Joel Klatt calls Oklahoma's recruiting class 'really great'

The Oklahoma Sooners did a heck of a job with their recruiting class, according to Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt.

Brent Venables and company go into Year 2 in Norman and after a disappointing campaign, Oklahoma has expectations to bounce back. That starts with a great crop of players coming in.

Klatt explained where Oklahoma ranked in terms of past recruiting classes with Lincoln Riley.

“I thought Oklahoma had a really great class,” Klatt said on his podcast. “And obviously the rankings suggest that. As far as the total class, in terms of recruits and transfers, No. 6, their best since 2021 when Caleb Williams came in. They had the No. 4 class in the country when it just looked at high school recruits. That’s their best high school class since 2005. Brent Venables did a great job. I looked back at some of these classes that they had, high school only, over the last few years and Lincoln Riley wasn’t touching that. 

“2019, I believe they had the sixth best class in the country. They had an eight in there, but then like 10, 13, nine, 19 in 2016. So Brent Venables has done a really good job.”

When Klatt evaluated the recruiting class, he mentioned the need for a group of players like this before Oklahoma heads to the SEC in 2025.

“Six of their best seven recruits are either defensive players or offensive linemen,” Klatt said. “How do you get good, how do you win? Going into the SEC, you better play good defense, you better play good on the line of scrimmage and their best player overall is their quarterback that they got Jackson Arnold. So I loved what Oklahoma did.”

Oklahoma had the No. 7 overall recruiting class in the 2023 cycle, per the On3 Database. The Sooners landed three five-star prospects: quarterback Jackson Arnold, EDGE rusher Adepoju Adebawore and safety Peyton Bowen.

Arnold was the big get from the class. As a member of the Class of 2023, Arnold is a five-star prospect out of Denton (Texas) Guyer, according to the On3 Consensus. He is the No. 2 overall prospect in the state, the No. 4 quarterback in the class and the No. 8 overall prospect in the class.

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After a 6-7 year, Venables and crew look to do a little more with Oklahoma in the Big 12 for the 2023 season.