Former highly-ranked Oklahoma Sooners recruit slow to find his footing in spring training camp, buried on the depth chart

In the 2024 recruiting class, the Oklahoma Sooners pulled off a major recruiting coup when they secured the commitment of four-star tight end Davon Mitchell. The 11th-ranked tight end in 247Sports' Composite Rankings, Mitchell chose the Sooners over programs like Miami and Alabama. 

However, that recruiting status has yet to result in much on the field, as Mitchell was low on the depth chart and didn't take any snaps as a freshman. That's to be expected early on after he reclassified, but his status has yet to change. 

Many envisioned Mitchell would be the top choice to replace Bauer Sharp as the Sooners' starting tight end in 2025. Yet, that hasn't happened for the former top recruit so far in the spring. Per sources, Mitchell has been buried on the depth chart and passed by several players in spring training. 

To make that fact even more concerning, one of those players was linebacker-turned-tight-end Jaren Kanak, who has seemingly grasped the TE2 role right away in spring training. 

With Will Huggins, Kanak, and potentially players like Kaden Helms and Carson Kent, ahead of Mitchell so far in the spring, this feels like a disappointing outcome for the former top recruit. I'd be concerned about a four-star losing snaps to transfers from Pittsburg State and Kennesaw State, as well as a former linebacker converted over to tight end. 

While I don't want to speculate on his status, this could mean Mitchell might pursue a transfer. In fact, it feels fairly likely. In this era of college football, it happens far too often, especially for highly-ranked recruits. It makes sense if the opportunity just isn't there for Mitchell with the Sooners, even if it is disappointing. 

The spring transfer portal window opens on April 16th in just a couple of weeks. We'll find out what Mitchell, and new Oklahoma Sooners general manager Jim Nagy, do in the upcoming window.