Caleb Williams would be the crown jewel of Oklahoma football’s 2021 class.
If Oklahoma football lands Caleb Williams, the Sooners’ reign as Quarterback U will continue.
Williams is one of 31 five-star recruits in the 2021 high school class in the 247Sports Composite. At 6-foot-2 and 209 pounds, the Washington, D.C. native is the No. 1 player from his area, the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in his recruiting class and the No. 4 player in the nation during this recruiting cycle.
Of the 22 official offers he has received, Williams’ strongest leaning seems to be with Oklahoma. He is also garnering a great deal of interest from the LSU Tigers with offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger has his primary recruiter there, as well as the nearby Maryland Terrapins with offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery as his primary recruiter as well.
Williams’ primary recruiter at Oklahoma is tight ends coach Shane Beamer. He is the son of former Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Frank Beamer, and has quite the resume as a recruiter in his own right. While on Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs coaching staff, he was the primary recruiter of five-star tight end Isaac Nauta and the secondary recruiter of five-star running back Zamir White.
The identity of Lincoln Riley’s football program since he took over the Oklahoma Sooners for Bob Stoops in 2017 has been brilliance at the quarterback position with the Air Raid attack. Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won back-to-back Heisman Trophies under him, with Alabama Crimson Tide graduate transfer Jalen Hurts finished as runner-up to Joe Burrow last year.
Landing Caleb Williams would headline Oklahoma football’s 2021 class.
It should be obvious why getting Williams’ commitment is so crucial for Oklahoma, but there’s a little bit more to it than what meets the eye. The Sooners originally had five-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff‘s commitment, but he has since switched to Georgia. The Bogart, Georgia native lives right outside of Athens anyway, so could you really blame him for staying home.
Though LSU could be intriguing and maybe even the possibility of staying close to home at Maryland would to, Oklahoma feels like Williams’ commitment is inevitably coming. Even though the Sooners are one of college football‘s truest blue-bloods, there’s not a ton of top-end talent in the state. So OU has no issues with poaching the best talent outside of their borders regularly.
While the Sooners don’t have a commitment from any five-star up to this point, they are the presumptive leaders for running back Camar Wheaton of Garland, Texas (No. 19 nationally). Oklahoma also has the commitment of four-star wide receiver Mario Williams from Plant City, Florida (No. 37 nationally). Simply put, Oklahoma has work to do inside of the top-50.
By signing a no-doubt, sure-fire five-star like Williams, Riley has his heir apparent to Spencer Rattler in due time. Having a two-year gap between Rattler and Williams would allow Riley to effectively transition from to the one in 2022 when Williams is a sophomore and Rattler has the possibility of turning pro. Still, Riley would want to replace one blue-chipper with another.
Landing Williams’ commitment will help Oklahoma secure another top-10 class under Riley.
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