The Oklahoma Sooners seem to move to the backend for their standout OT David Stone. In the wake of the flurry of offseason departures among the schools, Stone joined the trend.

The former five-star suited up for 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3, 313-pounder just played 88 snaps with 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. To be honest, his freshman era was pretty average. Stone has the talent. It’s just that he needs to be a finished product. A little scrutiny and reps over reps could easily vouch for that. But the kid decided to pull the rug. So, where is he off to? Nothing is official yet. But come on, we can smell the tea!

“The early buzz here is pointing to the Miami Hurricanes being the favorite. We will, of course, now we’ll see how the dust settles. Because David Stone, he’s going to receive calls from literally dozens if not hundreds of teams around the country,” insider Alex Donno dropped a bombshell on April 20 on his podcast.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida with a stunning stat. Swooping him at Norman was a big ego boost for OU head coach Brent Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone picked the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami, and Michigan State. Now, the question is, how did things turn sour between both parties in just over a year? Insider reports suggested that the NIL metrics again played a central role in their painful separation. For his lackluster role in 2024, Stone saw a significant drop in his contract compensation package.

The loss broke Stone apart, both emotionally and intellectually. However, as he moved on, he became a free bird ready to rule over the sky. Can Miami be the cage worth settling for the second time? Donno continued connecting the dots: “But things that give Miami a potential edge here, guys, the Hurricanes literally finished second in David Stone’s recruitment. In fact, on the day that he put the Oklahoma hat on and he had that Miami hat on the table and nearly grabbed it, even family members and friends of Stone seemingly thought that day that he was going to choose the Miami Hurricanes. It was that close.”

The Hurricanes flexed a bombastic defensive line last year. They had to let go of Tyler Baron and Simeon Barrow Jr., but if Stone is up for a move, he can fill in the shoes in their massive defensive revamp. But what about the Sooners’ fate in the spring portal? Is it just Stone that dished coach Venables a deserved heartbreak?

Oklahoma Sooners faced a lot of off-season drama 

The Spring portal is falling heavily on the teams. On one hand, they embrace new faces; on the other, they lose grip on their assets. For Coach Venables, he is down to lose five gems from the radar. “Now, with the roster limits, the cutting had to go down. Oklahoma has to get down to 105,” Jey Smith from the Unfair Sports chimed in, “They should be at that point, especially, once they add a couple more players. So, right now, these are the names of the players that we saw hit the portal.” The name includes Peter Schuh, Mykel Patterson-McDonald, Davon Mitchell, Jocelyn Malaska, and Sam Franklin.

“Davon Mitchell hit the portal, and then you just recently lost out on Jocelyn Malaska, which I like the big corner. He played at Utah, transferred to Oklahoma 62 from Bethany. I thought that he was going to be able to be a rotational component. He jumped into the portal,” Smith added details on the Sooners’ woes.

The transfer portal gets wrapped up shortly. OU still has players waiting in line for playing time, so they can move to an experiment with the young force. They get to add some new faces as well. As per Pete Nakos, the Sooners will host Jaylon Stone, the Missouri State DT, in 2024. Guys like Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, and Markus Strong can carry the weight of a top-tier defense alongside. But can they totally get away with a crucial David Stone departure without sensing any void? Time will unveil the truth.