Oklahoma Commit Breakdown: Tory Blaylock
Oklahoma’s class of 2025 got off to a tremendously early start but has gone a bit quiet on the recruiting trail in recent months without a commit. Well that streak came to an end on Friday when Humble (Texas) Atascocita star running back Tory Blaylock became an Oklahoma commitment. In Blalock Oklahoma landed one of the country’s most explosive backs – whose 4×100 team just broke the national record.
What’s on Tape for Tory Blaylock
It’s hard to watch Blaylock and not immediately remark on his home run ability. In the simplest terms, when he hits open space there’s not a lot of tape of anyone tracking the new Sooners commitment down. As mentioned, Blaylock has legitimate track speed and has spent his life trained by his father Derrick, a speed expert in Humble, Texas.
Though it’s easy to dismiss a player with Blaylock’s speed as being a ‘track guy’ he also shows some physicality when he runs. Blaylock isn’t one to run high and present a huge target area for himself while moving through traffic. The new Oklahoma pledge stays compact and finds his space before using that elite speed to score from distance. But when he does need to lower his shoulder and pick up some yardage he has the size and power to do so.
But the most under appreciated part of his game is his ability to be patient. For someone with the ability to score in a matter of seconds it would be easy to want to just hit the hole immediately on every carry. However, he shows an ability to wait for a block to develop and then hit the lane when he has space to do so.
Finally, while Blaylock’s game will never be to dance a lot he shows a real understanding of his strengths as a player and does a nice job setting up downfield defenders. At time he’ll look to have chosen the wrong lane but does so knowing he has the speed to outrun the first defender and is ruining the angle of the second defender – check the :38-second mark of the reel as an example.
Sooners Commit Comparison
He reminds me quite a bit of former Oklahoma State standout Chuba Hubbard.
