Sooners land in the top-6 of an elite defensive playmaker recruit in the 2028 class, and his teammate is already an Oklahoma commit
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The Oklahoma Sooners are close to landing elite 2028 safety Jaelyn Easterling-Flores, but so are five other teams.
The Oklahoma Sooners have positioned themselves well in the recruitment of 4-star safety Jaelyn Easterling-Flores, landing in the top 6 for the 2028 prospect.
Easterling-Flores is a top 70 recruit in the Rivals industry rankings, standing at 6’2, 180 pounds out of Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona. He carries a 92.48 composite rating, ranks as the No. 7 safety in the 2028 class, and checks in as the No. 4 player in the state of Arizona. ESPN is even higher on him, listing Easterling-Flores as the No. 54 recruit overall.
Desert Edge connection gives the Sooners a recruiting pipeline
Desert Edge is a school Oklahoma has been known to recruit from, and recruit well. The Sooners currently have Mikyal Davis on their roster, committed in the 2026-27 recruiting class. They are also pursuing Jalani George, a prospect from the same school whom the staff is very interested in landing. Beyond those two, the Sooners have crossed paths with other Desert Edge products, including Nekhi Lambeth, a 4-star cornerback in the 2028 recruiting class. That existing pipeline matters. When a program builds trust with a high school coaching staff and community, subsequent recruits from that school tend to take notice.
Easterling-Flores lists Texas, LSU, Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Miami alongside Oklahoma as his top 6. He has taken five total visits so far, with trips to Oregon, Auburn, Texas, Notre Dame, and Florida. Notably, Norman has not been one of those stops yet.
The Sooners need to get him on campus
That’s the key here. The Sooners have as real a shot as anybody, but they’ve got to get Easterling-Flores on campus. We all know what happens when Oklahoma brings players on visits to Norman. Things change, because Brent Venables and his staff just do things differently. Whatever it is they do on these visits, players always walk away from Norman thinking the city is way better than they expected and the coaching staff is way better than expected.
Geography doesn’t present a significant obstacle, either. None of the programs in his final 6 sit on the West Coast. His list skews entirely toward East Coast and Southern schools, which puts Oklahoma on relatively equal footing from a travel standpoint. No single school holds a proximity advantage.
Where things stand for OU’s 2028 class
The Sooners’ 2028 recruiting class currently has just one commitment in quarterback Trey Tagliaferri, which means there is plenty of room and plenty of urgency to add talent. A player of Easterling-Flores’ caliber would be a massive addition at a premium position. Oklahoma could very well make a serious push to land him once a visit to Norman gets on the calendar. The talent is there. The connection to Desert Edge is there. Now the Sooners need the visit to make the rest happen.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Sooners land in the top-6 of an elite defensive playmaker recruit in the 2028 class, and his teammate is already an Oklahoma commit
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