Oklahoma Recruiting: Stanvon Taylor Commits To Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners have a major need at defensive back in the 2013 class, a need slightly alleviated Friday evening with the verbal pledge of Tulsa (OK) East Central cornerback Stanvon Taylor.

After concerns in recent years about locking down the top talent in the state, the Sooners have now secured commitments from two of the top three players in the state in Taylor and Lawton (OK) defensive end DJ Ward, who committed the weekend of the spring game.

Ranked as a consensus four-star prospect, the 5'11, 175-pound Taylor had 11 offers before ending his recruitment and was a prospect who could have seen his stock rise even more had he prolonged his decision. He's the fifth commitment of the 2013 class for Oklahoma.

A high school defensive back and wide receiver, Taylor projects as a cornerback in college. Taylor uses the ball skills developed on the offensive side of the ball to break on the football while playing defensive back and finish plays with interceptions.

With solid size for the position, Taylor only needs to refine his technique and add some muscle mass to a lean frame that can at times be beaten off the ball by stronger receivers. Overall, he deserves the playmaker label and it's not a stretch to call him a gamer as well.

Intangibles and cliches aside, Taylor represents a strong pick-up at a need position with the skillset to become a productive college player, if not challenge for all-conference honors later in his career. And Oklahoma fans will point out that there's a reason it's called the Sooner State -- Bob Stoops and his staff have owned in the past and need to own it again. The commitments of Ward and Taylor are major steps back in that direction.

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