DT Charles Walker commits

[8timechamps]

It didn't come as a huge surprise, as he was expected to commit at some point, still...it clears the picture up just a bit.



Charles Walker (6'4", 280 lbs)

Walker is a physical dude in the trenches. He looks to be a fairly well put together big man with good height and a frame that could still support more good mass with further physical development. He can lack consistency, but flashes a good initial burst off the ball. He is not only a good sized kid, but displays good playing strength as well and when he explodes off the ball and stays low he is capable of quickly knocking a blocker back on his heels.

Walker can be an active and even violent presence inside and when he brings his hands he can separate and shed, but must improve hand usage. He does a good job of keeping his pad level down and can overpower smaller opponents at times at his current level, but can lose his hands and allow blockers to get into his frame and tie him up. He shows flashes of being able to recognize blocking schemes and can work well laterally down the line and quickly flatten. Shows a good motor and can bring ball carriers down when he gets hands on. He could be a good interior pass rusher as he can get under blockers pads and power his way back and also flashes the ability to quickly work to half-a-man, but needs to learn to better use his weapons to his advantage.

Walker is an interesting kid. He is big and powerful and can move fairly well for his size. If he can stay healthy he could develop into a real disruptive player and turn into a bit of a steal for a program.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I like the above comments you posted. here is the Rivals profile on him:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Charles-Walker-132243;_ylt=Av25Ws72XS1UqHgTHtaNJvFIPZB4

[Soonerjeepman]

8time...

ok I really try hard to not fall into the sky is falling category...and you seem to have some knowledge, inside or whatnot, about recruiting and the program. My cousin was a manager in the mid to late 90's and I usually take his word for things as well.

With that said, I see this guy had offers from lower D1 schools..Baylor was the only thing close to OU and all they said is they were "showing interest lately". Guess I'm concerned (as a fan) that the guys were are getting are not the big boys...the ones that have offers from other top 10 programs. I think eventually (like the last few years) it will show with bad bowl losses against top teams....

what's your take? Why is OU only getting guys that have offers from lower schools?
thanks

I will add, I've coached HS bball, not HC but JV etc. I know coaching can matter but ya can't make chicken salad out of chicken $hit. Natural talent, size, strength, ability is just that sometimes...natural.

[Curly Bill]

Cheer up Jeep, we beat out North Texas and Texas State for this guy! :eagerness:

[Soonerjeepman]

lol...yeah I posted on the other thread as well...ask 75 basically the same thing. Well at least we beat out some texas schools for him!

[8timechamps]

8time...

ok I really try hard to not fall into the sky is falling category...and you seem to have some knowledge, inside or whatnot, about recruiting and the program. My cousin was a manager in the mid to late 90's and I usually take his word for things as well.

With that said, I see this guy had offers from lower D1 schools..Baylor was the only thing close to OU and all they said is they were "showing interest lately". Guess I'm concerned (as a fan) that the guys were are getting are not the big boys...the ones that have offers from other top 10 programs. I think eventually (like the last few years) it will show with bad bowl losses against top teams....

what's your take? Why is OU only getting guys that have offers from lower schools?
thanks

I will add, I've coached HS bball, not HC but JV etc. I know coaching can matter but ya can't make chicken salad out of chicken $hit. Natural talent, size, strength, ability is just that sometimes...natural.

My assessment is that OU missed their targets at DT this year. I don't know what happened with Justin Manning, but he was the #1 target at DT, and we missed out on him. That's the bottom line.

Every year, the Sooners bring guys in that may or may not see the field, but are roster fillers. I would not consider this year's DT recruits as those kind of guys, but they certainly weren't the top targets.

I don't want to blame everything on BV leaving, but it was a big factor in the recruiting of defensive players this year. The ball was dropped somewhere. I don't think Bob would ever admit it to the public, but things have not gone the way he wanted, or the way they usually have this recruiting period.

There has also been a fundamental change in the way OU recruits. Stoops was always slow, but the Sooners have actually become slower to offer recruits. I think it has a lot to do with the more national approach, and the fact that a lot of players were simply not sticking around long.

With all of that said, the class is actually quite good. The three DTs committed are all capable of playing as freshmen, and in the next couple of years, this could wind up being one of the better DT groups OU has had in a while. Of course we all wanted a big name DT, it just didn't happen this year. However, we've had a fair share of 4 or 5 star guys come in that didn't turn out to be much of anything.

We'll see...

[Fraggle145]

From jkm's DT recruting thread on the main fb forum page it looks like stars on DT's out of HS dont seem to matter that much.

[BoomerJ]

I believe he was hurt his Jr. year and didn't play. That can make the difference in someone getting overlooked nationally or being a three star vs a four star. Don't know how he did his Sr. year stats wise, but some Dallas area coaches had high praise for him.

[Soonerjeepman]

8time..true on 4/5 star guys not panning out...I think McFarland was a 4 star guy and didn't get much time til his Sr yr and well...didn't seem to go real well.

Good to know these guys can and prob will play

[Collier11]

how many people recruited Quentin Griffin, Mark Clayton, etc... he may end up riding the bench but bottom line is we need depth and he wants to be here.

[sooner KB]

It looks like he's an unranked 2 star on Rivals. Not to be a pessimist, but perhaps this is more of a case of being recruited because you are Casey Walker's little brother as opposed to being a specially scouted recruiting gem. We'll see though.

[lexsooner]

Uh, Charles Walker suddenly grew another star and became a 3 star player on Scout after he committed to OU. Funny how that works. Recruit ratings are apparently based on prestige points too. I'm frankly not concerned about his no. of stars, whether two or three, or who offered him. I always understood that high school linemen are terribly difficult to evaluate accurately. Some five star 320 lb. monster DL, i.e. signed by UT, turn out to be duds, while lesser star or even non-linemen became standouts in college. Our best linemen last season were OL Gabe Ikard, a three star high schooler at most, and OT Lane Johnson, not even a lineman in high school. I don't remember big brother Casey Walker being a four or five star player, but he developed into a regular on our DL over several seasons. This is a high need area and a kid who wants to be here and has some family tradition with OU and is apparently underrated due to high school injuries is a nice pickup.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

8time...

ok I really try hard to not fall into the sky is falling category...and you seem to have some knowledge, inside or whatnot, about recruiting and the program. My cousin was a manager in the mid to late 90's and I usually take his word for things as well.

With that said, I see this guy had offers from lower D1 schools..Baylor was the only thing close to OU and all they said is they were "showing interest lately". Guess I'm concerned (as a fan) that the guys were are getting are not the big boys...the ones that have offers from other top 10 programs. I think eventually (like the last few years) it will show with bad bowl losses against top teams....

what's your take? Why is OU only getting guys that have offers from lower schools?
thanks

I will add, I've coached HS bball, not HC but JV etc. I know coaching can matter but ya can't make chicken salad out of chicken $hit. Natural talent, size, strength, ability is just that sometimes...natural.

So you are saying that at no point in your coaching career did a kid who wasn't very good as a sophomore end up pretty good as a senior? Rivals has proven to be HORRID at projecting success at DT. They actually have more guys that they project as "Strong Side DE" drafted in the 1st round as a DT than they do top 70 DTs.

We have 2 DTS taken in the first 3 rounds in the last 8 years (Dvoracek/McCoy). That is the same number as Missouri, Temple, NC State, and Cal. There are only 3 schools with more (FSU, USC, Auburn). Do you even want to guess how many of these guys would have been viewed as fans as class "fillers"? The answer would surprise you.

[Curly Bill]

I'm not as concerned about the number of stars the kids we recruit have, so much as we're increasingly finding it challenging to land the kids we initially target, and have to move on to out 2nd tier targets. Points to something wrong...like maybe a lack of prestige in which kids see the OU program???

[Mjcpr]

I'm not as concerned about the number of stars the kids we recruit have, so much as we're increasingly finding it challenging to land the kids we initially target, and have to move on to out 2nd tier targets. Points to something wrong...like maybe a lack of prestige in which kids see the OU program???

Hard to believe but today's recruits were no more than 5 or 6 when we beat FSU for our last NC.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I'm not as concerned about the number of stars the kids we recruit have, so much as we're increasingly finding it challenging to land the kids we initially target, and have to move on to out 2nd tier targets. Points to something wrong...like maybe a lack of prestige in which kids see the OU program???

We rarely get the kids we initially target. When I was tracking this a while back, we tended to have to give out 6 offers for 1 commit compared to schools like Texas where it was like 1.6 offers per commit. This isn't anything new.

[OkieThunderLion]

I thought the story was that Walker missed a bunch of time to injuries and that is how he flew under the radar.

[OkieThunderLion]

We rarely get the kids we initially target. When I was tracking this a while back, we tended to have to give out 6 offers for 1 commit compared to schools like Texas where it was like 1.6 offers per commit. This isn't anything new.
Those numbers would seem right.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

That's what I heard also...it also concerns me to be recruiting someone who is already having problems staying healthy and being on the field.

[Widescreen]

That's what I heard also...it also concerns me to be recruiting someone who is already having problems staying healthy and being on the field.

I can totally relate to this kid. I was injured a lot during my junior and senior year and my mom said I would have been a 5-star otherwise. Ultimately I had to take an academic scholarship and focus on my satellite intramural career.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

****in tennis players..I remember them ripping you apart on the message boards.

[BoomerJ]

"Go play in intramurals, brotha"

[Scott D]

just out of curiousity does Walker play any other sports at a varsity level?

[Tulsa_Fireman]

He's got a mean backhand, but he's not as strong as anticipated from service which decreases his initial value by one star.

"He's good laterally on the baseline and is strong at the net. Not John McEnroe strong, but strong enough to contribute at the next level", says coach Ben Dover, head tennis instructor and alternative lifestyles dean at Boulder-Simmons Prepatory Acedemy.