OU Signs Another Great Class

I haven't been able to bring myself to blog ever since the Fiesta Bowl debacle over a month ago. I, like many of you, have had to painfully learn how to erase bad memories of these routinely awful BCS bowls. Let's not revisit that. Instead, let's focus on the new crop of Sooners the OU coaching staff recently signed.

OU ranked #8 and #5 by ESPN.com and Rivals.com respectively. With several playmakers now heading off to the NFL early, several positions are in need of filling. This is a class Sooner fans should be excited about. Among the 5-star recruits OU nabbed there's Jermie Calhoun. Calhoun is the Demarco Murray of two years ago as the #2 overall RB in the nation. He may get to see the field this year as a true freshman. If so, he and Murray could become a lethal combo in the Sooner backfield. Next, there's big OL Stephen Good. Good apparently lives up to his name. The 305 pounder was Texas' top lineman which usually says a whole lot. From what I've heard, he has the potential to crack into the starting rotation of a very good and experienced Sooner O-Line. Now that's "Good". Defensive end R.J. Washington is OU's third 5-star player but probably won't see much action for a while. The Sooners already have the two end postion locked down with Auston English and Jeremy Beal. Washington could play into the rotation though.

OU landed a trio of top-ranked receivers. With this move, OU appears to be looking down the road to 2009 when they lose three senior wideouts. Even though the Sooners missed landing the nation's top receiver in Julio Jones, they signed their best receiver class since 2005. Jameel Owens, Josh Jarboe, and Dejuan Miller all have big-time potential and one, if not all, could see significant action this fall.

Two other offensive headliners in this class include QB Landry Jones and RB Justin Johnson. Neither will play immediately but hopefully will be impact players of the future. Jones is a pro-style quarterback with a big arm. He is OU's best ranked QB recruit since Rhett Bomar. Johnson was ranked in Texas right behind Calhoun as the state's best running back. Good times should be ahead for the Sooner's running game.

The biggest issue the Sooners faced in this year's recruiting process was reloading at linebacker. OU didn't get the big names they wanted early on, but finished pretty strong by getting J.R. Bryant and Mike Balogun from the JUCO ranks. OU has a great track record of getting quality JUCO linebackers. Hopefully these two will continue that tradition.

Recruiting is one of my favorite parts of college football. This OU class has some big-time players who have been committed since early '07. I hope all of them pan out, but the sad fact is that not all of them will. There will be some busts, there always are. But there will also be some sleepers who make a great impact. I'm excited to see who contributes in 2008. With this great incoming class, this Sooner team should be just as loaded as last year's.

Only seven more months!

Signing Day 2008...soonersports.com

OU recruiting breakdown...tulsaworld.com

Oklahoma classes from 1999 to 2007...newsok.com

Oklahoma, Texas post top-10 classes...espn.com

Some clips of future OU stars...