Quinton Stewart is My Top Sleeper in the 2020 Class
STILLWATER -- Sleeper, just what is a sleeper? In my opinion it is a prospect, or in this case after the early signing day, a player that has signed that the recruiting sites have severely underrated. I've got news for you, the recruiting sites have a hard time rating players on the plains of Kansas. They don't get eyes on them a lot and they typically aren't busting their tails to pick up subscriptions in Salina, Kansas. All apologies to the monster Kansas State website Go Powercat.
Last summer when Oklahoma State jumped in on Quinton Stewart, who had already received offers from Kansas and Iowa State, I got online and started watching his game video and I fell in love with the way the young man played, on both sides of the ball.
Stewart was then about 6-3 1/2 and 230 pounds. He is now 6-4, 245 pounds as of our interview on Dec. 20. He is a physical blocker that has good technique, knows how to set up the block and then always finishes. Sometimes he finishes too good and gets a second look from officials to see if he is taking it too far. He runs good routes, has good ball skills, is a former basketball player and that always helps. This young man is just a good football player that I would want on my team. When you talk to people, coaches and others, the common compliment is he is mature for his age.
"I really appreciate it," Stewart answered when I asked how he got to be so mature and so good on the football field. "I don't know. I just try to do the right things and when people think of me then they think of me as mature."
Stewart was one of the players that Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy gushed about in his signing day news conference.
“We’re really excited about him," Gundy said. "He’s got a lot of the same characteristics as (Cade) Bennett (offensive line signee from Arizona). I think he’s a tough guy. I think that he is excited about his future. I think he’s very mature. He comes from a very stable home life. He’s really squared away, and I think he’s gonna put on 20 pounds. I think he’s gonna be a tough guy. You have to be a tough guy to play Cowboy Back here. It’s not for everybody. And he’s a tough guy, and he’s squared away in his life, and he knows what he wants to do. And so I’m excited about him getting here.”
He will be in early for the spring semester and that will give him a head start. His dad played college football at Virginia Military Institute. He and his dad did a lot of the shopping or looking around and they liked what they saw at OSU.
"I kind of was just looking for a school that I would feel comfortable at and I built a really good relationship with the coaches," Stewart explained. "Right after my first visit to Oklahoma State it just kind of felt like home. I really enjoyed the Cowboy culture there and I like Stillwater."
Another big selling point for Stewart? The weight room and the instruction he will get while in it.
"I really like to work out," he said. "That (strength staff) was another big selling point for me was the reputation that Rob Glass has and I'm looking forward to that a lot."
With that attitude and that talent, I'll bet Stewart will climb way past sleeper and end up considered proven pretty early in his college career.
