W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | F E B R U A R Y 4 -7, 2 0 16 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
OU DAILY
SIGNED THIS WEEKEND: CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS EARLY • 4
A look at the 2016 recruiting class
Sooners land five-star recruit
Caleb Kelly commits to play linebacker SPENSER DAVIS @Davis_Spenser
Five-star linebacker Caleb Kelly committed to Oklahoma on Wednesday evening. With Kelly’s signature, the Fresno, California, native became the Sooners’ top recruit in the 2016 class. Kelly chose the Sooners over Oregon and Notre Dame. The talented linebacker also had offers from Michigan, Alabama, Florida State and Georgia among others. He is the No. 3 outside linebacker and the country’s No. 25 overall player, according to 247 Sports Composite ranking. Kelly has been atop the Sooners’ recruiting board for months. His commitment means Oklahoma’s 2016 class ranking moves from No. 23 to No. 20, according to 247. After his commitment, Oklahoma players and coaches took to Twitter to celebrate the addition of their new pass rusher. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY 247SPORTS
Center: Caleb Kelly. From top left down to top right: Abdul Adams, Amani Bledsoe, Kapri Doucet, Zach Farrar, Mark Jackson, Ben Powers, Logan Roberson, Chanse Sylvie, Johncarlo Valentin, Parnell Motley. A full list of signees is available online at oudaily.com.
Spenser Davis
davis.spenser@ou.edu
After Mayfield, question marks abound at QB Depth at position may be problem in 2016 SPENSER DAVIS @Davis_Spenser
Four-star quarterback Austin Kendall officially sent his National Letter of Intent to Oklahoma Wednesday morning, becoming the second scholarship quarterback on the Sooners’ roster. Gone from the football program are the experienced talents of Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas — Knight to Texas A&M and Thomas to the baseball team. Instead, it will be Kendall and a pair of walk-ons backing up Baker Mayfield in 2016. Coach Bob Stoops said Wednesday that Kendall’s presence as an early enrollee will help the transition. “I think the biggest plus is Austin Kendall having all this extra time in the winter,” Stoops said. “He’ll be in there everyday whether he’s with Baker or Lincoln. They’ve already been in there throwing with the receivers on their own. “He’ll take big steps, I believe, even before spring ball. And then he’ll get a ton of extra plays through spring ball. We really believe in his talent, and we’re
excited about him.” Still, quarterback depth will be a major question mark for the Sooners going into next season. Mayfield’s playing style often has him playing outside the pocket, and it eventually resulted in a pair of concussions over the final six weeks of 2015. “I wouldn’t say I’m concerned,” offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. “Would you like to have more guys there? Sure. We’re probably not going to have the same kind of depth that we’ve had. I feel good about the people that we have there.”
“We really believe in his talent ,and we’re excited about him.” BOB STOOPS, HEAD COACH
Baylor experienced a severe lack of quarterback depth last season and ultimately paid the price with late-season losses to Oklahoma, TCU and Texas. The Bears entered the season with a semi-proven talent in Seth Russell, but after a blistering start to the season, he went down with a neck injury. True freshman Jarrett Stidham became the backup and
performed admirably before going down with an injury himself, yielding to a pair of former wide receivers to finish Baylor’s season at quarterback. TCU was plagued by a lack of quarterback depth in 2015, too. Behind the Horned Frogs’ early-season Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin was a walk-on and a freshman. Bram Kohlhausen, the walkon, began the year as the Horned Frogs’ backup quarterback and nearly led TCU to a comeback against Oklahoma while filling in for Boykin. Foster Sawyer, a former fourstar recruit, was ineffective in four games in 2015. He completed 40.7 percent of his passes for 155 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. If Mayfield were to sustain another concussion — his fourth of his football career and third in 12 months — or another serious injury, Oklahoma could be met with a similar fate. Stoops and Riley both said the Sooners did not look seriously at adding another quarterback to help alleviate depth concerns. “It was something talked about, but finding the absolute right target, to this point, hasn’t presented himself,” Stoops said. “It wasn’t something that we felt doing for
PHOTO PROVIDED BY 247 SPORTS
Austin Kendall throws at a recruiting camp. Kendall is in the mix as a possible backup quarterback to Baker Mayfield.
just anybody.” Assuming Thomas sticks with his decision to pursue baseball, 2016 will be the first season in more than a decade that Oklahoma doesn’t have at least three scholarship quarterbacks. The last time was back in 2005, when the only scholarship signal callers on the roster were Rhett Bomar and Paul Thompson.
“That’s part of the deal with quarterbacks,” Riley said. “You’re going to have attrition and you better have the next guy up ready to go.” Spenser Davis
davis.spenser@ou.edu