Football Recruiting: OSU offers pair of talented tight ends

With Spring Break over, Oklahoma State coaches were busy this past week both on the field — with spring ball — and off handing out scholarships seemingly left and right.

OSU Offers Rising Tight End

It was a busy week for athletic four-star tight end Jalin Conyers, who picked up eight of his 11 offers in the past seven days.

Along with OSU, Texas A&M, Michigan, LSU, Arizona State, SMU, and Tulsa all extended scholarship opportunities to the 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect.

It’s not terribly surprising Conyers is picking up some attention. He was named a first-team all-district selection at both WR and DB as a junior, after playing quarterback as a sophomore. He had 37 receptions for 690 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with three interceptions, including one he returned for a TD.

It probably took awhile for people to take notice, as Conyers players for Gruver, a town located all the way near the top of the Panhandle. The small town and is closer to Denver than it is to most cities in the Lone Star State.

Conyers is rated as a four-star prospect by 247. He is an ultra-athletic big man who will make a great Cowboy back if he picks OSU.

McEndoo Offers Versatile Tight End

Along with Conyers, OSU tight end coach McEndoo also offered a scholarship to Jack Yary, a three-star tight end prospect out of Murrieta Valley in California.

Yary announced his offer on Twitter earlier this week, with the Cowboys joining 11 other programs, including USC, UCLA, Tennessee, Cal, and Utah, among others, in targeting him. As of now, USC is considered the overwhelming favorite with all eight 247 crystal balls predicting Trojans.

While his numbers were nice as a junior — 33 receptions for 386 yards and six touchdowns — it’s his abilities a blocker in both the run and passing game that make him a really intriguing prospect. Check out the highlights of the No. 18 tight end prospect in the country for your yourself.

Jack is the son of former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Ron Yary, a six-time Pro Bowler who played with the Vikings and Rams.

OSU Offers Talented Texas Safety

The Cowboys also extended an offer to the No. 11 ranked safety prospect in the class of 2020, Jerrin Thompson.

The 6-foot, 183-pound, four-star prospect hails from Lufkin, Texas. He announced the offer on Twitter earlier this week. The Cowboys join 14 other schools in pursuing him, including LSU, Oklahoma, Penn State, TCU, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Baylor, and Arizona, among others.

TCU and Arkansas have both been making a strong push, but LSU remains the favorite, according to Thompson himself.

“LSU of course,” Thompson said when asked by Billy Embody of 247Sports if he has a favorite school. “I don’t know what it is. I just feel like I’m a fit there. I just liked how the things flowed there. It was great. I like it. It was lit. I mean it’s just LSU. That’s DBU.”

Thompson is really good, earning himself the defensive MVP honor for District 8-5A-I as a junior.

Just being frank, I don’t see OSU having a shot here. Swaying him away from LSU would, at this point, probably take a Herculean effort.

2021 Defensive End Talks Oklahoma State Offer

Oklahoma State is one of three programs to have offered the No. 1 ranked player in Oklahoma for the class of 2021.

OSU was the first to offer the 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end/defensive out of Weatherford, but has since been joined by Baylor and Nebraska. While that’s a list I expect to grow a lot, the connections he has already made at OSU should go a long way.

“I’ve been to OSU the most often, and am getting to know them,” Downs told Josh Helmholdt of Rivals. “It’s fun being around them. They’re easy to talk to and easy to relate to.”

Helmholdt says Downs has also built a good relationship with another 2021 in-state defensive end prospect; Luke McEndoo, the son of OSU’s tight ends coach.

Downs says he also has some good relationships with Nebraska, which is why it feels like, at this point, the Cowboys and Cornhuskers have a solid lead on his recruitment.

As a sophomore, Downs racked up 72 tackles, including 15 TFLs and five sacks. He also had 70 carries for 482 yards and four touchdowns to go with 326 yards and six TDs on 20 catches.

Relationships matter a lot when it comes to recruiting, more than most people realize. The one that OSU is working to build and nurture with Downs could go a long way to landing a really talented DE prospect for 2021.