Bob Stoops lauds Oklahoma's offensive haul on Signing Day

Published Feb. 1, 2017 6:29 p.m. ET

Stewart Mandel

Oklahoma in 2017 brings back one of the sport’s most accomplished quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield but must replace three other valuable offensive players in Heisman finalist Dede Westbrook and star running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon.

Fortunately for Sooners coach Bob Stoops, he addressed those positions in a big way with this year’s recruiting class.

In an interview Wednesday, Stoops told FOX Sports that junior college receiver Marquise Brown -- one of 11 recent early enrollees for Oklahoma -- could follow in the footsteps of Biletnikoff winner Westbrook.

Listen to the interview here:

The 5-11, 175-pound Brown, a South Florida native who played for College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, was ranked as one of the nation’s Top 10 juco recruits. Several Pac-12 schools wanted him.

“He’s a junior college guy with exceptional speed -– speed that’s similar to Dede’s,” said Stoops, who also welcomes four-star high school signees CeeDee Lamb (Richmond, Texas) and Charleston Rambo (Cedar Hill, Texas) this summer.

Meanwhile, OU must replace two running backs, Perine and Mixon, who accounted for nearly 3,000 combined yards from scrimmage for last year’s Big 12 championship team. The Sooners signed three players at that position. Four-star prospect Trey Sermon (Marietta, Ga.) and Pennsylvania juco transfer Marcelias Sutton (Lackawanna CC) are already on campus, and four-star recruit Kennedy Brooks (Mansfield, Texas), arrives this summer.

“Those guys at running back need to be able to step up,” Stoops said. “We love all of them.”

Oklahoma’s 2017 class, which also includes four-star QB Chris Robinson (Mesquite, Texas), is expected to finish in the Top 10 on all the services, marking Stoops’ highest-rated class in seven years.

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