Football Recruiting: Oklahoma State Makes Numerous 2021 Football Offers

With the 2018 season now behind us and the finishing touches being put on the class of 2019, many coaches have turned their attention to this past season’s high school sophomores and juniors.

Phillip has already broken down both of the offensive and defensive 2020 prospects to receive offers from OSU. Now we’ll take a look at the 2021 prospects Coach Gundy and Co. are targeting.

This post was originally published on Monday, January 21. We are updating this list as it goes with the most recent offers at the top.

Thursday, January 24

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Shadrach Banks, Wide Receiver

This is an important offer. Star it. Underline it. Put it in bold. This is one to watch. Banks is rated as the no. 32 prospect in 2021 and already has an offer sheet that rolls from North Shore High School all the way up I-35 to Stillwater.

The reason this offer stands out more than the others on this list is because Oklahoma State has shown that it can recruit the offensive skill positions with the big boys. Getting guys like Tylan Wallace proves that if Gundy has a chance at hauling in a five-star guy, it is probably at wide receiver.

I had a chance to see Banks play in person about a month ago in the Texas 6A Division I State Championship. He hauled in nine catches for 179 yards and two scores. He’s a smaller receiver and his ability to get behind the defense and catch the long ball reminded me a little of James Washington.

Banks holds 26 offers from just about every major program in the nation. OSU’s chances may be slim, but Gundy has recruited Houston well over the last couple of years. I’d like to see the staff put on a full court press which shouldn’t be too hard considering that Banks already has two other teammates with OSU offers.

Latrell Neville, Wide Receiver

Staying in the Houston area, Gundy got an offer out to Willowridge product Latrell Neville on Thursday night. This is another big offer for the same reasons as Shadrach Banks. Similarly, Neville has a ridiculous offer list for a guy who still has two seasons of high school ball remaining.

He’s a bigger target than Banks at 6-3 but moves with good speed. He played a little out of the backfield for the Eagles and had a nice year in one of the better districts in the state. You can see him outrun one of the fastest teams in the state, Marshall, here.

At least one future Poke was excited to see Neville get an offer.

Cody Jackson, Wide Receiver

Staying in Houston and at wide receiver, Gundy gets an offer out to Foster product Cody Jackson, teammate of Reuben Fatheree, mentioned below.

Jackson is a 6-0, 170-pound receiver whose play-style resembles Banks. He gets behind the secondary a lot and is quick enough to beat corners on simple go routes. He was electric for the Falcons last season, providing a good chunk of their offense.

Jackson’s current crystal ball predictions have him headed to OU although it is very early in the process. He also holds offers from Oregon, LSU and Houston.

Wednesday, January 23

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Tysheem Johnson, Athlete

Gundy heads all the way out to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for this offer. Tysheem Johnson is listed as an athlete but would likely play safety at Oklahoma State. At 5-10 and 170-pounds, Johnson is also a prime candidate to play some cornerback as well. Johnson holds offers from Michigan, Ohio State and Baylor as well.

Johnson returned kicks in addition to playing quarterback and in the secondary for Neumann Goretti. Goretti is a small private high school so he is utilized in a bunch of different ways, but he most naturally projects to be in the secondary in college. Most of his action at quarterback came running the ball, where Tysheem has good speed.

Saint McLeod, Safety

Staying in Philadelphia, Imhotep Institute safety Saint McLeod wins the award for best name offered so far in this class. Oklahoma State is the third offer for McLeod in addition to Howard and Temple.

Imhotep Institute is another small school with an enrollment of less than 1,000. This means McLeod, like Johnson, plays multiple positions. Most of his sophomore year highlights come at running back, but OSU would surely use him in the secondary.

Tuesday, January 22

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Raesjon Davis, Linebacker

Gundy goes after one of the top talent producing schools in the nation here by offering Mater Dei linebacker Raesjon Davis. The California product racked up 44 tackles, 7.5 sacks and an interception in his sophomore season according to Maxpreps.

While Davis isn’t ranked yet and hasn’t been assigned a star ranking either, the playmaking linebacker also holds offers from Oregon, Florida State and Oklahoma.

Bryce Foster, Offensive Tackle

Yet another offensive line offer rolls in. This time it’s Katy Taylor (TX) product Bryce Foster. The 6-5 lineman helped Taylor to a second round playoff appearance and one of the best finishes in school history a year ago.

At 315-pounds, Foster is rated as the 6th-best offensive tackle in the nation and 29th overall for his class. He’s already accumulated offers from Georgia, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M among others. A&M will be the one to look out for here. The Aggies hauled in nearly every major recruit in the Houston area in Jimbo Fisher’s first year and are the leader for many area recruits in other classes as well.

Monday, January 21

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Savion Byrd, Offensive Tackle

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound tackle has already racked up 12 offers from schools like Alabama, Baylor, LSU, TCU and others in addition to Oklahoma State, with seven of those coming in just the past week.

Byrd had a good season in which he helped lift Duncanville to a state title game appearance last season.

At 240 pounds, Byrd is big enough to dominate opposing lineman in run blocking situations but is also athletic enough to move his feet and keep his man in front of him in pass blocking situations. He went up against a talented North Shore defensive line in the Texas 6A Division I state championship game and played well. Duncanville used him at both tackle and guard as you can see in the clip below.

Bram Walden, Offensive Tackle

Josh Henson has been going after some linemen, including Walden, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound tackle. Walden attends one of the top talent producing schools in Arizona. Saguaro finished in the top 25 public schools in the nation (along with Duncanville) according to HSFA. Oklahoma State offered two 2020 defensive prospects from the school as well.

247Sports has Walden as a 3-star prospect and lists offers from four schools; OSU, Arizona State, Michigan, and Memphis.

Walden would likely play on the interior of the offensive line for OSU. He has the same height as the above-mentioned Byrd, but weighs in 30 pounds heavier at 270.

Landon Jackson, Defensive End

Now THIS is a big time recruit. Jackson is ranked no. 42 nationally according to 247sports and already holds a 10 offers from schools including Texas, Texas A&M and Arkansas. It hasn’t been hard to tell that the class of 2021 in Texas has stupid talent.

Pleasant Grove went up against Cuero in the 4A Division II state title game and the Hawks surrendered a Texas championship game record six touchdowns and 334 yards to UT commit Jordan Whittington. Unfortunately Jackson went down with a knee injury earlier in the season and its pretty apparent how much the Hawks missed him.

Playing at 6-foot-5 and 215-pounds against 4A talent in Texas means some pretty dominating highlights. He’s tall enough to bat balls down at the line of scrimmage and athletic enough to get past blockers or chase runners down from behind. His highlights show why he’s one of the most sought after prospects in his class.

Jackson could be a package deal with a pair of highly rated recruits in 2021 which we’ll cover next.

Landyn Watson, Defensive End

Watson comes in at No. 55 in the national rankings, not too far behind Jackson. He currently holds offers from eight programs, including Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and TCU.

At 6-3 and 230, Watson plays like a taller Calvin Bundage. He plays defensive line for Hutto but could easily be a linebacker as well. He is able to get to quarterback with a Bundage-like athletic bull rush.

Ja’tavion Sanders, Defensive End

Sanders will wrap up this run of defensive line offers with three guys ranked in the top five of defensive end prospects in Texas.

There’s something about the last name Sanders and Denton Ryan High School. Quarterback Spencer took his talents to Stillwater and class of 2020 athlete Drew Sanders is headed to OU. Now Ja’tavian gets his turn as the next great Sanders (none of whom are related to each other, to my knowledge) to play for the Raiders.

Sanders currently holds offers from five FBS schools, including OSU, Notre Dame, Missouri, Baylor, and Oklahoma. Hopefully the oldest Sanders of the three can sway the youngest up to Stillwater.

Sanders did a little bit of everything for Denton Ryan. He played defensive end in addition to wide receiver and special teams, making him a versatile athlete. He is another one of those speed rushing defensive lineman, using the same speed that made him one of Drew Sanders top targets a year ago.

Reuben Fatheree, Offensive Tackle

The Pokes have been pounding the offers for the linemen in 2021. An offer was extended to Richmond Foster offensive tackle Reuben Fatheree on Wednesday night. Fatheree is the highest rated of any offer in this class so far at 25th in the nation. The 6-8, 300-pound tackle already holds a lengthy offer sheet that includes Alabama, LSU, OU, Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and more.

His size makes him the perfect interior lineman as he can take on multiple pass rushers at once. He’s big no. 76 in this video, going up against a good Hutto defensive line. He’s playing at the guard spot for most of the video but will project as a tackle at the next level. He struggled a little bit against quicker defensive ends but overall did a good job.

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Coach Gundy and his staff have attacked Texas in recruiting in the last few days for both the junior and sophomore class. It seems as if the Pokes will be competing with Oregon, Virginia Tech and Missouri along with the obvious Texas, Texas A&M, and OU’s of the world for most of these recruits.

While OSU may not get many (or maybe any) of these guys, it would be exciting to see the coaching staff put on a full court press similar to the process that Mike Boynton has adopted. You may not get these guys this year, but the more time and effort spent on recruiting the top talent will get you noticed with the classes to follow.