2023 Ranking: Stock Risers

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, newcomers 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 have soared up the recent ranking with stock risers. [player_tooltip player_id="122426" first="Bai" last="Jobe"] - Community Christian - Unranked To #6 We mentioned this last week with our 2024 ranking update but it applies here as well. Every time we do a ranking update, a new prospect emerges and is not only a no brainer that he should be ranked, but be ranked very high. That was the case earlier this year when we released the rankings and then Community Christian’s [player_tooltip player_id="122426" first="Bai" last="Jobe"] emerged as a freak athlete and potential top ten prospect. After watching just a few seconds of tape it was clear that Jobe was one of the best athletes in this class. If you follow recruiting or if you followed any of our offseason content, you’ve read this before. But for those who haven’t, Jobe is incredibly raw. He only has a handful of games of football under his belt as he joined the CCS team about halfway thru the 2020 season. However, if you’ve seen Jobe in person and watch him in workouts, you’ll be willing to bet on him based off his athleticism alone. He has size, speed and incredible burst to his game. He could be a variety of things at the next level as he’ll be playing a variety of things for CCS this fall. However, the safest bet is that a coach will put Jobe on the defensive side of the ball and use his blend of size and speed as a pass rusher. He’ll be one of the best small school players in the state this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="54349" first="Blaze" last="Berlowitz"] - Cushing - #38 To #20 There are so many prospects in Oklahoma that need more publicity and have flown under the radar for too long. It’s hard not to bang the table for a ton of guys that fit that description but one 2023 quarterback that we’ll absolutely do it for is Cushing QB [player_tooltip player_id="54349" first="Blaze" last="Berlowitz"]. The young Tiger QB has made an outstanding jump from his sophomore season to where he is right now. Disclaimer, as you’ll see with the 2023 rankings, Cushing has a wealth of talent in their 2023 class, especially with the skill positions. However, Berlowitz still has to make the throws and he can make just about every throw in the book. Because of that, he jumped up from 38 to 20 and passed a couple quarterbacks along the way. If the Cushing standout continues the progression track that he’s on, he’ll be competing with Choctaw’s [player_tooltip player_id="38780" first="Steele" last="Wasel"] as the top QB in the state’s 2023 class. Now, he’s not there yet but just like with Wasel, the growth in Berlowitz’s game has to be what impresses the most. Cushing is going to go into the 2021 season as one of the top teams in 4A and Berlowitz will likely start getting the publicity that he should have had this whole time. [player_tooltip player_id="157457" first="Jalyn" last="Stanford"] - Jenks - Unranked To #17 It seems like year in and year out, Jenks has a player that emerges to become a two-way star. Two years ago it was [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"], last year it was [player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"]. May we present you with a very likely candidate for that spot as we get closer to the start of the 2021 season with 2023 standout [player_tooltip player_id="157457" first="Jalyn" last="Stanford"]. Not many 2023 prospects had as good of a May as Stanford had as he established himself as a very capable threat at running back and also laid the hammer on defense from the secondary. Because of that, he’s already on the radar of power five programs and he jumps up into the top 20 after being unranked back in January. Look, we’re not going to waste time with ranking Stanford where we think he’s going to end up being and that’s as a top 20-type prospect. We could take the wait and see approach and end up ranking him in the same spot when we update the rankings in October. We’re not waiting. Stanford appears to be the real deal and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do for a Jenks team that is coming off a state championship but is going into this season as an underdog after having to replace a lot of talent off last year’s team. [player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] - Coweta - #41 To #27 Not only did Coweta standout [player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] make a jump from #41 to #27 in our recent update, we also made a position change. He was previously listed as a wide receiver and we’ve changed that to defensive back with the latest update. Coweta fans don’t need to worry, they can still expect Ford to be their energizer bunny on offense, defense and even helping with special teams this fall. However, when we look at the big picture and what Ford could be at the next level, we’re confident enough to move him from offense to defense and lock him in at defensive back, specifically looking at cornerback. We saw plenty of Ford this offseason as he suited up for Sooner 7 and played exclusively on the defensive side of the ball. Ford has some outstanding skills and continues to get better and better in that department. However, what led to us moving him to defense and bumping his ranking so much was the confidence and physicality that he’s added to his game. Ford is still somewhat under the radar in terms of his recruitment but that shouldn’t last long as he’s quickly become one of the top cover corners in the state’s 2023 class. [player_tooltip player_id="38782" first="Morgan" last="Pearson"] - Plainview - #24 To #12 Another prospect that we saw plenty of times this offseason, playing 7v7 was Plainview wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38782" first="Morgan" last="Pearson"] as he suited up with C4’s squad. He would end up playing alongside Community Christian’s [player_tooltip player_id="122426" first="Bai" last="Jobe"] and that duo was horrifying to attempt to slow down. However, just looking at Pearson, it didn’t take long this spring to realize that he needed to be boosted up and become a borderline top ten prospect in the state’s 2023 class. The wide receiver group is pretty special in this class, the top two overall prospects are both pass catchers with Bixby’s [player_tooltip player_id="55156" first="Luke" last="Hasz"] and Booker T Washington’s [player_tooltip player_id="47959" first="Micah" last="Tease"]. Pearson should be in that conversation when it comes to his skills as a pass catcher as he is one of the best in the state when it comes to the jump ball. He did it countless times last fall as a sophomore and that continued this offseason. The story around Plainview is that Pearson could have been even better in 2020 but the QB position lacked consistency. With a full offseason under their belt, Pearson might be one of the most dangerous receivers in 3A football and will attempt to do what former teammate and current TCU WR Blake Nowell did a few years ago and help lead Plainview all the way to the 3A state championship game.