During his junior year at Narbonne High School, O’Neal showed himself to be more of a traditional pocket passer, and completed 88/124 passes, SI reported.
As for this coming season, things are looking much brighter for the Sooners. Sports analysts at On3 are rating quarterback John Mateer at number 4 and number 6 on their top 10 lists, and are even considering that he might lead OU to the playoffs this season.
“This guy is unbelievable…” Ari Wasserman said. “There is a legitimate chance that this is the guy holding up the Heisman at the end of the year. And I don’t say that lightly. There is a legitimate chance that Oklahoma is a playoff team because of this guy next year”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Waller agreed to a one-year deal with the Dolphins that’s worth up to $5 million.
Waller will turn 33 in September. The one-time Pro Bowler retired last June after eight NFL seasons, but now he’s back in the league after a one-year hiatus.
The Dolphins are adding Waller a day after trading tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Smith was part of a blockbuster deal that also sent seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers. In exchange, Miami got back five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who spent his first two NFL seasons with the Dolphins in 2018-19.
Smith was highly productive during his lone season in Miami, earning his first Pro Bowl nod. The 2017 third-round pick — who previously played for the Tennessee Titans (2017-20), New England Patriots (2021-22) and Atlanta Falcons (2023) — caught 88 passes for 884 receiving yards, both the most by a tight end in Dolphins single-season history, plus notched a team-best eight receiving touchdowns.
Only Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders, Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals and George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers ranked ahead of Smith in tight end receiving yards last season.
Notably, Smith skipped Miami’s offseason practices while searching for a new contract.
Waller will now headline a Dolphins tight end room that also includes an eighth-year journeyman in Pharaoh Brown and a third-year player in Julian Hill — who have a combined 90 receptions in their careers — as well as former undrafted free agents Tanner Conner, Hayden Rucci and Jalin Conyers.
Waller decided to retire from football last June, ahead of Giants mandatory minicamp.
While Waller didn’t share his diagnosis or what his medical condition was, he described how he ended up spending three-and-a-half days in a hospital midway through the 2023 season. It occurred while he was away from the team dealing with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 8 against the New York Jets.
“Last season in New Jersey, we played the Jets on October 29,” Waller said in the video. “I got hurt that game. The following week, the Giants were playing the Raiders in Vegas. … I started to feel like this fever coming on. … The fever starts to build, I start to get the chills and stuff like that. By the time I pull into my parking garage at my condo and get out of the car, I’m, like, shaking pretty violently, like uncontrollably.”