Tulsa defensive tackle Jaxon Player is one of the top transfer prospects in the country after the 2021 season, and he has narrowed his options down to five schools, four of them residing in the Big 12.
Player, a 2018 three-star recruit from Waco, Texas, is a two-time All-American Athletic Conference selection who entered the transfer portal on December 31 and has had quite a bit of interest. The five teams that have a shot at landing Player are as follows: Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and TCU.
Player led Tulsa with 15 TFL’s in 2021, good for 37th in the country, and was an absolute force at the heart of the Golden Hurricanes’ defense. Because of his tenacity and toughness, Player has built quite the reputation around football circles in the Midwest.
According to Cayden McFarland of KJRH Tulsa, Player has played in the last 24 games at Tulsa and the only game that he didn’t start (Houston 2021; targeting) is the only game in that stretch in which TU’s Defense gave up more than 4 offensive TD.
According to Nate Feken, a sports reporter from KFOR Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State players were calling Player “Baby Aaron Donald” after playing him early on in 2021.
That kind of comparison is a tall task to live up to, but Player’s film shows a nimble and quick defensive lineman, something that is rare for a player listed at 6’0″ 294-pounds. Whoever lands Player will immediately have a difference-maker up front, and the graduate transfer should start wherever he goes in 2022.
