Uncommitted Spotlight – Week Five

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> Every Wednesday, we’ll take a look at some of the top available prospects in Oklahoma’s 2022 class. We’re still months away from the first signing day, but these prospects are still available and should be priorities for college coaches who recruit the state of Oklahoma. In today’s feature, we have a running back special as all five prospects are outstanding running backs. For a couple of them, they could end up at RB or a few other positions on either side of the ball. Be sure to check back every Wednesday for a new batch of uncommitted prospects and see who some of the best available are in the 2022 class! <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"] - Running Back - Sand Springs</strong></span> When we first got a chance to see Sand Springs running back [player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"] in person, it was at our Showcase Camp back in June. The Sandite standout was named MVP for the running back group and the more we learned about him, the more we liked. He’s a good wrestler and combining that with the speed and abilities he shows at the running back position, it was obvious to us that he would have a strong senior season. He’s only played four games this season and has already matched and exceeded his numbers from his junior season. The 1-2 punch of quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="101415" first="Ty" last="Pennington"] and Jones at running back has Sand Springs at 4-0 and looking like not only a serious dark horse in 6A-2 but a team that could end up making a serious playoff run that not many would have predicted this offseason. Jones has a lot of things in common with several guys on this list but the main one is the work that he’s put in when nobody was watching. It’s now showing on Friday nights and he should be considered a hidden gem in the state’s 2022 class at the running back position. His stock continues to go up the more and more and schools should be taking notice of the Sandite standout. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38723" first="Daylan" last="Thompson"] - Running Back - Elk City</strong></span> Similar to [player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"] at Sand Springs, if you just look at Elk City’s [player_tooltip player_id="38723" first="Daylan" last="Thompson"] in person without actually watching him play, you might judge him before you should. Thompson stands 5’7 and weighs 190 pounds but he is an absolute bowling ball of speed and power in the Elk City offense. He’s a big reason why they’re 4-0 and on the verge of being ranked in the 4A top ten. This week, they travel to face Bethany in a big district contest and if they pull off the win, we have no doubts that they’ll jump into the top ten over the weekend. Thompson has been a one-man wrecking crew for this Elk City offense and we first saw him in person this spring at a camp down in the Dallas area. We were very pleased with what we saw in person from him from his shiftiness, hands and everything he could showcase without pads on. Then you throw on the tape from the first few games of this season, including in non-district play where he ran for nearly 400 yards and broke the school’s single game rushing record, and you can’t help but be impressed. He has power, he has speed. He knows how to read the blocks and burst into the open field. He’s another RB who’s stock has risen in our books. <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[player_tooltip player_id="61140" first="Deshawn" last="Kinnard"] - Running Back - Owasso</span></strong> A player that we’re hoping to see soon is Owasso senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="61140" first="Deshawn" last="Kinnard"]. The senior standout has missed the first four games of the season after participating in Owasso’s scrimmage and mini game. Kinnard was expected to be one third of a three-headed monster at the running back position. Along with [player_tooltip player_id="38735" first="Derrick" last="Overstreet"], 2023 RB [player_tooltip player_id="38786" first="Emery" last="Neeley"], Kinnard was that final option at the running back spot and could provide the Rams with a big playmaker at that position. Despite not playing in the first four games of the season, we still consider Kinnard one of the top running backs in the state’s 2022 class that is still available. If the Owasso standout is able to get back on the field this season, he’ll be able to showcase what he was able to do last season with Claremore and then with Owasso. He has size, speed and power and should be considered one of the more underrated running backs in the 2022 class. Kinnard had an excellent offseason in the Owasso conditioning program and was primed for a big senior season. While it hasn’t happened the way it was supposed to, we’re still keeping an eye on this Owasso product when it comes to his recruitment. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38678" first="Kyron" last="Downing"] - Athlete - Vinita</strong></span> Out of the five running backs listed, Vinita’s [player_tooltip player_id="38678" first="Kyron" last="Downing"] was without a doubt the first one that we knew about. In fact, in the 2022 class overall, Downing was one of the first names that we knew about and he’s been backing it up ever since. As a freshman, Downing was an outstanding running back for the Hornets and has continued to make plays for Vinita throughout the last several seasons. As a freshman, he ran for over 1,000 yards and since then, has showcased an unbelievable amount of versatility. He’s also a track standout for the Hornets and has showcased that speed at the wide receiver position as well as the defensive back position. We mentioned that a few of these running back prospects could end up playing a variety of things at the next level and Downing might be the top of the list. He could very well be a running back or a wide receiver at the next level. And then throw in the fact that he could be on the defensive side of the ball and the versatility of this Vinita athlete makes him a very intriguing prospect to watch in this 2022 class. Out of the five prospects on this list, Downing has experienced the most in his recruitment and continues to be one of the best available at his position. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38774" first="Zane" last="Woodham"] - Athlete - Holland Hall</strong></span> Our final prospect in this week’s Uncommitted Spotlight is Holland Hall running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38774" first="Zane" last="Woodham"]. The Holland Hall standout is right there in the conversation with Downing at Vinita for being an versatile athlete that could end up being a couple different things at the college level. Ironically, Holland Hall and Vinita are in the same district so we’ll see Downing and Woodham squaring off later on this year. We mentioned several times last year and then throughout the offseason that Woodham was arguably the most underrated part of Holland Hall’s state championship run. The Dutch had several seniors that shined during that unbeaten season but Woodham’s impact as a running back and then on defense at linebacker made the Dutch a balanced and deep team. Woodham is already off to a great start to this season and that was to be expected with the Dutch breaking in a sophomore at the quarterback position. We assumed that Woodham would carry a decent amount of the load for the offense in the early part of the season and that’s been the case. Woodham is listed as an athlete because in our opinion, it doesn’t matter where you plug him in, he’s going to make plays.