On Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2024, 4-star defensive lineman Nigel Smith signed his NLI to play football for the Sooners.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 What's up everybody, Randall Sweet, AllstarNews.com, back to talk about OU's 2024 signing class.
00:05 I'm going to talk about Nigel Smith, 6'5", 260 pound, four-star defensive lineman from
00:11 Melissa, Texas.
00:12 Now, I mentioned it, Nigel Smith's a four-star defensive lineman.
00:15 He's rated one of the top 100, top 150 players in the country, depending on what service
00:20 you follow, but again, regarded as one of the top defensive linemen in the nation.
00:24 Now, as being 6'5" and 260 pounds, he's got great size already coming out of high school,
00:30 exactly what OU needs in that defensive line room as they head into the SEC.
00:34 When I saw him in person, he played more on the edge as an edge rusher, but did play some
00:39 on the interior.
00:40 I'd imagine at OU, his fate will probably be the same where he plays more on the edge,
00:44 but if OU needs to bulk him up, have him play some on the interior, I do think he's got
00:48 the capability to do that.
00:49 Again, not necessarily a nose guard position, but an interior defensive line position.
00:55 Right now, he's again, very athletic.
00:58 His dad was a 6'10" basketball player at SMU, and so Nigel Smith, he's got great burst off
01:03 the line of scrimmage.
01:04 He's got good hands, again, powerful with his hands when he punches an offensive lineman.
01:10 And really, he's got a lot of strength.
01:11 I think that whenever he gets to OU and he gets in the strength and conditioning program
01:16 with Jerry Schmidt, he's going to, really the sky will be the limit for a guy like him
01:20 with the size, the athleticism that he has.
01:23 I think that he's someone who will really cherish once he gets on campus.
01:27 And I think that his personality is all the things that Brent Bennebos, Todd Bates, Miguel
01:32 Shaves, I think it's all the things that those guys love.
01:35 When he talked to me, he said that he loved the soul mission.
01:38 That was one of the things that really sold him on OU.
01:41 He loved the relationships he'd made with the coaching staff, and I think that those
01:44 things really are going to help inspire him to work hard and blossom into a great player