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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pair of Oklahoma Sooners included on The Athletic's 'Freaks List'
The Oklahoma Sooners have a roster ready to climb the SEC mountain in 2025. Less than four weeks out from the start of the 2025 season, Oklahoma has a lot to prove, but they have a group of talented players ready to rewrite the narratives surrounding Oklahoma football. A couple of those players will be leaders for the Sooners in running back Jaydn Ott and safety Robert Spears-Jennings. The pair were featured on Bruce Feldman's annual "Freak List" (subscription required), where he highlights players from across the country who were off the charts in physical testing this offseason. Starting off, Ott came in at No. 55 on Feldman's list. Ott tested incredibly well in the squat (485 pounds), bench (370 pounds), and power clean (315 pounds), and the Oklahoma strength and conditioning staff measured his max velocity at 21.6 mph and max acceleration at 12.1 mph. All important numbers for a running back. Running backs have to be able to get going in a hurry and his lifting numbers display a player with the leg strength to be difficult to bring down in the open field. Ott was a big spring portal addition for the Oklahoma Sooners. Though they had a talented running back group, Jim Nagy and Brent Venables didn't hesitate to add the former Cal star. His explosiveness jumps off the screen. He's a big-play threat every time he touches the football and will add a dynamic element to the Sooners' offense. Arbuckle plans to put Ott in a number of situations to succeed this season, including lining him up in the slot and out wide to take advantage of his explosiveness. Ott's going to be a nightmare for opposing defenses. The other player that landed on the list is former four-star safety out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Robert Spears-Jennings. He was ranked No. 82 on Feldman's Freak List. Spears-Jennings matched Ott in max velocity at 21.6 mph but bested the star running back in max acceleration at 12.8 mph. The Oklahoma product showed big gains in the strength department as well, squatting 510 pounds and benching 330 pounds. He's a force in every facet of the game, but showed a prowess to blitz off the edge in Oklahoma's defense, recording 2.5 sacks last season. It takes a special type of accelration and speed to explode off the line of scrimmage and get to the quarterback before an offensive lineman even knows you're coming. Robert Spears-Jennings has been with the Oklahoma Sooners since arriving in the 2022 recruiting class. In his time with the Sooners, he's flashed speed and explosiveness from his safety spot. Even when he was seeing just rotational snaps, he'd flash his potential with his big-time athleticism. Now he's one of the leaders of a defense expected to take another big step in 2025. That explosiveness and athleticism will lead the way for a disruptive Sooners defense. Oklahoma has several other players who are big-time athletes who could be featured on this list down the road. Taylor Wein, Peyton Bowen, Elijah Thomas, Jayden Jackson, David Stone, Eddy Pierre-Louis, and more. Especially with the way Jim Nagy is evolving the scouting approach at Oklahoma, the Sooners will continue to build a roster with elite athletes. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams. This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Ott, Spears-Jennings included in The Athletic's 'Freaks List'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Michigan State football loses recruiting staff member to Nevada
A familiar face in the recruiting department has departed Michigan State for a new position in the college football world. Austin D'Armond has left his role with Michigan State to become the Director of Player Personnel & Recruiting Strategy at Nevada. During his time at MSU, he held the role of Director of Player Personnel/Defense working on the Spartans recruiting efforts on the defensive side of the ball. Prior to joining Jonathan Smith and company in East Lansing, D'Armond was a member of Smith's staff in Corvallis at Oregon State for two seasons in a similar recruiting role. Getting an undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas, D'Armond spent two years as a recruiting intern, and upon graduating, he became a player personnel graduate assistant for the Longhorns. Michigan State has already filled some of the void he left, adding Michael Morales from Texas to the staff, and there is an expectation that the Spartans could be making one or two more hires in it's recruiting department, that is led by Director of Recruiting and Player Relations, Michael Doctor. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State football loses member of recruiting staff
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
2025 college football predictions: Fade Texas and Ohio State for national championship
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. The preseason rankings for the 2025 College Football season will be released in a matter of days, but by now, we have a fairly good idea of how they will look. Either Ohio State or Texas will be ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, with the other slotting behind at No. 2. Renowned college football insider Phil Steele believes that Ohio State will be No. 1 and Texas will be No. 2, while ESPN's Bill Connelly believes the opposite will be true. The bookmakers are also split, with some shops tagging the defending champion Buckeyes as the favorite, while others have placed Texas at the top of the board. No matter how the voting unfolds, rest assured that we will see No. 1 vs. No. 2 when the Longhorns and Buckeyes meet at Ohio Stadium in Week 1. The line for that game, which kicks off at 12 p.m. ET on Aug. 30, currently stands at Ohio State -2.5, which further cements the notion that the bookies are having an impossible time separating these two teams. On talent alone, you'd be hard pressed to find two stronger rosters in the country than Ohio State and Texas, which is why they're shoo-ins to be ranked first and second, in some order, in the AP's Preseason Top 25. Logically, that would tell you that these two teams should be priced as the favorites to win the National Championship, but those rankings are not necessarily correlated to the betting market. 3 Arch Manning is among the Heisman favorites. Getty Images The Top 25 is supposed to answer the question: 'Who is the best team in the country right now?' The futures market asks a different query: 'Which team has the best chance of winning the National Championship?' I'd argue that neither of these two teams should be considered the top choice for the latter. It may seem unfair to question Ohio State's status as the team to beat after Ryan Day's Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff by beating Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame, but there are some big questions to answer in Columbus. 3 Jeremiah Smith leads the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2025. Getty Images Not only do the Buckeyes rank 101st overall in returning production, but they'll be breaking in a new quarterback in 2025. Either Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz will get tapped to lead the way, and whoever does earn the gig will be working with Heisman candidate Jeremiah Smith, but there will be heaps of pressure on Sayin or Kienholz, and they'll be given a baptism by fire against Texas in Week 1. The Buckeyes will also have a new look on the sidelines with two new coordinators, Brian Hartline on offense and Matt Patricia on defense, which could lead to some growing pains. 3 Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is one of the favorites to win the Heisman. Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images Betting on College Football? As for Texas, the question that needs answering is obvious. The Longhorns have the Heisman favorite, Arch Manning, set to take over at quarterback, but he's only attempted 95 passes in his college career. He may be one of the most hyped players in recent college football history, but that doesn't guarantee he'll meet the expectations laid out in front of him. And one thing Manning won't have is a safety net of an elite receiving corps like they have at Ohio State. The 21-year-old Manning will be asked to win games on his own, which is a lot to ask of any player in the SEC, which is as good as any conference has ever been in the history of college football. The Longhorns are asking Manning to be one of the best players in college football, but what if he's great instead of elite? That would severely limit Texas' upside in 2025. There was no way that Ohio State and Texas weren't going to top the betting board going into Week 1. One is the defending champion, and the other is a powerhouse led by the most hyped Heisman candidate in years. Texas and Ohio State may be the two best teams in the country, but considering the questions they have to answer, their schedules, and the quality of their conferences, I believe they're both terrible bets to win the National Championship at their current prices. Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
