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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"><strong>Top 100 Right Here</strong></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 athletes who have become difference makers in multiple aspects of the game!
[player_tooltip player_id="115684" first="Sedrick" last="Frazier"] <strong>- Edmond North (#6 ATH - #51 Overall)</strong>
If you’ve kept up with our site over the offseason you’d know that [player_tooltip player_id="115684" first="Sedrick" last="Frazier"] has been one of the hottest and fastest rising players on here, and as of recently, in the whole state. We first saw him in person in Broken Arrow back in February where he was playing with Sooner7. After seeing his <span style="font-size: 1rem;">quickness in and out of breaks along with his exceptional hands and ability to track the ball</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> that weekend, we had to get him up on the site as one of our breakout performers in a hurry. Since then, he has done nothing but improve as a WR every time we see him and has even flashed the ability to be a lockdown slot defender at times. After receiving a much-deserved offer from Tulsa last week, Sedrick will be a more well-known threat across the state heading into the season, but that won’t slow him down from doing what he does. </span>
[player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"] <strong>- Edmond Memorial (#7 ATH - #72 Overall)</strong>
[player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"] played some WR for the Bulldogs as a Sophomore in 2020, but from the looks of it so far this spring, he’s in line to compete for Memorial’s starting QB job in 2021. Johnson looks new to the position and is fairly raw in terms of pure passing ability, but the arm strength seems promising and he is a force to be reckoned with as a runner out of the backfield. Outside of in-season games, QBs usually wear a Red or different colored jersey than their teammates to signify that the defense can’t hit them. However, while the Junior athlete did wear a yellow jersey this spring, he was not your typical protected QB. Instead, Johnson was avoiding defenders left and right in the open field on designed QB runs and was also running through arm tackles on multiple occasions throughout spring ball and team camp. Johnson is certainly a name to look out for as he becomes more comfortable at his position and in the Memorial offense.
[player_tooltip player_id="157518" first="Cam" last="Dooley"] <strong>- Lincoln Christian (#8 ATH - #76 Overall)</strong>
Cam was another player that we became pretty familiar with over the course of winter and spring along the 7on7 circuit. After seeing him improve consistently from tournament to tournament, we’re confident that he’ll be one of the better pass catchers in 3A this season. Cam has good size for the position and showed some flashes of excellence in the red zone and on fade routes thanks to his physicality and ability to get above defenders and high point the ball at the right time. The Bulldogs will not be short on offensive playmakers this year by any means, but I’m sure [player_tooltip player_id="52787" first="Max" last="Brown"] and co. will love having a player like Cam on their list of options come September.
[player_tooltip player_id="157521" first="Taylor" last="Heim"] <strong>- Bethany (#12 ATH - #89 Overall)</strong>
Similar to [player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"], [player_tooltip player_id="157521" first="Taylor" last="Heim"] played a lot of WR a year ago and did so at a pretty high level. But also similar to [player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"], it looks like Heim might be the starting QB for Bethany in 2021. When turning on the tape from this spring, you immediately see the WR background with Taylor as he is very athletic outside the pocket and is a smooth and easy runner in the open field with some good straight-line speed as well. From a pure passing standpoint, Taylor looks a little more refined than Johnson at this point but is still a work in progress. Johnson and Heim are in very similar situations at the moment. The ceiling for both of them is very high, not just as QBs, but as football players in general. With their combination of size and speed, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">there’s no telling where they could end up </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">if they can continue to develop as pocket passers while maintaining their athleticism and open field ability as runners. </span>
[player_tooltip player_id="157525" first="Michael" last="Barnett"] <strong>- Catoosa (#15 ATH - #97 Overall) </strong>
The final player we’ll hit on today was one of our personal favorites to watch and interact with off the field all off-season. Barnett started playing for the 15U Sooner7 squad in February as an RB, usually just running flares and swing routes out of the backfield on most occasions. However, as his confidence and his coach’s confidence in him grew, Michael became a legit weapon on offense for Sooner7. With his leaping ability, soft & natural hands, and his route running, he has constantly shown that he is more than just a runner out of the backfield. He has also shown that he will play wherever and whenever his team needs him as he played DB more and more for Sooner7 as the season went on, and eventually got promoted to the 18U team on a few occasions for his efforts in the 15U division. This ranking is more of a projection than a lot of other players in our top 100, but at Prep Redzone we will always take a risk or bet on guys like Michael that continuously show the determination and hunger to get better while also sacrificing personal gain to give their team a better shot at competing.
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