Oklahoma trending for No. 8 OLB Clayton Smith ahead of Friday decision

Four days ago, the Texas Longhorns made the list of final six schools for Texarkana Texas outside linebacker Clayton Smith, seemingly positioning the Longhorns to continue pushing for the nation’s No. 8 outside linebacker, according to the 247Sports.

Instead, the Oklahoma Sooners started trending in the 247Sports Crystal Ball on Tuesday — as of Thursday morning, there are seven in favor of the Sooners — as Smith announced that he’ll commit on Friday at 2:10 p.m. Central.

With momentum swinging so solidly, and perhaps decisively, in favor of Oklahoma, Texas appears to be on the verge of losing one of its key targets on defense — not only is Smith highly ranked as the nation’s No. 107 prospect, he also had a monster junior season that included 94 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, and eight forced fumbles.

Fortunately, the Longhorns hold a commitment from the state’s top edge defender, Denton Ryan’s Ja’Tavion Sanders, but Smith isn’t far behind and the Texas staff clearly kept prioritizing the Texarkana product in recent months following the pledge of Sanders last September.

Since there’s no one else in the state who fits the Jack position and currently holds an offer from the Longhorns, don’t be surprised to see a new name emerge in the near future if Smith picks the Sooners on Friday.