College recruiting: Oklahoma football recruiting 2022 class grade

The 2022 Oklahoma football recruiting class was in danger of collapse but new head coach Brent Venables kept it together for Signing Day.

It’s been a rollercoaster for Oklahoma since the end of the regular season with head coach Lincoln Riley jumping ship for USC and leaving the Sooners rudderless.

Oklahoma righted the ship by making a big hire of their own. They grabbed Brent Venables from Clemson and immediately got to work making sure the 2022 recruiting class could still be a strength.

Venables and his staff still have time to shore up the class even more, but their Early Signing Day haul was a good start.

Gavin Sawchuk is the top-ranked commit for Oklahoma football recruiting

Oklahoma’s class is headlined by Gavin Sawchuk, the four-star running back out of Littleton, Colorado.

Sawchuk committed to the Sooners over the summer and stuck with his pledge despite Riley’s departure. Keeping him in place will help offset the loss of five-star decommit Raleek Brown, who followed the former head coach to USC.

In Sawchuk, Oklahoma is getting a lightning-quick rusher who can catch the ball out of the backfield. He could see early playing time as a change-of-pace option.

Alton Tarber is Oklahoma football recruiting’s diamond in the rough

Alton Tarber’s recruiting rankings might cause some to overlook him as the No. 1,120 prospect in the country. His measurables say something different as a 6-foot-2, 305-pound defensive lineman with explosive ability.

The Florida product decommitted from Georgia Tech to join the Sooners. His high school coach called him a “War Daddy.” He’ll get time to develop but you can’t teach that kind of size.

Strongest and weakest position groups for Oklahoma football recruiting

Getting Kobie McKinzie back from his commitment while locking in Kip Lewis at linebacker was a big plus for the Sooners’ linebacking corps. An even more impressive feat was keeping four-star wide receivers Jayden Gibson and Nicholas Anderson committed despite the exodus of offensive coaches.

The weakest part of Oklahoma’s recruiting class has more to do with who they didn’t get than who they did. Losing five-star Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy and four-star Derrick Moore on the defensive line will hurt down the line. The Sooners had two top 100 defensive linemen in the class and now they have none in the Top 500.

Oklahoma football recruiting class rankings

The Sooners emerged from Early Signing Day ranked No. 10 nationally and No. 2 in the Big 12. All things considered, that’s an exceptional recovery to what could have been an utterly disastrous recruiting cycle.

Oklahoma football recruiting class grade: A

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