Oklahoma’s five-star recruiting hits get plenty of attention, but the misses have left a mark too.
That’s the backdrop as Rivals has the Sooners sitting with three five-star commits in their 2027 class: offensive tackle Cooper Hackett, cornerback Gabriel Osborne Jr. and tight end Seneca Driver. There’s real excitement around that group, but Oklahoma fans have seen enough recruiting hype turn into disappointment to know better than to celebrate too early.
Since Bob Stoops left, the Sooners have had their share of five-star prospects who arrived with first-round NFL Draft expectations and never got close to that ceiling in Norman. Rivals’ rankings and ratings were used for this list, and each player was a five-star signee at the time.
Jackson Arnold is the name that jumps out first, even if the story may not be finished yet. The quarterback was a five-star prospect and Rivals’ No. 4 quarterback in the 2023 class, trailing only Arch Manning, Dante Moore and Nico Iamaleava. Rivals even compared him to Baker Mayfield, and Oklahoma fans bought into the idea that he could reach that kind of level.
Brent Venables leaned into that belief, moving on from Dillon Gabriel a year early so Arnold could take over as a sophomore in 2024. The results were rough.
Arnold averaged 142.1 passing yards per game, threw 12 touchdowns against three interceptions in nine starts, and helped lead Oklahoma to a 6-7 season. He also fumbled nine times and lost six of them.
Afterward, he transferred to Auburn, lost the starting job there in 2025 and transferred again over the offseason. He’s now trying to restart his career at UNLV, and even if he eventually gets closer to his five-star promise, it won’t be in Norman.
Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles fits the same general theme. Depending on the day, Rivals had him as a five-star recruit, listing him as the No. 33 prospect in the 2018 class and the No. 6 cornerback.
He spent three seasons at Oklahoma in Lincoln Riley’s program, appeared in 37 games and made 32 starts, but he never really delivered on the hype. His playing time actually dropped to a low point in his junior year before he transferred to Washington in 2021.
He went undrafted in 2022, had a brief stint with the Cincinnati Bengals, and later ended up on Riley’s staff at USC.
Theo Wease Jr. came in as part of the 2019 receiver haul, ranked No. 4 at his position and No. 23 overall. He played right away as a freshman, then flashed real production as a sophomore in 2020 with 530 receiving yards and four touchdowns, earning All-Big 12 honorable mention.
An injury derailed his 2021 season, and his numbers dipped to 378 yards in 2022 before he transferred to Missouri. Wease was productive there, including 884 receiving yards in 2024, but Oklahoma never got the full version of the player it expected.
He went undrafted in 2025.
Jadon Haselwood was supposed to be the headliner of that 2019 receiver class. He was Oklahoma’s highest-rated signee, the top receiver in the class and the No. 3 overall player.
He saw the field immediately, catching 19 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown as a freshman. An injury limited him to three games in 2020, but he bounced back in 2021 with 39 catches for 399 yards and a team-high six touchdowns.
He then moved on to Arkansas before ever becoming the kind of star his ranking suggested. Haselwood put up 59 catches for 702 yards and three touchdowns at Arkansas, but he still went undrafted in 2023.
And then there’s Brey Walker, who never came close to the expectations that came with his ranking. Oklahoma’s top signee in the 2018 class, Walker was the No. 32 overall prospect in the country.
He played in 41 games and made just two starts over five years in Norman before finishing at Texas State, where he started every game and earned Third-Team All-Sun Belt honors. Even that solid finish couldn’t change the bigger picture: for a five-star offensive tackle, it was never the kind of career Oklahoma had in mind, and he never made it to the NFL.
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Sooners Commit Cooper Hackett Is Suddenly At Center Of Recruiting Divide
Cooper Hacketts name is suddenly sitting at the center of a recruiting split, and for Oklahoma that makes him one of the more interesting commits in the 2027 class. Rivals kept the Fort Gibson offensive tackle in five-star territory, slotting him among the elite prospects in the country, while other services have taken a more cautious view as the offseason unfolds. For the Sooners, it is the kind of evaluation debate that can follow a high-upside lineman when the tape is still being weighed against long-term projection.
The tension around Hackett comes from how much his current standing is tied to what evaluators think he can become once he is fully healthy again. His talent and potential remain highly regarded, but the injury news has clearly influenced where he lands in the rankings conversation, and that leaves Oklahoma with a commitment whose ceiling is obvious even if the present-day picture is less settled. For a program building its future up front, the disagreement only adds to the intrigue. [Read more 🡒]
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Mateer has already been through this stage before, but Wein and Pierre-Louis are set for their first appearances, which adds a fresh angle to Oklahomas day in front of the league. The Sooners have plenty to talk about after recent performances from those players and with the new season approaching, and the media session should offer another snapshot of how Venables wants his team presented as it settles deeper into SEC life. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Nagy Is Already Shaping Big Decisions At Oklahoma
Jim Nagys arrival as Oklahomas general manager has already given the Sooners a different kind of voice in the room, one shaped by years of NFL scouting and personnel work. After 17 seasons evaluating talent for pro teams and a run as executive director of the Senior Bowl from 2018 to 2025, Nagy brings a perspective the program can lean on as players sort through the next steps in their careers.
That kind of guidance matters most when a decision is not just about the draft, but about timing, development and fit. Wide receiver Isaiah Sategna is among the players who have already benefited from those conversations, and Oklahoma appears to be getting the kind of front-office help that can influence both the roster in the short term and the programs long-term NFL pipeline. [Read more 🡒]