2024 Rankings: New Faces

<strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong> Last Monday, we updated our 2024 rankings and released the Top 50. We saw plenty of new names in the rankings and plenty of prospects who soared up the rankings as stock risers. Check out the complete <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2024-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>2024 Top 50 Rankings RIGHT HERE</strong></a>. For now, let’s take a look at five prospects who are new faces to the 2024 rankings. These five specifically have not only become prospects to know within the class, but they’re having a huge impact for their team on Friday nights. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="194066" first="Brody" last="Duffel"] - Offensive Lineman - Bixby</strong></span> We first wrote about Bixby offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="194066" first="Brody" last="Duffel"] earlier this year after head coach Loren Montgomery named him as one of the top emerging prospects for the Spartans this year. And we wrote about it then that when Montgomery is talking about a breakout player along the offensive line, we listen. I got a chance to see Duffel up close a couple times this season and he certainly passes the eye test for a young offensive lineman. The Bixby offensive line as a unit isn’t the biggest in the state but they play much bigger, together as a unit. Duffel certainly stands out to us when we look at the Spartan offensive line and he looks like he could be the next big time offensive lineman prospect to come out of Bixby. That’s why we said we trust Montgomery when he’s talking up a young offensive lineman. He’s had his fair share of standout linemen and knows what it looks like. As Bixby continues their trek towards perfection, be on the look out for the play along the line of scrimmage to see the emerging star in Duffel. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="215197" first="Cannon" last="Wood"] - Athlete - Piedmont</strong></span> Piedmont lost a lot of talent with the 2021 class graduating but the Wildcats have reloaded and we think we know who their next star in the making might be. For the last few years, [player_tooltip player_id="38523" first="Caden" last="Hendren"] was that guy for Piedmont as he would play a variety of positions for the Wildcats and would have a massive impact in every aspect of the game. This year, we’ve enjoyed watching the breakout season of sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="215197" first="Cannon" last="Wood"] and he might be that next big name for the Wildcats over the next two years. While Hendren was more of an impact player in the passing game as a wide receiver, Wood is more of an impact player in the running game. But he has the size that allows Piedmont’s coaches to get creative with how they utilize him over the next couple years. Whether it’s on offense or defense, Piedmont has a new potential star with Wood. Piedmont and their young sophomore has experienced some growing pains this year but he is a big reason why Piedmont is going to remain in the conversation over the next few seasons. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="215195" first="Danny" last="Okoye"] - Defensive End - NOAH</strong></span> Our only true defensive prospect on this list is [player_tooltip player_id="215195" first="Danny" last="Okoye"] from NOAH. For those not familiar with NOAH, it’s a homeschool team for kids in northeastern Oklahoma. They have a few 2024 prospects that are already on the radar and Okoye is the latest prospect to catch our eye. The NOAH big man certainly passes the eye test and it’s pretty easy to see why his coaches are high on him as a potential prospect down the line. Okoye is big and has been a mismatch for some of the smaller opponents that NOAH has played this season. He still has two more years of high school ball but we do have a big question in terms of how far Okoye could go. It’s been a while since a prospect who was homeschooled and played for NOAH was a legitimate college prospect. Okoye definitely passes the eye test right now and he could be one down the line. But we’re curious how his recruitment will compare to other prospects within the class. Not that it should make any difference, but we’re curious to see how it unfolds. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="154217" first="Garret" last="Wilson"] - Quarterback - Oklahoma Christian School</strong></span> One prospect that we got a sneak peek at was OCS QB [player_tooltip player_id="154217" first="Garret" last="Wilson"] last fall. During OCS’ playoff run, Wilson came off the bench as a freshman and helped lead the Saints to a win with their starting QB going down with an injury. So coming into this season, with Wilson taking over the spot at QB1, we didn’t have much doubt that he would be able to step into the role and not let OCS take a step back this season. That’s exactly been the case as Wilson has OCS undefeated and one of the best teams in Class 2A. The only question we have about Wilson right now is a question for the future. There’s no doubt that Wilson is a good talent at the QB spot for OCS but he is surrounded by a few big time playmakers like running back [player_tooltip player_id="193015" first="Kaleb" last="Barnes"] and one of the top overall athletes in the state with [player_tooltip player_id="38734" first="Collin" last="Matteson"]. So the big question is how he’ll look moving forward once he doesn’t have those guys around him. We’ll learn a lot about him as a quarterback prospect starting next year but he’s off to a great start this year. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="215198" first="River" last="Warren"] - Quarterback - Bishop McGuinness</strong></span> When you watch Bishop McGuinness this year, it’s hard to watch anyone other than junior running back and standout [player_tooltip player_id="51871" first="Michael" last="Taffe"]. The junior has been one of the best players in the state this year and is a big reason why McGuinness is still in the 5A state championship conversation. However, running the Irish offense is sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="215198" first="River" last="Warren"] and he appears to be ready for the bright lights with McGuinness. He had massive shoes to fill as McGuinness was led by star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38557" first="Luke" last="Tarman"] who was one of the best players in Oklahoma last year. However, Warren has fit in just fine with the Irish on the offensive side of the ball and he certainly passes the eye test when you see him in person. Warren stands well over 6’0 and can sling it all over the field. With Taffe getting plenty of the headlines with the Irish offense, it’s easy to overlook a breakout player like Warren. However, the more comfortable Warren gets in the offense, the more impact he’s going to have on the game. It’s going to be fun to see how Warren and Taffe do against the rest of Class 5A through the rest of this season and into 2022.