Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners open spring practice this weekend with change in the air. Let's take a closer look.

Schedule: The Sooners begin spring ball Saturday, the first of 15 NCAA-allowed practices. OU will hold its spring game April 13.

What's new: What’s not? Bob Stoops brought in three new assistants, seven defensive starters are gone, and for the first time in six years, the Sooners have a quarterback competition. After back-to-back three-loss seasons, this is lining up to be the most important -- and most intriguing -- spring of the Stoops era in Norman.

All eyes on: The quarterback derby, which will be the dominant storyline of the spring. Junior Blake Bell, sophomore Kendal Thompson and freshman Trevor Knight are all vying to replace four-year starter Landry Jones. Bell is the favorite because of his age and experience in the “Belldozer” package, but insiders around the program believe Knight is capable of unseating him. Whatever happens in the spring, don’t expect a starter to be named. Stoops waited until the fall to declare Sam Bradford his starter in 2007, and figures to do the same here.

New faces: The Sooners welcome four mid-semester enrollees, and all four have a chance to make immediate impacts. Toronto native Josiah St. John, the No. 1 junior-college offensive tackle in the country, figures to be no worse than a key backup. Wide receiver Dannon Cavil, who grew up a Texas fan, has great size and should vie for a rotation spot at outside receiver. Defensively, Ahmad Thomas will be given every opportunity to start at safety, and defensive end D.J. Ward, the top player coming out of the state of Oklahoma, could boost a defensive front that ranked 108th nationally in tackles for loss last season.

Question marks: With only 11 starters back, the Sooners have plenty. On top of the quarterback battle, OU must overhaul virtually the entire defense, with All-Big 12 cornerback Aaron Colvin the only returning impact defender. Defensive tackle and back safety are especially tenuous. The Sooners have only three defensive tackles on the roster to practice with at the moment, and no one other than Colvin has a down of experience at back safety. Mike Stoops will have to be creative just to get through the spring, until reinforcements arrive over the summer.

Don’t forget about: Wide receiver Trey Metoyer, who was the star of last spring as a true freshman. Metoyer, however, failed to carry that momentum into the fall, lost his starting job and eventually fell out of the rotation. A new year and new quarterback should re-energize Metoyer, who has all the tools to become a dominant outside receiver.

On the mend: Guards Tyler Evans and Nila Kasitati, who are both coming off season-ending knee injuries. Both, however, are hoping to be at least limited participants in the spring, which would spur them into summer workouts.

Welcome to SoonerNation's live coverage of national signing day for the Oklahoma Sooners. We'll be with you throughout the day providing up-to-the minute updates on OU's class of 2013.

Watch live coverage on ESPNU | Talk signing day on our SoonerNation forum | OU class

Follow the live blog after the jump.

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Oklahoma's top commits have all signed their letters of intent and are locked in to becoming future Sooners. Here's who Oklahoma's bringing in from our ESPN 300, the list of the nation's top 300 prospects:

• No. 27: Keith Ford, RB, Cypress, Texas
• No. 137: D.J. Ward, DE, Moore, Okla. (signed in December, early enrollee)
• No. 178: Cody Thomas, QB-PP, Colleyville, Texas
• No. 199: Stanvon Taylor, ATH, Tulsa, Okla.
• No. 240: Dannon Cavil, WR, San Antonio, Texas (signed in December, early enrollee)
• No. 284: Matt Dimon, DE, Katy, Texas
• No. 293: Hatari Byrd, S, Fresno, Calif.

Not many surprises for the Sooners, though Dimon had some power issues at his high school and couldn't get his letter of intent to the Oklahoma coaches until 8:48 a.m. Oklahoma's class is at No. 20 in the ESPN class rankings, the same spot it began the day. Byrd also made headlines last month when word surfaced that coaches had told him he's likely going to be able to start at safety from the moment he gets on campus. Very interesting stuff. Oklahoma signed a lot of high-quality defensive talent in this class, as you can see, and Taylor is likely to play cornerback for the Sooners.

Mostly a drama-free day across the Big 12 on the recruiting trail.

Houston Alief Taylor defensive end Ogbonnia “Obo” Okoronkwo said he knew he wanted to flip his commitment from Oklahoma State to Oklahoma following his official visit to OU last month.

But he waited. He didn’t want to make a hasty decision, and he wanted to give OSU a chance. Things never worked out for Okoronkwo and the Cowboys and their Bedlam rival was there to swoop up Okoronkwo on Wednesday afternoon.

Okoronkwo, who is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds and a three-star prospect, was able to visit Norman, Okla., last month for OU’s victory against Baylor. The plan had always been to see Stillwater first and then compare and contrast the two schools and make a decision.

OSU and Okoronkwo could never get on the same page for the visit and Okoronkwo said he told the OSU staff Sunday he thought it was time to go separate ways.

That didn’t necessarily mean he was automatically a Sooner, but that was solidified Wednesday during an in-home visit by OU coaches Bob Stoops and Tim Kish.

“Coach Stoops talked with my dad and Coach Kish talked with my mom for about an hour, and my parents really liked what they were saying,” Okoronkwo said. “They were happy with everything so he didn’t see a point in waiting.”

Okoronkwo said his mother was especially interested in the graduation rates and the academic help he would receive. The answers Stoops and Kish gave her satisfied her and everybody was on the same page.

Okoronkwo has never been a first option for schools looking at Houston Alief Taylor. Playing alongside ESPN 300 USC defensive end commit Torrodney Prevot, the attention went toward Prevot.

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