Big Board – Defensive Backs
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It’s officially April and with the NFL Draft later this month, mock drafts and Big Boards are all you’ll hear about if you’re a football fan. We’re leaning into that with Big Boards. Every Thursday and Friday, we’ll release a new Big Board, ranking the top ten players at their position, regardless of class. Now, similar to our prospect rankings, these rankings are based on who these players are as college prospects. Stay tuned each week for two more Big Boards, rankings and looking at the absolute best players at their respective positions. Today, we continue our Big Board series with a look at the best defensive backs in Oklahoma.
1) Gentry Williams Gentry Williams 6'0" | DB Booker T Washington | 2022 State OK – Booker T Washington – Class of 2022
While it is not something he could control, Gentry was unable to play for most of the 2020 season due to injury, which left the door open for some other prospects to move up closer to him in our rankings. While the gap between him and the next few guys is much closer than it was a year ago, we’re still not ready to say that there’s another DB in the state better than Gentry Williams Gentry Williams 6'0" | DB Booker T Washington | 2022 State OK . As long as he returns to form and can stay healthy in 2021, Gentry has a chance to compete with Jacob Sexton Jacob Sexton 6'6" | OL Deer Creek | 2022 State OK , Talyn Shettron Talyn Shettron 6'3" | WR Edmond Santa Fe | 2022 State OK , Chris McClellan Chris McClellan 6'4" | DL Owasso | 2022 State OK , and a few others for the top spot in the class of 2022.
2) Kanijal Thomas Kanijal Thomas 6'1" | DB Del City | 2023 State OK – Del City – Class of 2023
Coming into the season we knew that Kanijal already held multiple D1 offers and had a chance to be great if he could take the next step as a prospect. Needless to say, Kanijal took that leap and has cemented himself as a potential blue-chip prospect in the class of 2023. He played the majority of his snaps at safety in 2020 with some cornerback mixed in as well. What has impressed me most about him to this point is his versatility, leaping ability, and his pure instincts in coverage. His best position at the next level is likely at safety where he can patrol the second level like a Center Fielder, but he is more than capable of sliding up and locking down receivers in the slot, or even bumping out wide on occasion based on matchups.
3) NuNu Campbell NuNu Campbell 5'11" | DB Holland Hall | 2022 State OK – Holland Hall – Class of 2022
Nunu was a player we had taken note of to start the season as a potential breakout, and by the end of the year we were very impressed by what he was able to do. Holland Hall’s defense was one of the best in the state and in recent memory in 2020, and Nunu definitely contributed to that effort and even elevated them at times. He’s not as big or fast as some of the other corners near the top of this list but he certainly has the coverage skills and instincts to be a D1 CB, which has been verified by the slew of offers he’s received since the end of last season.
4) Jayden Rowe Jayden Rowe 6'2" | DB Union | 2022 State OK – Union – Class of 2022
It seems like every year Union has a stud defensive back emerge and in 2020 that defensive back was Jayden Rowe Jayden Rowe 6'2" | DB Union | 2022 State OK . Rowe went from being just inside the top 50 all the way to his current ranking of #4 in the class of 2022 and he has the potential to be a big-time player at the next level. He has great size for a corner at 6’2″ and has the speed and instincts to run in stride with some of the best players in the state. Additionally, Rowe may be one of the best run defenders of this group as he is always plowing through blocks and making ball carriers look silly as he drives them back before they can get many yards.
5) Korbyn Green Korbyn Green 6'1" | DB Owasso | 2022 State OK – Owasso – Class of 2022
Recent Owasso transfer, Korbyn Green Korbyn Green 6'1" | DB Owasso | 2022 State OK , was one of the biggest breakout stars of this group alongside King, Rowe, Campbell, and a few others, and has also been one of the biggest risers this offseason. Green played for Booker T Washington in 2020, and after Gentry went down week two, Green and was one of the DBs who needed to step up to fill the void. To put it simply, there were not many players who caught anything on him in 2020. He played mostly press-man coverage, both out wide and in the slot, and he was one of the stickiest defenders in the state. His ability to flip his hips, change directions on a dime, and then run with receivers step for step is amongst the best in the state. I have not seen a lot of what he can do in zone coverage or off-man, but that does not mean he’s not a capable defender in either aspect. It’ll be hard to not move Green up this list if he continues on the path he’s on right now.
6) Jacobe Johnson Jacobe Johnson 6'4" | DB Mustang | 2023 State OK – Mustang – Class of 2023
This may come as a surprise to some to see Jacobe this low on the list considering he is currently our number 1 prospect in the class of 2023, but there is an explanation for the madness. Jacobe did not regress by any means in 2020, he is one of the best overall athletes in the state as he has offers from multiple D1 programs to play football and basketball. However, after getting a chance to catch up on some more film and see some guys improve this off-season, we felt like there were a couple of guys who had elevated their game and earned the chance to move up. Rankings aside, Jacobe is still a power 5 division 1 caliber athlete who has a chance to possibly be a dual-sport athlete at the collegiate level, which is more than just about every athlete in the state can claim.
7) Jaden King Jaden King 6'2" | DB Booker T Washington | 2022 State OK – Booker T Washington – Class of 2022
As we said above with Korbyn Green Korbyn Green 6'1" | DB Owasso | 2022 State OK , after Gentry went down in the second game of the season Booker T needed a few guys to step up on defense to make up for his absence, and one of the guys who stepped up the most alongside Green was Jaden King Jaden King 6'2" | DB Booker T Washington | 2022 State OK . King played primarily at corner but also excelled at safety when he was lined up there on occasion. He is very similar to Korbyn Green Korbyn Green 6'1" | DB Owasso | 2022 State OK in terms of skillset and traits on the field, but King was a little more productive at times in terms of creating turnovers. With Gentry back in 2021, it will be near impossible to throw on the outside vs Booker T.
8) Corey Gordon Corey Gordon 6'3" | 180 lbs | DB Putnam City West | 2022 State OK – Putnam City West – Class of 2022
Putnam City West has not had a ton of success on the gridiron over the last few years, but Gordon has been a standout player for them that we’ve loved watching the past 2 seasons. He plays on both sides of the ball pretty consistently, as a WR and as a CB/S, but we think he projects best on defense. He has the size and athleticism to cover just about anyone and when you watch him go up for a ball you can see the WR in him as he looks very natural climbing the ladder and high pointing the ball.
9) Cade Stacy Cade Stacy 6'2" | DB Jenks | 2022 State OK – Jenks – Class of 2022
These last two players may be a surprise to some because they were not the hot names in the recruiting world this past season, but they were still some of the top defenders in the state. Cade did not play as much as he probably deserved to in 2020, but that was more due to the stacked group of Senior DBs Jenks had in 2020. When he was on the field though, Cade was just as good, if not better than most of the Seniors that played ahead of him. He’s flown a little under the radar to this point, but the rest of the state will get to know him very well by the end of 2021 as he gets the chance to start.
10) Dylan Hasz Dylan Hasz 6'0" | DB Bixby | 2023 State OK – Bixby – Class of 2023
Our final DB on the list is one that was a pleasant surprise to us as the season went on. Dylan played safety for the majority of the season but also slid down into the slot on multiple occasions. As the year went on you could see that he was getting more and more comfortable in Bixby’s defense and as a result, he became an X-Factor for the Spartans. He does not have the towering size of his brother Luke, but he is much more agile and fluid in open space and is a straight-up ballhawk. He constantly baited QBs into throws from the free safety spot and in the slot where he was great in man coverage on occasion. Hasz may not have the potential ceiling that some of the top guys do in terms of physical limitations, but his instincts and feel for the position are top tier.