Heading into 2021, the expectations had risen for sophomore wide receiver Marvin Mims. After tieing for the team lead in receptions and leading the team in yards and touchdowns, many expected Mims to take another step forward in performance and production.
While his yards per reception exploded from 16.5 in 2020 to 22 in 2021, he saw fewer targets and recorded fewer receptions than the year before. And Mims played in two more games in 2021 than he did his freshman year due to COVID.
Despite not having a 1,000-yard season to his name (yet), Mims was ranked No. 8 by Anthony Treash in Pro Football Focus’ top 25 wide receivers heading into 2022.
Depth at wide receiver limited Mims’ opportunities last year. Even with Theo Wease missing pretty much the entire season due to injury, oddly, Mims wasn’t utilized as much as he should have been in 2021.
Jadon Haselwood led the Oklahoma Sooners in snaps at wide receiver with 588. He received more than 100 snaps on the offensive side of the ball than Marvin Mims. Compare that to a school like Alabama, who had one of the most prolific offenses in the country, and they had three wide receivers with more than 600 snaps on the season. Slade Bolden, who was third on the Crimson Tide with 57 targets, still had 16 more targets than Mims, who finished fourth on the Oklahoma Sooners. Jameson Williams and John Metchie each recorded more than 100 targets on the season. Mims was fourth on the Sooners in targets behind Haselwood, Michael Woods, and Mario Williams. He had just four more targets than Jeremiah Hall.
Mims admitted on Thursday at Big 12 media days that the lack of opportunities was frustrating.
“There wasn’t as many targets as I was looking for, nowhere near it,” Mims said. “It was kind of a letdown, but at the end of the day I had to just keep battling through it. There were times where I was really unhappy about it with both the receiver coach and the offensive coordinator, but it was what it was.”
The Oklahoma Sooners’ offense struggled with inconsistency several times in 2021. In the passing game, Oklahoma failed to get the ball to their best playmaker in Marvin Mims. He had three or fewer targets in nine games last season. Against Oklahoma State, when the offense was struggling to move the ball in the second half, Mims saw just two targets. Six players saw more targets than Mims in that game. His one reception was a four-yard catch.
Despite the lack of opportunities, Mims’ big play ability allowed him to the lead the Sooners in receiving yards for the second year in a row.
In a new offensive system, Mims will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of returning Sooners. The break neck pace that Jeff Lebby wants to play at will increase the number of snaps per game, increasing the number of opportunities Mims and the rest of the wide receiver group will receive.
Dontario Drummond, who led the Ole Miss Rebels in receiving in 2021 saw 802 snaps last season. That led to 94 targets that Drummond turned into 76 receptions for 1,031 yards and eight touchdowns.
Imagine if Marvin Mims saw a similar workload? Well we might just see that this year.
Mims and new starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel are building a rapport. One that should lead to opportunities for the electric wide receiver to easily eclipse his numbers from his first two years in Norman, which will further put into question the lack of usage.
“I think what’s really cool about me and Marvin is we’re very similar in just the way we approach football, but also the way we approach life,” Gabriel shared with the media at Big 12 media days. “And as we connected and continue to have conversations over the past six or seven months, I just feel really confident in the person he is. He’s a great human being and someone that I’d love to be friends with. And that’s why this relationship has been so smooth, so easy. And that’s like not even on the field, right? What he’s been able to do on the field is elite. He’s a game changer. And he’s proven it last year, but what he’s about to do this year is take it to a whole another level. And I’ve seen him grow in so many ways.”
Heading into his third year, the only returning primary receiver from last year, and with the full support of his quarterback and his offensive coordinator, Marvin Mims looks like a player about to explode in 2022.
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