Oklahoma State National Signing Day 2022: Linebackers

STILLWATER – National Signing Day 2022 is finally here! Oklahoma State is bringing in one of its highest-rated classes under head coach Mike Gundy, which includes some talented athletes. Pokes Report is detailing every signee with in-depth profiles and analysis, as well as premium content on the class.

We’ll also have head coach Mike Gundy’s thoughts on the signees and exclusive interviews as well.

We’ve bundled together each signee by position group, and we’ll be looking at the linebacker signees below.

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Xavier Benson

Linebacker

6′3″ / 230 lbs

Tyler, TX

Tyler Junior College/Texas Tech/Pleasant Grove

Class of 2022

Profile: Earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor in one of the most competitive junior college conferences in America in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference as he helped Tyler to the championship game. Benson had 120 tackles with two interceptions, a fumble caused, and a fumble recovery. He started out at Texas Tech after being recruited by the likes of Arkansas, SMU, Tulsa, Wyoming, and Ivy League schools. After a redshirt season he started 10-of-12 games for Tech as a redshirt freshman and had 57 tackles, four tackles for loss, and a sack. He sat out the COVID season of 2020 and made his re-entry at Tyler J.C. Benson was a two-way standout in high school at Pleasant Grove and the District 7-4A Division II MVP as a senior in helping his school to the Class 4A Division II State Championship in Texas. Benson had 20 catches for 526 yards and five touchdowns at tight end, while adding 105 tackles, including seven for a loss at linebacker.  He had seven sacks, seven quarterback hurries, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks as well. In his junior season in 2016 he finished with 98 tackles, including eight that went for a loss, notched five sacks, recovered three fumbles and forced four others while also recording a pair of interceptions. He took one of his fumble recoveries 99 yards for a touchdown. An outstanding student he was majoring in Political Science at Texas Tech.

Robert Allen’s Projection: Benson steps right in at linebacker helping the maturity of the position with the graduation and departure of Malcolm Rodriguez and Devin Harper. He’ll have a chance to help guide young linebackers like fellow Pleasant Grove product Nick Martin.

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Gabe Brown

Linebacker

6′2″ / 210 lbs

Stillwater, OK

Stillwater

Class of 2022

Profile: Here is a player that personifies the Cowboy culture and will fit in perfect. He doesn’t look for credit, Brown just delivers contributions and has been a major part of the success for the Pioneers that past three seasons. He contributed some as a sophomore, but really jumped in his junior season helping the Pioneers to the Class 6A-II semifinals. He finished with 126 tackles, eight tackles for loss, an interception, a fumble caused, and two fumble recoveries. In his career he finished with 200 tackles and an average of 10.5 tackles a game. This past season he had some injury issues that caused him to miss five games, but he had 74 tackles with five sacks, six tackles for loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. As a senior he also started playing some on offense and scored several rushing touchdowns and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass. Brown was the major weapon in an early season upset over Class 6A-I 2020 championship runner-up Edmond Santa Fe.

Robert Allen’s Projection: Brown moves across town, and it will be an easy transition. His athleticism will make him an early prospect to play on special teams, especially cover units. His ability to pressure the backfield and quarterback and also be able to cover will translate to a faster path to the field at linebacker.