Caleb Williams finally made it official Saturday night, committing to Oklahoma in an Independence Day announcement live on CBSSports.com. Williams is the nation’s top-ranked quarterback — and No. 4 overall prospect — and plays at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.
Williams is the highest-rated recruit to pick the Sooners since Adrian Peterson (No. 1 overall) in 2004. He recently was named Elite 11 Finals MVP.
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Williams’ commitment wasn’t the only good news for Oklahoma on the nation’s birthday. The Sooners also landed a verbal commitment from four-star cornerback Latrell McCutchin, who had been committed to Alabama until March 1 — when he happened to be on an official visit to Oklahoma. McCutchin plays at Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Austin, Texas.
And there is plenty of reason to believe this could be just the beginning of a tremendous month on the recruiting trail for Oklahoma.
Here are 26 final thoughts from Saturday’s fireworks — for the 26 touchdown passes Williams threw as a junior last season for Gonzaga College High.
All rankings referenced below are from the 247Sports Composite.
1. The commitments of Williams and McCutchin felt like the worst-kept secrets in the recruiting world. Williams had narrowed his list to three — Oklahoma, LSU and Maryland — but his Twitter profile included a photo of his mother with Lincoln Riley. How’s that for a hint? LSU, shortly after being included on Williams’ list of finalists, received a commitment from 2021 four-star quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, then from 2022 prospect Walker Howard. And Maryland recently added Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa, who has three years of eligibility remaining.
2. Maryland coach Mike Locksley went hard after Williams, especially in these final weeks. But this has felt like a foregone conclusion for a long time, despite Maryland being much closer to home for Williams and the fact that Locksley is recruiting really well right now.
3. McCutchin’s announcement made official what was almost certainly a long, silent commitment. He was committed to Alabama when he traveled to Norman for a pre-pandemic visit. Within minutes of Riley tweeting his trademark eyeballs on March 1, McCutchin decommitted from the Crimson Tide. It’s not hard to put those pieces together. More on McCutchin later.
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4. Let’s just take a moment to acknowledge the truly unbelievable job Riley and his staff have done during this unprecedented recruiting cycle. Oklahoma’s creativity with its virtual visits has helped land commitments from players who have never been to Norman. Riley has come to rely heavily on the spring game as an important recruiting weekend, but the Sooners were obviously deprived of that.
5. On Friday, recruiting coordinator Annie Hanson tweeted a video of a guy in a helicopter, texting Riley to tell him he was in position. Then Riley texts back, “OK great, take them over,” before the guy jumps out of the helicopter. The message, I’m assuming, is that OU is “taking over” the country with commitments from top players nationwide. That obviously applies to a five-star quarterback from Washington, D.C.
Loading…#LincUpXXI pic.twitter.com/tlT81g2tYb
— Annie Hanson (@AnnieHanson_) July 3, 2020
6. The narrative that Riley can’t recruit his own quarterbacks to Norman is officially dead. It’s just a fallacy — really, it always has been — and now, it’s probably going to be a lot harder for opposing coaches to use that against OU on the recruiting trail. Assuming Williams sticks with his commitment — and there’s no reason to believe he won’t — that would be two No. 1-ranked quarterbacks signed in the past three years.
7. All six five-star quarterbacks for the 2021 class are now committed. So counting those — with the stipulation that things can change, both in terms of commitments and rankings — 17 schools since 2010 have signed (or, in the case of 2021, earned commitments from) five-star quarterbacks. Alabama leads the way with four. Georgia and Clemson have three each, and now Oklahoma is one of five schools that have signed at least two.
8. Oklahoma is also one of five schools in that timeframe that have landed a five-star quarterback in two out of three signing classes, joining Clemson (2017, 2018 and 2020), Alabama (2015 and 2017), Texas A&M (2014 and 2015) and Georgia (2016 and 2018). Of course, both of Texas A&M’s five-star quarterbacks transferred, including (obviously) Kyler Murray.
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9. Peterson, who plays in Washington now, participated in the live announcement on CBSSports.com, offering: “Hey, what’s up, Caleb? It’s all about making good choices. Welcome to the family, and I wish you nothing but the best. Boomer Sooner.”
10. During Williams’ post-announcement interview, he told the CBSSports.com crew he wanted to win national championships. “With their past three quarterbacks, I felt like (Oklahoma) was for me,” he said. “I felt like that was the best place for me overall, with what Coach Riley has been able to do.” At the end of his interview, he flashed the Horns Down, immediately endearing him to his new fan base.
11. Williams’ commitment more than makes up for the heartache OU experienced back in December when five-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff decommitted from the Sooners and picked Georgia. Vandagriff, the third-ranked quarterback nationally in the 2021 class, decided to stay closer to home.
12. The quarterback is often the emotional leader of any recruiting class, and Williams will be no different. Don’t be surprised if a flurry of blue-chip prospects commit to Oklahoma in the coming weeks. Four-star receiver Mario Williams, the No. 37 overall prospect nationally, is on the record as wanting to play with Williams. The next big receiver to watch is Jalil Farooq, the No. 132 overall prospect, from Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High in Maryland. He and Williams are friends.
13. Williams is having a pretty good week. He committed just a few days after being named the Elite 11 Finals MVP in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The MVP was based on his performance at the three-day event and his junior season film. Recent Elite 11 MVPs include Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, Justin Fields, Tua Tagovailoa and Jameis Winston. Williams will play in the All-American Bowl in January, making him the third consecutive Oklahoma quarterback commitment (Rattler in 2019 and Chandler Morris in 2020) to earn a spot in the all-star game.
14. Returning to narratives: The narrative that Riley can’t develop his own quarterbacks is a fallacy also because Baker Mayfield and Murray spent three seasons with him after playing one season elsewhere, and Jalen Hurts had by far the best individual season of his career with Riley. But for that narrative to die, Rattler is going to have to have a big 2020 season.
15. McCutchin was Oklahoma’s first commitment of the day, announcing in a video posted to Twitter at 5:34 p.m. CT. A 6-foot-1 cornerback, McCutchin fits exactly what second-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is seeking in his DBs — length.
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16. McCutchin also becomes the latest in an impressive list of cornerbacks to commit to play for Roy Manning, who is entering his second season as cornerbacks coach. Last season, the Sooners signed four-star cornerbacks Kendall Dennis and Joshua Eaton. And OU remains in the mix for several other blue-chip cornerbacks nationally.
“I left the season to comeback with a reason, I ain’t say it was easy”!!!
C O M M I T T E D❤️!!
#Island21 #WTMMIMI
🎥: @ConnorEllinor pic.twitter.com/covQDohKeJ— Latrell McCutchin🦹🏾♂️ (@bil_trell) July 4, 2020
17. McCutchin is the Sooners’ second defensive back commitment, joining safety Jordan Mukes from Choctaw (Okla.) High. OU will sign at least two more defensive backs in this class, and don’t forget about Beggs (Okla.) High four-star Kendal Daniels, who could be an outside linebacker at Oklahoma but plays safety in high school. Daniels is the No. 141-ranked prospect nationally.
18. McCutchin’s commitment video is all about his return from missing his junior season with a torn ACL. He is ranked No. 124 nationally, No. 11 at cornerback and No. 21 in Texas. It’s not a minor thing that Oklahoma grabbed a blue-chip cornerback from its chief rival’s backyard.
19. Grinch and Manning are slowly building depth at a position that was dangerously thin last season. Remember, Oklahoma played virtually the entire 2019 season with three playable cornerbacks, and one of them — Parnell Motley — is off to the NFL.
20. Nearly a half-hour after McCutchin made his commitment, Riley tweeted a video compilation of praise for Grinch’s “Speed D.” Riley adheres to an amended version of Alec Baldwin’s famous slogan from “Glengarry Glen Ross” — A.B.C. Always. Be. ’Crootin.
21. There is every indication that the good recruiting news for Oklahoma won’t stop after this weekend’s commitments. Heck, it didn’t even stop with the commitments Saturday. Five-star defensive tackle Maason Smith, the No. 1-ranked defensive tackle in the 2021 class, from Houma, La., announced his top eight, and it included Oklahoma along with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Oregon and USC. Now let’s be clear: Oklahoma remains a heavy underdog here. All signs still point toward Smith ending up at LSU.
22. But the mere fact that OU is part of a top-eight list from a five-star defensive tackle from SEC country is incredibly positive news. It’s another sign — like McCutchin decommitting from Alabama for OU — that Grinch’s message is reaching these elite prospects that Oklahoma has missed out on for years.
THE END IS COMING……🎱 #1of1 pic.twitter.com/h3UHocYKfe
— MAASON SMITH (@maassoonn_) July 4, 2020
23. Three of the Sooners’ seven defensive commitments are ranked No. 157 or higher nationally, and four-star defensive end Nathan Rawlins-Kbonge checks in at No. 319.
24.Here is a link to my most recent list of the Sooners’ top-10 2021 recruiting targets. There will obviously be some serious updating when I release a new list later this month.
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25. There was some buzz connecting wide receiver Keon Coleman to this weekend’s Oklahoma recruiting show-of-force, but Coleman instead committed to Kansas on Saturday evening. Coleman, a four-star prospect from Opelousas, La., wants to play football and basketball in college and will do so at KU.
26. Oklahoma now has commitments from 11 2021 prospects, seven of whom are ranked as four-star prospects or higher. Saturday’s commitments raised the Sooners to No. 14 in the team rankings.
(Photo: Will Newton for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
