Oklahoma's Top 20 recruiting what-ifs: No. 16, Tay Evans

Concussions kept this promising linebacker from reaching his potential and fulfilling his family legacy as a Sooner

Tay Evans bio in the 2014 OU media guide

After redshirting as a true freshman in 2014, Tay Evans showed early what he might have become at Oklahoma.

As a consensus 3-star linebacker out of Allen, TX, and the son of former Billy Tubbs basketball star Bobby Joe Evans, Tay Evans got on the field in the 2015 season opener and made two tackles against Akron. He appeared in 10 games as a backup that season and seemed headed for stardom.

Evans then won the starting job as a third-year sophomore in 2016.

Tay Evans and Jordan Evans in 2016 / Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

But by the third game of that season in 2016, Evans’ football career was over. Concussions — four total in three years, he said — took away what coach Bob Stoops said would have been “an incredible future” in football.

The final blow was a tackle of Ohio State running back Mike Weber that took Evans out of the game. Evans still tied his career-high with five tackles against the Buckeyes, but sadly couldn’t play again.

Tay Evans and Ohio State's Curtis Samuel / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Evans stayed around the team, however, and he stayed in school. He eventually attained his bachelor’s degree and then got his master’s from OU and now works in human resources.

Evans also got to play part of one season with his little brother, Sooners offensive tackle Bobby Evans, who made honorable mention All-Big 12 in 2016, went on to become a three-year starter and now plays for the Los Angeles Rams.

Tay Evans chose OU over offers from Arizona State, Kansas State, Boise State, Stanford, Indiana, Oregon State, SMU and SMU. He was widely regarded as a top-100 player in the state of Texas.

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This series

National Signing Day is around the corner, so SI Sooners is examining Oklahoma’s biggest recruiting what-ifs of the last 20 years.

NOTE: We've changed the theme from "regrets" to "what-ifs" because it's hard for many to get past the negative connotation of regret. Also, "what-if" is a more accurate depiction of what we're trying to convey.

The series wasn't intended to put anyone in a bad light. It's not about the coaching staff regretting that they signed these guys, or the players regretting they came to Oklahoma.

This is about players who arrived (or almost arrived) at Oklahoma but then, for whatever reason, left well before they reached their potential.

This is what college football recruiting is all about: the risk-reward that comes with not knowing a prospect's potential. For every Adrian Peterson, there's a Rhett Bomar. For every Tommie Harris, there's a Mo Dampeer.

The time period is since 2000, when online recruiting services and the current "star" system became prominent.

The rankings were compiled by SI Sooners publisher John Hoover, Sports Animal host Al Eschbach, KREF host James Hale and Sooner Spectator publisher Jay Upchurch.

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How Hoover voted:

I didn't rank Evans in my top 20 of all the Sooners' recruiting what-ifs of the last 20 years. But he was almost instantly a player who exceeded his recruiting rankings, and in his brief time as a starter, he was fun to watch and very productive. He could have easily been a three-year starter at outside linebacker.

No. 16 on my list was 5-star running back Keith Ford from the 2013 class. Ford will appear later in our countdown.

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Top 20 Oklahoma Recruiting What-Ifs

(since 2000)

• No. 20: LB Mike Reed
• No. 19: LB Ricky DeBerry
• No. 18: CB Parrish Cobb
• No. 17: DB Hatari Byrd