Daily Bullets (July 6): Most Viewed of the Week, Plenty of Brynden Walker Talk

“In normal life, we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bullets Rundown

• Brynden Walker – the why
• Brynden Walker – the when
• Brynden Walker – don’t worry

OSU Bullets

• Most Viewed of the Week (No. 1): Brynden Walker on Why He Decommited

All of the eyeballs are on Walker’s comments implying that the Cowboys’ pulling of Myles Price’s scholarship had a major impact on his decommitment. If OU hadn’t offered, would the result have been the same?

Naw. Sure wouldn’t. And there’s your answer for why he decommited. Walker has every right to change his mind. Loyalty would have been nice but both parties have the right to change their mind.

Another angle to this is that the new OU defensive coordinator is telling recruits his current roster stinks to high heaven and that solid players will have every opportunity to surge to the top of the depth chart.

• Most Viewed of the Week (No. 2): Brynden Walker Flips His Commitment

The news of Walker’s flip was more anticipated a Mike Gundy mullet comment on Sportscenter. It’s interesting – would you rather go to a more prominent football program with a worse defense or a less prominent program that’s nearly equidistant with a slightly better defense? That’s a question roughly a half-dozen teenagers will make this year and we know the answer for one of them.

• Most Viewed of the Week (No. 3): Don’t Panic about Brynden Walker

In the next installment of the Brynden Walker Decommitment Talk, Boone lands on the sunny side of life. While the con (Walker committing to OU) is apparent, the fact that OSU was in on Walker early and got a commitment is a good sign.

It’s kind of the worst that some schools will watch to see what OSU does (to an extent) and then flips them later in the process. But hey, it also says OSU has a good eye for talent. You’ll have some Brynden Walker’s but you’ll have some James Washington’s too.

• Most Viewed of the Week (No. 4): Boynton is Sitting Pretty on a Four-Star Center from Arkansas

It’s just a lot of fun to see OSU in on some serious talent. Even more fun when it’s a skilled, athletic 6’9″ big man. With Cade Cunningham and Co. being considered for the 2020 class, you can see it shaping up across the board with guys like Jaylin Williams.

• Most Viewed of the Week (No. 5): Ten Best Football Players on the OSU Roster

A couple of thoughts on this – first, how unoriginal (of the roster situation) that two of the top three players are wide receivers (Tylan Wallace and Dillon Stoner). A couple of years ago, it was Marcell Ateman and James Washington leading the pack.

Next, three of the top nine are offensive linemen. What a world. It seems like just yesterday the offensive line was a big ball of fluff. Teven Jenkins is a super talented tackle and an interior of Johnny Wilson and Marcus Keyes is solid.

All of that to say – what a situation for a quarterback to walk into. You’ve got targets, a budding star at running back, and a solid offensive line. It’s really the makings of a situation where an inexperienced quarterback could come in and make a stir.

• Gosh, I love the fireworks they use at Boone Pickens – the below looks like it may be from homecoming last year.

Starting #OrangeFriday off with a bang! ? #okstate #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/tZyZvFbzRs

— Oklahoma State Athletics (@OSUAthletics) July 5, 2019

Non-OSU Bullets

• How you can work to use your phone less (except for consuming PFB of course!)

• Finished this biography (for the fifth or sixth time) on a personal hero – I’d highly recommend. It helps if you’re into World War II or faith-based reads.

• The below excerpt (from this NYT piece) seems to explain our current culture well, interesting thoughts on the tail of celebrating freedoms.

Some of this restraint has been good (no doubt) but there’s a ditch on the other side it seems we’re falling into. This book had lots of great discourse on the topic I’d recommend.

The data confirm what one hears and experiences anecdotally all the time: In the proverbial land of the free, people live in mortal fear of a moral faux pas. Opinions that were considered reasonable and normal a few years ago are increasingly delivered in whispers. Professors fear their students. Publishers drop books at the slightest whiff of social-media controversy.

Twitter and other similar platforms have delivered the tools of reputational annihilation (without means of petition or redress) into the hands of millions, so that no comment except the most private is entirely safe from the possibility of instantaneous mass denunciation. [NYT]