Sooners finish as runners-up to an elite recruit who would have been the perfect replacement for a player who will soon be in the NFL

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The Oklahoma Sooners have a loaded 2027 recruiting class, but at the end of the day, they can’t land every single recruit.

The Oklahoma Sooners have landed almost every major player they have wanted when it comes to the 2027 recruiting class. Well, that's certainly how it's felt. However, they just finished as runners-up on one of the best defensive tackles in the entire country.

On Thursday, the Sooners lost the battle for four-star defensive tackle George Toia, not to be mistaken for Sooner Scoop's George Stoia. Toia chose UCLA over OU.

Toia is 6'2, 300 pounds. He's projected to be a nose tackle, similarly to Jayden Jackson. Oklahoma is in a spot where they will almost always have an elite defensive line, at least on paper. And, they likely still will even without landing Toia, but getting him would have boosted it so much more.

The last time he was asked about Oklahoma and which school was his favorite was in December. At that time, everything was pretty even.

"They are all up there for me!" Toia told Rivals regarding Texas Tech, Oklahoma, USC, and the Oregon Ducks. "I've been talking to the coaches a lot. They're hitting me up every day. That makes me feel like a priority… The visit to Oklahoma went great. The defense there and the coaches over there have me excited about Norman. It's a great place to play."

According to Rivals’ ranking system and predictions, the Sooners finished second.

OU still has three defensive tackles on its commitment list for 2027 recruiting class

Deven Robertson, Elija Harmon, and Sione Felila are all committed to OU and are all big defensive tackle prospects. That could be why Toia chose to go a different route. Also, Felila chose OU just a few days ago. So, who knows, maybe Toia was going to choose OU, but then Felila's commitment messed that up.

Regardless, the Sooners are still good in terms of their 2027 recruiting class. In fact, it could only get better from here.

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