2023 Season’s Top Comeback Players

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2023 football season is in the books and throughout the last few weeks, we've been taking a look back at some of our favorite moments and some of the top storylines in Oklahoma. Earlier this week, we announced the ten finalists for this season's&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2023/12/2023-player-of-the-year-finalists/">PRZ-Oklahoma Player Of The Year award</a></strong>. Today, we announced the PRZ-Oklahoma pick for <strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2023/12/comeback-player-of-the-year-holden-thompson/">Comeback Player Of The Year</a></strong> with Stillwater running back [player_tooltip player_id='215207' first='Holden' last='Thompson'] taking the honor. In this post, we're putting the spotlight on some of the other athletes who missed some, or all of the 2022 season and came back with a vengeance in 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for more postseason content. Coming up on New Years Day, we'll unveil our All State 1st Team selections!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["294445"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Jenks junior defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='294445' first='Cash' last='Jacobsen'] was on our radar prior to his sophomore season. He seemed to be primed for a breakout 2022 season but the Trojans had an injury-plagued 2022 year and Jacobsen was one of the players that went down. But he came back in 2023 and was a critical part of a Jenks defense that was one of the better units in the state. The Jenks front seven was outstanding to watch and Jacobsen was a terror on the interior of that defensive line. Jacobsen finally got that breakout season and with the majority of their starters returning in 2024, don't be surprised to see the Jenks defense continue to be one of the best units in the state this year.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["211555"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Back in August, we wrote about five players to watch this season that were primed for comeback seasons. Choctaw junior [player_tooltip player_id='211555' first='Cash' last='Williams'] was one of those players. After being more of a utility player that could play multiple positions, Williams eventually won the starting quarterback job. For the majority of this season, Williams was a massive threat to run the football and put up some monster numbers on the ground. Towards the end of the regular season, Williams started dominating in both aspects at the quarterback position. This fall, Williams committed to play college baseball at Tennessee. He's an outstanding athlete that had a massive comeback season this fall.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["215196"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Poteau senior and Tulsa signee [player_tooltip player_id='215196' first='Dax' last='Collins'] has been one of the best overall players in the state for several seasons now. During his junior season in 2022, Collins was limited in the impact he could have on the game because of nagging injuries. When Collins is at full strength, like we saw this fall, he has the ability to completely change the game in all three phases. Offense, defense and special teams, Collins is routinely one of the best players on the field. And during his junior season, Collins was not at full strength and couldn't show that full arsenal of abilities. But in 2023, we saw Collins lead his team to the 4A semifinals and week after week, he was a complete playmaker.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["188013"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"Edmond Santa Fe junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='188013' first='Demarius' last='Robinson'] was one of the best players in the state this season. His sophomore season was impacted by nagging injuries in 2022 and he was just never at full strength. That wasn't the case this season as he became arguably the best running back in Oklahoma. He ran for well over 2,000 yards this season and he had a four-week stretch where he ran for over 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns. Robinson was named a finalist for Player Of The Year and he earned it with his play on the field. He had a breakout freshman season in 2021, was limited by injury in 2022 and was one of the state's best in 2023. We can't wait to see what he does in 2024.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["955229"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"Yukon senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='955229' first='Holden' last='Kee'] came back with a vengeance this season. When we published the u0022Comeback Players To Watchu0022 article back in August, Kee was a player that was mentioned to us after the fact. And we saw Kee in person shortly after that article and realized he was primed for a big 2023 season. Yukon struggled under first year head coach Brent Barnes but it was also obvious that Kee and the Millers were in the first step of returning to contending for playoff spots. Kee had a really strong senior season until it was cut short towards the end of the regular season. He put up monster numbers in the passing game as the Millers transitioned offenses.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_5_player":["110751"],"_player_evaluations_5_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"We mentioned earlier how Jenks had an injury-plagued 2022 season. Another player that missed significant time during that season was [player_tooltip player_id='110751' first='Jett' last='Calmus'] at the linebacker position. Calmus had a season-ending leg injury very early on in his junior season. But when he came back to the field in 2023, it looked like he was stronger than ever. Simply put, Calmus was one of the best linebackers in the state and that's not up for debate. We watched a lot of football throughout the 2023 season and Calmus was one of the very best defensive players we saw in person. The Jenks senior produced at a very high level and it seemed like he was at his very best in some of their biggest games this season.","_player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_6_player":["360245"],"_player_evaluations_6_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_6_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_6_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_6_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_6_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_6_evaluation":"Sapulpa senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='360245' first='Marco' last='Smith'] was another player that we put the spotlight on back in August when we wrote about comeback players to watch. Smith missed a lot of the 2022 season with injuries but when he was on the field as a junior, he was one of the better running backs week after week. This season, Smith was at full strength and it showed as he put up some monster numbers this fall. Each week, it seemed like Smith was running for at least 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Chieftains had one of the better offensive units in Class 5A this season and Smith was a big part of that. He was hungry for a big senior year and he lived up to the hype.","_player_evaluations_6_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_7_player":["1091729"],"_player_evaluations_7_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_7_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_7_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_7_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_7_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_7_evaluation":"Lincoln Christian senior [player_tooltip player_id='1091729' first='Sawyer' last='Brooks'] turned out to be one of the best two-way players in Oklahoma this season. He was one half of an excellent running back duo at Lincoln Christian this season. He also turned around and was one of Lincoln's top tacklers on defense and an absolute force at the linebacker position. Brooks had his junior season end very early on in 2022 and committed himself to the weight room. Head coach Jerry RIcke mentioned how Brooks wasn't going to let that setback define his career and he came back stronger than ever in 2023. And when you look at his production, there is no doubt that he was one of the best football players in Oklahoma this fall.","_player_evaluations_7_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_8_player":["460609"],"_player_evaluations_8_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_8_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_8_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_8_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_8_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_8_evaluation":"Mustang senior safety [player_tooltip player_id='460609' first='Zachery' last='Warren'] was one of the hardest hitting players that we saw in person and on film during the 2023 football season. Warren had an injury-plagued 2022 season and came back strong in 2023. Unfortunately, Warren just had terrible luck when it came to injuries and his senior season was cut short. In the second half of the regular season, Warren came down with an interception but dislocated his ankle and his senior year came to an abrupt end. But when we look at the secondary prospects in the state's 2024 class. Warren has consistently been one of the top players to watch and he backed up the hype with a stellar senior season.","_player_evaluations_8_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":9,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6592f11e9adfb"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->