Has been declared eligible and headed to Norman per himself from Twitter. Thought i would share some good news for you guys since Joe kinda fudged things up.
Here is the story http://m.newsok.com/oklahoma-football-freshman-offensive-tackle-orlando-brown-jr.-qualified-heading-to-norman/article/5079407
If true this is really good news. This dude was offered by everybody in the country last year. As such Rivals looks kinda stupid having him as only a 3-star, but I'm guessing some of that may have been related to concerns about his eligibility???
Just wondering...in what way? Did you mean in a strictly "Ick, there's bad publicity" way? Just curious.
The only thing I can think of is that his lower rating was due to grade issues. He's got the tools to be a big time lineman, and there is obviously NFL DNA there (remember, his dad was the guy that got hit in the eye with a penalty flag, and sued the NFL).
My only problem with this theory is that there are plenty of other cats who are big time grade issues that do receive the stars. Dez Bryant in particular, comes to mind. I think that rivals could benefit from expanding their task force. I know that a lot of their evaluations come from camps and we all know that not every athlete that is D1 worthy can attend such camps.
I was just speculating, but my personal belief is that Brown was rated lower because he's not a hustle player. That will change at OU, or he won't play/will leave. Fortunately, Brown has been told (not sure if it was by family, or coaches) that he really has the potential to play in the NFL, and seems to have taken that to heart (he's worked harder in the weight room and in the classroom in the past year). But, there's no way to go back and change his reputation of being a little lazy. He can only improve what is ahead of him. He has the physical tools to be another Sooner lineman drafted, but there's a lot of ground to cover between now and then.
That guy is HUUUUUUGE. A strong line can make up for a lot of other issues. Hoping he stays happy in Norman. Should be weird when he lines up against Tennessee this Fall though.
When O-linemen are involved, that seems to be issue #1. If he can stay happy (and that's going to be completely on him), then he could really be special. So many promising linemen get signed by elite programs all over the country, only to leave school. I have a theory on this, but to keep it short, I think a lot of linemen get overconfident when they are pushing high school defenders around. Then, get shocked when they get to the next level and realize there's far more to it than just being big. Anyway, I'm almost certain he'll redshirt this year, but he could see some time in Knoxville next year.
