Oklahoma's Top 20 recruiting what-ifs, No. 8: Dallis Todd

It seemed every football school in the country wanted Dallis Todd in 2013, but it was Oklahoma that got him ... for two years

Dallis Todd's bio in the 2014 OU media guide

Oklahoma landed a lot of promising receivers between 2008 and 2014 — including four in that 2014 class. Among the most promising was Dallis Todd.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds when he got to OU from La Mirada, CA, Todd was closer to 6-3 and 190, but still had the physique and the credentials to make Sooner fans take notice.

He was first-team All-CIF, All-So Cal Dream Team, all-area, all conference and All-Long Beach Poly News for three years in a row. His recruiting rankings were impressive, too: the No. 31 wide receiver by 247 Sports, No. 37 by ESPN, No. 40 by Scout and No. 50 by Rivals, and was a unanimous 4-star recruit.

Dallis Todd / OU  Athletics

As a senior, Todd caught 66 passes for 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns, and during his junior year he caught 72 for 1,041 and 10 TDs. Even as a sophomore, he stood out with 60 catches, 866 yards and 10 touchdowns. He capped that off by p laying in the Semper Fi All-American Game.

He chose OU over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Iowa State, Louisville, Miami, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and others.

Dallis Todd / OU Athletics

But things started slowly for Todd when he arrived in Norman. He redshirted in 2014, then played in just six games in 2015 and caught just one pass for nine yards.

It seemed Todd might make a move on the depth chart during the 2016 spring, but he sustained a scary neck injury in practice — he had to be immobilized and was carted off and later taken to the hospital — but he came back OK and later decided in July to leave the program.

He ended up at FCS Northern Arizona just before NAU training camp started in 2016, and played in the Lumberjacks’ first three games as a third-year sophomore but didn’t catch a pass. He was not listed on Northern Arizona’s 2017 or 2018 rosters.

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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.

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 Moe 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 ranked Dallis Todd at No. 12 in my top 20. Oklahoma had gotten in the mode of recruiting big, strong wide receivers, and Jay Norvell seemed to have gotten good at it. Todd just seemed to have all the tools that a classic, big-bodied wideout needed, but like so many of the receivers OU signed during that era, it just didn't work out for him. 

No. 8 on my list was 2007 linebacker Mike Reed, a junior college All-American from California. You can read about Reed at No. 20 on the link below.

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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
• No. 16: LB Tay Evans
• No. 15: Brandon Williams
• No. 14: Jeff Lebby
• No. 13: Keith Ford
• No. 12: Austin Haywood
• No. 11: Tony Cade
• No. 10: Jameel Owens
• No. 9: Michiah Quick