Oklahoma Sooners under Brent Venables seem to be forever losing their rhythm. They haven’t been consistent of late; they have quarterback issues all the time, and most of all, it seems their recruiting prowess is depleting ever more. Oklahoma produced an 8th-ranked class nationally under the supervision of Lincoln Riley in 2022 before Riley left for the Trojans. Venables took the responsibility after, and the quality of players hasn’t been the same. For context, the 2025 Oklahoma class is ranked 17th nationally and 10th in the SEC. How can they even think of competing with SEC giants when they don’t rope in top talents?
Jackson Arnold left for Auburn, and Oklahoma signed John Mateer from Washington State, a quarterback who was slated to provide that edge and be the starter for the 2025 season. Sure, he has got the talent to do all that. Considering last year, he had 3,139 passing yards at a 64.6% completion rate and 29 touchdowns. His abilities undoubtedly have world-class potential, but questions are still being raised about the player’s transition to a conference like the SEC. Also, it doesn’t help when you do not have a solid backup to make the transition if a player like Mateer fails to perform. Does the 2025 class have that player, or even the 2026?
Well, the 2026 class surely has a player who looks like the real deal and can take responsibility going forward. Yes, we are talking about the 4-star prodigy Jaden O’ Neal, who is currently rated 91.76 on ON3. However, according to recent reports, the player is being aggressively pursued by the Georgia Bulldogs and also spent three days with the Dawgs at their camp from Monday to Wednesday. This essentially means Kirby Smart is pulling the rug under Oklahoma’s feet in a class that already looks quite unimpressive. RJ Young, a FOX analyst, urged Oklahoma and Brent Venables about a change of recruiting strategy.
“If you want a high-caliber quarterback, you’re going to play into seven figures to get him. And the market keeps getting reset based on need. And what we come to find out is those that need the most are willing to pay the most, and Oklahoma desperately needs a quarterback that could operate the offense and do what Oklahoma been great at for the better part of two decades, which is scoring prolifically…because there is nothing college football fans want more than the backup quarterback to be great and waiting in the wings“.
What Young is really trying to say is that Oklahoma can’t play catchup game in the market forever. They paid John Mateer $3 million in NIL money, which surely has the potential to pay dividends. But you also have to pay your prospects in the current market, otherwise, teams like Georgia and Oregon will always try to poach your talent. As we are seeing with Jaden O’ Neal and as we had seen with Dillon Gabriel. Bryce Underwood is also a top example of what NIL money can buy in this market. So why not use your coffers to the fullest, right? Then comes the major part: Is O’ Neal really packing his bags for Kirby Smart’s camp?
Georgia Bulldogs making inroads in Jaden O’ Neal’s recruitment?
Georgia Bulldogs have produced a second-ranked recruiting class in 2025 only behind Steve Sarkisian’s Texas. This is a team who is out to seek redemption for their errors in the 2024 season. Those ranged from receiving unit plaguing with drops, offensive line errors and an offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo who faced criticisms for his questionable decisions. They are thus building to keep those critical voices at a bare minimum.
They are after Jared Curtis quite aggressively, who is currently the top QB in the 2026 class. They have the highest probability as per On3 to land the player at 37%, which is also just 6% more than Oregon. So the race in that sense will go down to the last minute. And that is why they want another QB like Jaden O’Neal who can provide that safety net if they fail to land Curtis. Steve Wiltfong of On3 posted on X about Georgia’s chances.
Oklahoma QB commit Jaden O’Neal hits a deep one at Battle 7v7 South Florida: https://t.co/RKuUJ7qVPg pic.twitter.com/wUu4jf3DOh
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) January 18, 2025
“Look for O’Neal to visit a couple other programs in the near future but, after spending time with [Kirby] Smart, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and assistant quarterbacks coach Montgomery VanGorder, the defending SEC champs are making a big impression“. So it seems that coach Kirby is doing all in his might to poach Jaden O’Neal. I mean, this is a prospect who is 6 foot 3 and weighs around 200 lbs, so he can perform as a dual threat in many systems. In his Junior year the player has 1,798 yards and a 71% pass completion rate at an impressive average of 20.4 yards per attempt. That alone tells you why the player is being pursued so heavily. Then his rushing stats are also quite decent as he ran for 122 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. The verdict?
Smart will surely pull off everything to lure O’Neal to his camp. However, Brent Venables could prevent that possibly by putting a lucrative NIL offer.
The post Brent Venables Pressured to Make Seven-Figure Splash to Save Oklahoma as Tough Blow From Kirby Smart’s Georgia Looms appeared first on EssentiallySports.
