ESPN compares Oklahoma Sooners target to LSU quarterback
ESPN compares Oklahoma Sooners target to LSU quarterback
Too many quarterbacks is an enviable problem in football. In college football, with the transfer portal and NIL considerations, the old chestnut is even more true: it's impossible to have too many quarterbacks.
That's why schools like Oklahoma are constantly recruiting for the position. The Sooners have added four quarterbacks this offseason: John Mateer, Jett Niu, Whitt Newbauer, and Gavin Fraikes. In the 2027 recruiting class, the Sooners are chasing after one particular top-10 quarterback in the country: Shreveport, Louisiana's Peyton Houston.
Houston, who plays his football at Evangel Christian, is ranked No. 53 overall in ESPN's "Junior 300." And on Tuesday, Craig Haubert and Tom Luginbill, a pair of ESPN writers, compared a few players from the 2027 recruiting class to current college football players. The idea is that the fans haven't seen the high schoolers, and a comparison provides a better vision of what the recruit could do.
Houston was compared to current LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Garrett Nussmeier.
"When it comes to pure passing acumen, Houston has everything evaluators look for," Haubert and Luginbill wrote. "He has one of the smoothest, cleanest releases in recent classes with extremely consistent mechanics. Houston throws with power and velocity and the ball jumps off his hand."
Nussmeier spent most of his first three years with the Tigers on the bench. At one point, his father, former NFL quarterback Doug Nussmeier - who also happens to be an NFL quarterbacks coach - intimated the younger Nussmeier may take his talents elsewhere if LSU didn't play him. Instead, Garrett stuck around and threw for more than 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns last season.
Oklahoma would almost certainly take those kinds of numbers from Houston in a few years.
The Sooners have impressed in their recruitment of Houston, a consensus four-star prospect in the cycle. He told John Williams of Sooners Wire after a visit to Norman in the spring. "The atmosphere and the people in Oklahoma are what continue to bring me back," Houston said. "The players and coaches all seem to be in the same thought process, and all have bought into the program."
Though it's always tough to pull kids out of Louisiana, the Oklahoma Sooners have put themselves in a great position to land the talented passer from the Bayou. Last summer, the Sooners were favored to land Houston after Parker Thune of OUInsider and Rivals issued a Futurecast.
Though there's been a change in offensive coordinator since then, the Sooners are still in a strong position as they continue their pursuit of one of the most talented players in the 2027 recruiting class.
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