Sooners don't need top class with playmakers already waiting on roster
New signee Will Sunderland flashed the "Horns Down" sign, a gesture most Oklahomans know and love, and sent in his paperwork in to play for the Sooners.
That alone seems like the Sooners won signing day.
Coach Bob Stoops claimed victory, something his Oklahoma football team didn't do much of last season on the field and the newest class of Sooners officially joined the team Wednesday on National Signing Day.
Perhaps junior college signee DeDe Westbrook at receiver and Kenneth Mann from Texas at defensive end will end up being starters or even All-Conference players. Who knows. OU got signatures from players in eight states and even Canada. The Sooners got some of the best in Oklahoma and a junior college All-American.
There was only one five-star signee in the group of 24, but there should be a lot of improvement.
Oklahoma got offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley last month, has a transfer quarterback in Baker Mayfield, will likely get linebacker Frank Shannon back and will also have five-star running back Joe Mixon in the backfield.
That's a signing day that's better than anything the Sooners got via fax on Wednesday.
None of the three players suited up last season. All three will factor into the success of 2015 more than any new recruit or more than any player who OU was targeting.
If signing day is like the trade deadline, well, the Sooners got four additions and gave up nothing.
While so much stock is put into the unknown of the first Wednesday in February, the Sooners improved in the known.
Dreadfully thin in talent at the linebacker spot and running a 3-4 defense where they need bodies, the Sooners will get Shannon back. He was suspended for a year from football and school when he was found to be guilty by the University of Title IX sexual misconduct. Shannon had 92 tackles in 2013 and 40 in 2012.
The Oklahoma defense was shaky for the better part of the season a year ago. Bring back Shannon, alongside Jordan Evans and now the linebacker
The case of Mixon is well documented after Mixon was suspended for a year after a physical altercation with a female in a local sandwich shop. And while the Sooners shined at the running back position in 2014 with Samaje Perine leading the way, Mixon is a five-star running back from California. And now he's been at school for a year and understands more than the typical freshman.
There were no quarterbacks signed by the Sooners Wednesday, but Mayfield is the most compelling. Mayfield was named the Freshman of the Year in the Big 12 two seasons ago before deciding to transfer to Oklahoma and with Riley, also formally of Texas Tech, the two step into a spot in desperate need of an upgrade.
The Oklahoma offense went stagnant for a large portion of the season last year, never fully committing to a style and never getting any consistent quarterback play. Riley will be in charge of changing that. And because starter Trevor Knight has not shown extreme durability and his backup Cody Thomas struggled, Mayfield could be in the perfect spot at the perfect time.
"When you have four on scholarship, you feel good about it," Stoops said Wednesday afternoon of his quarterback position."
There are no teams who will admit to whiffing on signing day. It's never happened before, but OU's 2015 will come down to Mixon, Shannon, Mayfield and Riley. Those are the three players who will be judged most harshly, not receiver Dahu Green or anyone else new to the program.
If Mixon is able to distance himself from the off-field issue that kept him out of the locker room in 2014, the Sooners could have the best running back combination in the country.
If Shannon can return to form, the linebacking depth will be much improved.
If Riley can restore some mojo, everyone will be happier.
There's no one the Sooners signed Wednesday that is more likely to achieve any of those things than those three are.
"We got the guys we needed at every position," Stoops said of Wednesday's signings.
But the Sooners already have a lot of what they needed just waiting to play.
2015 Signing Class
Gabriel Campbell, DE, Yazoo City High, Miss.
Jamal Danley, OT, East Mississippi Community College
Ricky DeBerry, DE, Atlee High, Mechanicsville, Va.
Bobby Evans, OT, Allen High, Texas
Cody Ford, OG, Pineville High, La.
Neville Gallimore, DT, Canada Prep Football Academy
Dahu Green, WR, Westmoore High, Oklahoma City.
Kahill Haughton, S, Midway High, Waco, Texas
Dominque Hearne, OG, Lancaster, Texas
John Humphrey, WR, Clear Falls High, League City, Texas
William Johnson, CB, Monroe College, New Rochelle, N.Y.
Kenneth Mann, DE, Burleson, Texas
P.J. Mbansor, CB, Hendrickson High, Pflugerville, Texas
Arthur McGinnis, LB, Warren Easton High, New Orleans, La.
Prentice McKinney, DB, South Oak Cliff High, Dallas, Texas
A.D. Miller, WR, Bishop Dunne High, Dallas, Texas
Marquise Overton, DT, Jenks High, Okla.
Dru Samia, OG, San Ramon Valley High, Danville, Calif.
Austin Seibert, K, Belleville West High, Ill.
Antoine Stephens, CB, Justin F. Kimball High, Dallas, Texas
Will Sunderland Jr., S, Midwest City High, Okla.
Dede Westbrook, WR, Blinn College, Texas
Dalton Wood, TE, McAlester High, Okla.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
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