2023 Ranking: Newcomers

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Here in the month of June we’re updating all of our prospect rankings as the 2021 season gets closer and closer. For the 2023 class, we went from a Top 50 to a Top 100 as this class continues to get deeper and deeper. The margin between the ranked players is very close and this class has a chance to be fairly deep from top to bottom. You can check out the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/06/updated-2023-oklahoma-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top 100 Right Here</a>. Throughout the week, we’ll be adding some analysis on the players that have stood out in the 2023 class with positional breakdowns, stock risers and even prospects on the border of being ranked this time around. Stay tuned for next week when we update the state’s 2022 class. For now, we take a look at five prospects who are not only new to the rankings but have made their debut in a big way with all five prospects being ranked in the Top 50. [player_tooltip player_id="99770" first="Clint" last="Campbell"] - McLoud McLoud’s [player_tooltip player_id="99770" first="Clint" last="Campbell"] was right on the border of making our rankings in the last update back in January. However, this time around, he was a no brainer and earned a very high spot after an outstanding offseason. We got a chance to check out Campbell at team camp and at our Showcase Camp in early June. After seeing him in person, we’re confident that he’ll be one of the top two-way players in Oklahoma this season. When we first checked out Campbell’s game, it was mostly as a running back and he was outstanding at that spot. Campbell has good size, he can read the field really well and he can move quickly in and out of the holes. However, seeing him at team camp and again at our camp, we couldn’t help but like his potential when he lined up on defense and played at linebacker. As a running back, he’s missing that extra gear that could make him a big time running back recruit. However, he doesn’t need that extra gear to line up at linebacker and get after the quarterback or run down opposing ball carriers. The more comfortable he gets at linebacker, the higher his ceiling as a prospect will become. [player_tooltip player_id="157509" first="Jersey" last="Robb"] - Bixby Anytime we update the rankings, it doesn’t take long to hear about the prospects that should have been ranked that were not. A decent amount of those prospects are ones we hadn’t heard of and then there are some prospects that not only have we heard of but we’ll admit that we mistakenly left him off. That’s the case here. It only took about a few hours after our update in January to realize that Bixby’s [player_tooltip player_id="157509" first="Jersey" last="Robb"] was left off and that was a mistake that we would not be making again when we updated the rankings this time around. The Spartan big man was a breakout player for the Spartans in 2020, on their way to a state championship. He’s what you would call a jumbo athlete as he has the potential to move around to several different positions and he has the size to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Robb was Bixby’s short yardage specialist and played like an absolute bulldozer when he got the ball in his hands. At this point, we’re not quite sure what the most natural position is for Robb at the next level as he looks to be in that "tweener" role where only time will tell where he needs to be. However, we weren’t making the mistake again of leaving Robb off because he certainly belongs. [player_tooltip player_id="157510" first="Kenyon" last="Bigbow"] - Anadarko Out of the five prospects on this list, Anadarko’s [player_tooltip player_id="157510" first="Kenyon" last="Bigbow"] is the one prospect that we didn’t know about before May. After getting feedback from coaches all over the state, Anadarko coaches filled us in on Bigbow being a potential player in the 2023 class. So we put on the tape from his sophomore year and we immediately agreed with that statement. Not only did he go from somewhat unknown to being ranked but he debuts in a pretty lofty spot. From watching his tape, it appears that Bigbow moved around and played left tackle and right tackle for the Warriors in 2020. However, with his frame and quick feet, it wouldn’t be wild to see him move to the interior of the offensive line at the next level and become more of a guard. His sophomore tape was full of pancake after pancake and Bigbow would lock his hands on a defender and put him down on the ground. We also like the versatility in his game where he can move around the line of scrimmage and play on the right and left side. Bigbow is probably more of an interior lineman at the next level but he will be an absolutely dominant tackle in high school this season. And we won’t rule out him being a tackle in college because he could still grow in the next two years. [player_tooltip player_id="155875" first="River" last="Faulkner"] - Heritage Hall Similar to McLoud’s [player_tooltip player_id="99770" first="Clint" last="Campbell"], we were able to see Heritage Hall’s [player_tooltip player_id="155875" first="River" last="Faulkner"] in person this spring and it boosted our analysis of him and jumped him up in the recent ranking update. Faulkner will be lining up at running back and linebacker for Heritage Hall and just like with Campbell, the more natural spot for him at the next level will likely be on defense at linebacker. And that’s a scary thought considering what he was able to do at our camp as he ran one of the fastest times in the 40-yard dash. Faulkner has size and can absolutely fly down the field. That’s going to be a big problem for Heritage Hall’s opponents this fall as he’s going to carry the ball with an aggressive style that’s going to warrant multiple defenders to bring him down. And then you flip the field to defense and Faulkner has the ability to be one of the harder hitting backers in 3A football this fall. Just like with Campbell, the ceiling for Faulkner is incredibly high as he becomes more comfortable in his role with Heritage Hall and continues to gain momentum as a two-way player. A player his size shouldn’t move as fast as he does and that’s going to be bad news for Heritage Hall’s opponents this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="157511" first="Todd" last="Drummond"] - Pawhuska Not only is Pawhuska’s [player_tooltip player_id="157511" first="Todd" last="Drummond"] a newcomer to the 2023 rankings, he’ll be a newcomer to Class A football as he takes over as QB1 for the Huskies this fall. Drummond replaces older brother and North Texas signee [player_tooltip player_id="38509" first="Bryce" last="Drummond"] at the quarterback spot this fall. After talking with Pawhuska coaches last season, they convinced us that not only will there not be a drop off at the QB spot but Todd has the chance to be better than older brother Bryce. Now, we’ll wait and see on that second part but we’ll take their word for it on the first and believe that Todd will come in and light it up. First off, the offense that he’s taking over is certainly beneficial to the QB spot as he’ll put up some monster numbers. Second, he has one of the top wide receivers in the state with 2022 wideout and OSU commit [player_tooltip player_id="59991" first="Mason" last="Gilkey"]. He’ll have weapons around him. And finally, he has the size and the arm strength to be one of the top quarterbacks in this class. He’s without a doubt at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to experience among the QB’s in this group but that might not matter. Plus he has two seasons to catch up between now and Signing Day. We won’t be surprised at all if the Drummond name is once again on top of all the passing charts this fall.