The Sooners are making a run at Michael Fasusi and may well have edged ahead of the field.

I’m not sure I’m ready to believe that fully but I can say that since the official visit on June 14 things have felt different. That’s not to say that the Sooners ever lost faith in their chance at Fasusi. But it’s more of how others felt about Oklahoma’s chances. Were other programs feeling any concern? Not really from what we gathered. However, over the past 3 weeks, that has all started to change.

“That official visit, I don’t know exactly what happened but you could tell (OU) changed a lot,” a source said.

Oklahoma has a lot of work to do to close out the work they’ve put in at offensive tackle. But there’s also no denying that the Sooners seem more likely to land two of the elite offensive tackles they are chasing than none. That’s a either/or that Bill Bedenbaugh can definitely live with.

Saturday Could be a Great Day for OU

With the expected announcement of Rogers on Saturday and Oklahoma trending in the eyes of many it has a chance to be a strong day for Sooners recruiting. But that’s not all that’s fit to print with the decision of Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview Magnet four-star safety Omarion Robinson also set for Saturday.

Robinson has felt like an Arkansas, Oregon, and Oklahoma battle for months and as we near the finish line, little has changed. One of the biggest bits of news was that of On3’s Justin Hopkins putting in his choice for the Sooners.

The Ducks felt like the most serious threat to Oklahoma over the past month. And it seems that Brandon Hall could be ready to pull off another huge win against the ever-dangerous Ducks.

“He’s one of the most underrated guys in the country. Evals, connecting with players and their families, he is a problem,” an opposing staff member laughed.

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