The Oklahoma Sooners will have one of the best offenses in the Big 12 in 2023 and one of the big reasons why is wide receiver Jalil Farooq.
The Oklahoma Sooners are looking to replace a large amount of production that departed for the NFL in the 2023 draft. Gone are [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag] and [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] is off to Missouri in the transfer portal.
With players departing comes opportunities for guys to step into bigger roles. One player that showed he is capable of stepping into a bigger role in 2023 was [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag], who had significant playing time for the first time in his collegiate career. He turned in 37 receptions for 466 yards and five touchdowns. He also carried the ball 15 times for 140 yards.
Farooq may not be a household name across the country yet, but in 2022, he displayed a playmaking ability that was enough for our friends at Longhorns Wire to take notice. In their rankings of every Big 12 offense, the Sooners came in at No. 3 and Farooq is one of the reasons.
The more film I watch on Oklahoma receiver Jalil Farooq, the more he reminds me of great Sooners receivers of the Bob Stoops era. Dillon Gabriel is perhaps the most proven quarterback in the league and his offense should score plenty in 2023. — Hickey, Longhorns Wire
Farooq proved a valuable asset in Oklahoma’s multi-dimensional offense, which asks its wide receivers to run reverses and jet sweeps, catch screen passes and run a traditional route tree. Farooq’s size and ability to run with the ball in his hands gives offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby a wide receiver that fits exactly what he’s looking for in a wideout.
With the departure of Marvin Mims and Brayden Willis, the Sooners need Farooq to take the step many are expecting. He has the skills to see 100 targets in Oklahoma’s offense and that should turn into a big-time season for the former four-star wide receiver.
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Where did former Oklahoma Sooners end up after entering the transfer portal?
The Oklahoma Sooners have been working to remake the roster in the image of Brent Venables and his new defensive assistants. With the success they’ve had in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, some transfer portal turnover was to be expected.
The transfer haul in the 2022-2023 portal cycle provided more talent and depth on the roster as the Sooners head into their final year in the Big 12. As 2022 showed, the talent on the roster simply wasn’t good enough to win close games in Big 12 play.
So Venables and his staff attacked the transfer portal to add a wealth of talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
We know who the arrivals are in the transfer portal. Dasan McCullough, Walter Rouse, Rondell Bothroyd and Reggie Pearson will be significant contributors for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.
Oklahoma lost a few talented players in the portal, but mostly guys that were having a hard time breaking into the rotation under Venables. Here’s who departed in the portal and where they landed:
Based solely on their collegiate career, CBS Sports Barrett Sallee includes Marvin Mims among his top 32 NFL draft prospects.
What a player did in college isn’t always the thing an NFL team looks at when they’re assigning a draft grade. That’s why you see someone like [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] projected as a late second round wide receiver prospect.
For Mims, a lot of his evaluation comes down to size and usage. At 5-foot-11, 182 pounds, he doesn’t bring the same frame as Quentin Johnston or Jordan Addison. He also wasn’t used in the same way that some of the smaller wide receivers projected to the first round were, like Boston College’s Zay Flowers.
But based simply on his production, Mims is one of the best players in the draft. CBS Sports ranked him No. 22 among NFL draft prospects based solely on their collegiate career. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett came in at No. 1.
Mims burst onto the scene in 2020 with 610 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games and never let up during his final two seasons with the Sooners. He finished his career with 123 catches for 2,398 yards and 20 touchdowns, proving to be an important piece in Oklahoma’s offense. – Barrett Sallee, CBS Sports
Mims led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards in each of his three seasons in Norman. In 2020, Mims tied with [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] for the team lead in receptions and then led the team in catches in 2022 on his way to his first 1,000-yard season.
He’s a dynamic player that can take the top off the defense. He averaged 19.5 yards per reception during his Oklahoma career. [autotag]CeeDee Lamb[/autotag] is the only other Sooners wide receiver to have more than 2,000 yards receiving and average at least 19 yards per reception.
Wherever Marvin Mims lands in the draft, he’s going to bring a big-play element to his new team. With 4.38 speed, the Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver is going to be a game-changer at the NFL level.
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Oklahoma’s No. 1 target at receiver for the 2024 recruiting cycle, Bryant Wesco, earns five-star status in new Top247 rankings.
Oklahoma’s number one recruiting target at the receiver position for the class of 2024 is Bryant Wesco, a 6-foot-2 receiver out of Midlothian, Texas. Wesco camped with Oklahoma in the summer of 2022 and earned an offer. He’s seen his stock rise in the recruiting world from being lightly recruited to being rated as a top 100 player in the nation. He’s gone from a regional recruit to a national recruit that any school in America would want.
Wesco’s stock has never been higher as a high school prospect as 247Sports updated their site rankings and has Wesco as the 9th ranked prospect in the entire class of 2024. Previously, he was the No. 66 prospect according to 247Sports and leaped 57 spots to earn his fifth star and top 10 ranking.
Oklahoma has positioned itself to win the race for Wesco largely due to the addition of new wide receivers coach Emmett Jones. He’s profoundly impacted the recruiting trail, especially in Texas. Oklahoma has done a significant bit of heavy lifting in the recruitment for Wesco and is all but assured of an official visit from the explosive pass catcher.
The Sooners’ biggest competition for [autotag]Bryant Wesco[/autotag] now seems to be Big 12 foe TCU, who has hosted him for unofficial visits and has recruited him since last year. The Horned Frogs’ receivers coach is former Sooner Malcolm Kelly. This is setting up an interesting battle as a Sooner recruits against his alma mater for a highly coveted prospect.
Currently, Oklahoma seems to have the top spot if the recruiting predictions mean anything to those following the recruitment. All three of the 247Sports crystal balls favor Wesco becoming a Sooner, while a Rivals FutureCast also sees him becoming a Sooner before all is said and done.
If the Sooners were to land Wesco, he’d be the first five-star receiver at Oklahoma since 2019, when the Sooners signed two in Jadon Haselwood and Theo Wease.
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Every five-star player for the Oklahoma Sooners in the modern recruiting era.
The Oklahoma Sooners just had arguably the best recruiting class since 2000. With three five-star signees, Oklahoma finished fourth in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the 2023 cycle.
[autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] became the program’s fourth five-star quarterback signee in the modern era, following [autotag]Rhett Bomar[/autotag], [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag].
Arguably the most productive position group among the five-stars that have played for the Oklahoma Sooners has been running back. Though the defensive tackles could make a strong case, the work [autotag]Adrian Peterson[/autotag], [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Mixon[/autotag] did while in Norman puts them among the best Sooners backs of all time.
Defensive tackle is the other spot that could make a case for best five-star position group with [autotag]Gerald McCoy[/autotag] and [autotag]Tommie Harris[/autotag].
Only one five-star rated player never played a snap for the Sooners, linebacker Chris Patterson. Patterson went the junior college route before playing a season with Kansas State.
According to recruiting rankings over the last 5 years, the Sooners should have one of the best rosters in 2023. But is that an accurate reflection of this roster?
We heard in the build-up to last season that the Oklahoma Sooners had one of the more talented rosters in the country. People (including me) pointed to that analysis as to why Oklahoma should be a contender in 2022. Some (not me) pointed to that analysis as to why 2022 was a coaching failure.
Based on recruiting rankings over the last five years, the Oklahoma Sooners should have one of the best rosters in college football. Based on recruiting rankings from the last five cycles, the Sooners have the eighth-best roster ahead of 2023. Brad Crawford of 247Sports explains:
Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful program, and that’s no different at Oklahoma, a blue-blood accustomed to winning big. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in Year 1 under coach Brent Venables, who came over to the Sooners following a lengthy tenure as Clemson’s top recruiter on staff under Dabo Swinney. The arrival of three five-stars in the 2023 recruiting cycle, however, is going to be a shot in the arm for Oklahoma prior to the school’s entry to the SEC in 2024. According to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, Oklahoma has the second-most talented roster in the Big 12. You can probably guess who owns the league’s most lethal collection of talent. – Crawford, 247Sports
Oklahoma and Brent Venables have done a lot over the last two recruiting cycles to bring in talent from both the high school and transfer portal ranks. But as we saw last year when Oklahoma supposedly had one of the better rosters according to high school recruiting evaluations, it didn’t pan out to wins.
That doesn’t mean the analysis or rationale is wrong. The top of the list is carried by Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State, three teams that most would argue are the most talented teams in the country.
But given the turnover that Oklahoma’s undergone since Venables has taken over, do recruiting rankings prior to the coaching change accurately reflect the talent on the Sooners’ roster?
Oklahoma’s last two recruiting classes were strong, but there aren’t a lot of players left over from the three recruiting classes prior to Brent Venables’ arrival.
Oklahoma had the No. 4 recruiting class in 2019 on the strength of the signings of [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag], [autotag]Trejan Bridges[/autotag], and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. All four of those players are gone. [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag], and [autotag]Nate Anderson[/autotag] are the top players remaining from the 2020 class but haven’t ascended into star players for the Sooners just yet.
The top three players in the 2021 class, [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Clayton Smith[/autotag], and [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag], are gone as well.
So, while the recruiting at Oklahoma has been good, the strength of the Sooners’ recruiting classes from 2019-2021 isn’t reflected on the 2023 roster. Given the amount of roster turnover that Oklahoma has undergone since Venables has taken over, these “talent rankings” don’t adequately reflect where Oklahoma is as a roster right now unless you look strictly at the last two recruiting classes.
But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a group capable of reasserting the Sooners as Big 12 contenders. Oklahoma brought in one of the best transfer portal classes in the first phase of the portal. Specifically, on the defensive side of the ball, the Sooners brought in several impact players. [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], and [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] could all start for the Sooners, but at least will play significant roles for the Sooners.
Brent Venables and his staff have added talent over the last two offseasons. They have a better roster than they did a year ago, especially on the defensive side of the ball. There’s optimism that will reveal itself on the field in a wide-open Big 12 in 2023.
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Emmett Jones ability to recruit and develop praised by Head Coach Brent Venables.
The hiring of [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] gave the Oklahoma Sooners an almost immediate boost on the recruiting trail. It didn’t take long for recruiting projections to begin favoring the Oklahoma Sooners at wide receiver. That’s in no small part due to Jones’ connections in the state of Texas and his ability to develop players.
That’s what head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] saw in him when he made the hire.
“I’ve known coach Jones several years,” Venables said last week. “Incredibly well respected in the state of Texas. Just as a leader of men, recruited his schools and got the chance to know him several years ago and watch and follow his growth and development, his path.”
Jones’ success as the head football coach at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas meant he hosted coaches from across the college football landscape. That’s how Brent Venables became acquainted with the Sooners’ new wide receivers coach.
“And I’ve always had great admiration and respect for him as a man and his ability to develop players, how his players play; that matters to me,” Venables continued.”
Most recently, that development helped the Texas Tech Red Raiders have success in the passing game despite the loss of Erik Ezukanma, who led Tech in receiving the year prior.
His ability to develop and the relationships he has in the state of Texas, particularly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, will be great assets for the Oklahoma Sooners on the recruiting trail.
“Certainly, he also has great ties to the state of Texas,” Venables said. “And then he values a lot of the same things that I do in regards to coaching and developing people, as a family man. He recognizes the excellence again, that Oklahoma represents and wanted an opportunity to be a part of, you know, this great program.”
The Oklahoma Sooners lost a couple of significant pieces to their receiving corps after the 2022 season. [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] transferred to Missouri and [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] declared for the NFL draft. That’s a lot of experience and production out the door.
Emmett Jones’ job over the next six months is to get the wide receiver group ready to supplement the production lost with the departure of two veteran wide receivers. [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] is expected to take on a larger role in the offense this year, but the question is who will start opposite him in two wide receiver sets.
But Venables believes Jones is up to the task.
“And so, got great, great appreciation and respect for coach Jones. (He’s) gonna give our receivers exactly what they need in regards to the development, relational, and the scheme, the fundamental development.”
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In his evaluation of the 2023 recruiting classes, Fox Sports Joel Klatt shared that he loves what Oklahoma has done on the recruiting trail.
When Lincoln Riley left for USC, one of the big national talking points wondered how well Brent Venables and his staff would perform on the recruiting trail.
“I’ve walked into four playoffs, and I’ve never had better than maybe the third-best roster (of the four teams),” Riley said. “Every other year, we were 4 of 4. We had really good rosters, but they weren’t the same. … I can’t imagine that there could be a setting that we could build a better roster than we can here.”
Time will tell if Brent Venables and his staff can get to a College Football Playoff. But based strictly on recruiting rankings, Riley’s comment was a lie.
The Sooners have done an incredible job over the last year on the recruiting trail and have a chance to follow their No. 4 class with another top-five group if a few things fall right. If they can build on their success on the recruiting trail in the 2022 and 2023 cycles, there’s no reason the Sooners will not be national title contenders in the future.
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On the latest Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports analyst broke down the 2023 recruiting cycle and had some positive things to say about the Sooners class. In particular, Klatt mentions Venables is already outperforming Riley on the recruiting trail.
Oklahoma. I thought Oklahoma had a really great class. And obviously the the rankings suggest that as far as the total class, in terms of recruits and transfers No. 6, their best since 2021, when Caleb Williams came in. They had the the No. 4 class in the country when it just looks at high school recruits. That’s their best high school class since 2005. So, like, Brent Venables did a great job. I looked back at some of these classes that they had had high school only over the last few years, and Lincoln Riley wasn’t touching that, you know. 2019 I believe they had like the sixth best class in the country. They had an eight in there, but then like 10, 13, 9, 19 in 2016. So Brent Venables has done a really good job. Their first class is the best they’ve had in a long time. Six of their best seven recruits are either defensive players or offensive linemen. How do you get good? How do you win going into the SEC? You better play good defense. You better play good on the line of scrimmage, and their best player overall is their quarterback that they got, Jackson Arnold. So I loved what Oklahoma did. – Klatt, The Joel Klatt Show
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It took Brent Venables just one year to put together one of the best recruiting classes in Oklahoma history. It’s an incredible signing class made even more incredible by the balance it has. As Klatt mentions, as the Sooners prepare to play in the SEC, they have to be good on defense and good up front on both sides of the ball.
Ten of Oklahoma’s four- and five-stars come on the defensive side of the football. The six offensive blue-chippers are the No. 4 quarterback, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], offensive linemen [autotag]Cayden Green[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], running back [autotag]Daylan Smothers[/autotag], and wide receivers [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] and [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag]. With Bates, Green, Adepoju Adebawore and Derrick LeBlanc, Oklahoma added four blue-chip players to their offensive and defensive line.
That’ll have to continue or even get better to get on Alabama or Georgia’s level, but it’s a great start.
Perhaps the most impressive collection of players they brought in at one position is in the defensive backfield, where they added six four- and five-star defensive backs.
Lincoln Riley did a good job on the recruiting trail, but his best high school class in 2019 didn’t have the desired impact, and he definitely didn’t recruit this well on defense.
They had 16 blue-chip players signed to that class, eight of which were on the defensive side of the ball. Their highest-rated defensive player was ranked No. 163. That class had three top 200 defensive players signed. In the 2023 cycle, Venables added six top 200 players on defense, four of which were top 100 signees.
Of those 16 four- and five-star players in the 2019 class, only four or five had a significant impact for the Sooners: [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag], [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag], [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] and [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag]. Of those five, only Woodi Washington remains with the squad. Everyone else transferred.
[autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Stripling[/autotag], [autotag]Joseph Wete[/autotag] and [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] are still with the squad, but have not taken the step into stardom.
In two recruiting cycles, Brent Venables has added 33 four- and five-star players to the Sooners’ roster. Nineteen are on the defensive side of the football.
Venables and his staff can recruit. That much has been made clear. They did a great job in the two months they had prior to 2022 national signing day putting together the No. 8 class in the nation. And did even better with a year to work with in the 2023 class. Given two years to work on the 2024 class, it’s possible Venables and his staff can recreate the success from 2023 or even exceed it.
And that’s what it’s going to take for Oklahoma to be in a position to contend with Alabama and Georgia, whether it is in the Big 12 or the SEC. With the success it has had on the trail, there should be little doubt that the staff can build a roster that can contend for national championships.
To steal from Riley, there may not be a setting where Oklahoma could build a better roster than it can here.
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While the Oklahoma Sooners have a hole at wide receiver, they have several promising players to work with to replace Marvin Mims.
The Oklahoma Sooners lost several players to the NFL after the 2022 season. Perhaps none were a bigger loss than wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag].
Mims, who emerged as a true freshman, led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman. His penchant for the big play was a huge part of Oklahoma’s offensive success over the last three seasons.
New wide receivers coach [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] and offensive coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] have a tall task ahead of them to find someone to replace Mims in the starting lineup.
[autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] are back and are likely two of Oklahoma’s starting wide receivers in three receiver sets. Stoops is a steady present out of the slot and had his most productive season in 2022. Farooq had a strong season in his first year as a starter and will look to build on it in 2023.
But what will Oklahoma do on the outside opposite Farooq? There’s not a clear answer as the Sooners begin their offseason workouts. As opposed to fill in the blank, Oklahoma will be answering a multiple choice or select all that apply test for outside wide receiver two.
The Sooners have a host of guys that will compete for snaps on the wide receiver depth chart. Returning are [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] and [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], two members of the 2022 signing class that have a ton of potential but didn’t see many opportunities last season for varying reasons.
Then there are the transfer additions Oklahoma made late last spring. [autotag]J.J. Hester[/autotag] and [autotag]L.V. Bunkely-Shelton[/autotag] will get a full offseason of work in Jeff Lebby’s offense. They have experience from their original schools that could help the Sooners mitigate the loss of Marvin Mims and, to a lesser extent, [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. Oklahoma added [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] in the portal this offseason. He’s a big-play threat similar to Hester. Those three transfer additions don’t bring elite production, but they’ve done some things at the collegiate level that Jones and Lebby can develop.
The Sooners added a couple more wide receivers in this signing class that have a chance to have an early impact. [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag] may be ready to go from a technical perspective, while [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag]’s speed is going to be a game-changer for this offense. Pettaway won’t be in Norman till the summertime, but it won’t take long for the coaching staff to see the difference his speed makes.
The Oklahoma Sooners may not know who slides into the starting lineup at this point. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There will be quite the competition at wide receiver to see who emerges from a deep group of players with promise.
As the offseason churns along, this will be one of the position battles to watch for 2023.
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Oklahoma is losing 66 percent of its receiving production heading into 2023. Who helps fill that void for the Sooners?
Oklahoma’s roster construction for team 129 isn’t finished yet, and that’s fine. It’s only January. However, as Oklahoma looks to retool its roster and improve next season, it’ll have to do it without one of its best players. Marvin Mims announced his decision to forego one more year of eligibility and declared for the 2023 NFL draft.
It’s hard to blame him as he’s led the Sooners in receiving every year of his collegiate career and can’t prove too much else to draft pundits and scouts. His absence gives Oklahoma another problem that this offensive staff will have to figure out in the months ahead of the 2023 season opener.
With Mims out of the door, the Sooners have lost 66% of their receiving yards from this 2022 season. Mims, [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag], [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], and Theo Wease are gone. Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops are Oklahoma’s top two options as things stand.
Farooq totaled 466 receiving yards, while Stoops had 393 yards in 2022. They will need better performances from both, plus help from someone new to make up the 2,000 yards they’ve lost this winter. Who will help fill the void and make up the difference?
Expect Jalil Farooq to get a bump in targets and touches in 2023.
The third year Sooner was solid in 2022. He didn’t have a 100-yard game and finished fourth in receptions, but only Marvin Mims had more games of four receptions or more this season than Farooq. Toss in his 15 carries for 140 yards, and only Eric Gray and Mims had more yards from scrimmage than Farooq. Farooq did have 100 total yards against Iowa State when he caught 4 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown and ran the ball twice for 26 yards.
He’s a dynamic player with the ball in his hands and can win at every level of the defense.
2022 freshmen Gavin Freeman, Nic Anderson, and Jaylen Gibson could also have an impact in 2023.
Freeman was on the field for 77 snaps according to Pro Football Focus. He finished with 7 receptions for 71 yards, along with three carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. His speed and big-play ability were an asset for the Sooners and another offseason in Norman should help him get some more opportunities. Freeman is the most likely candidate to see a bump up based on his play in 2022.
Gibson had a big-time TD in the spring game but didn’t see many opportunities in the passing game in 2022. He played 96 snaps but only saw five targets. He turned that into one reception for 12 yards. More weight room progress and a big off-season could help give him a shot to see more playing time and potentially replace Marvin Mims.
Nic Anderson played sparingly and didn’t see a target in the passing game. His freshman season was limited due to offseason injuries.
LV Bunkley-Shelton and JJ Hester both transferred in before the season last year. Later arrivals, they struggled to crack the rotation during the 2022 season. Shelton saw the field a bit more at the end of the season and even made a catch in the Cheez-It Bowl. Shelton could fit best in the slot, while Hester is an outside guy.
Both played Power Five football before coming to OU. That experience and a full offseason in the program could help them earn more opportunities in 2023. That time in the program should equip them to have a better understanding of the offense.
Oklahoma’s tight-end room will need to grow in a big way in 2023. Austin Stogner comes in to replace Brayden Willis as the leader in the room and the starting tight end. But the Sooners used a lot of 12 personnel, with one running back, two wide receivers, and two tight ends. So, Oklahoma will need Kaden Helms and Jason Llewelyn to take a significant step forward to improve the tight end depth in 2023.
The remaining possibilities come from players not on campus yet. A freshman that looks likely to break out, four-star wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway. He’s a blur and instantly one of the fastest on the team upon his arrival. You can’t coach that type of speed. It’ll be hard to envision a world where Lebby doesn’t at least have him out there catching screens, running jet sweeps, and letting him run go and backside post routes.
Altogether this is what Oklahoma has in its receiving cupboard for 2023. Increased opportunities for Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops seem inevitable. In fact, if they don’t take steps forward, none of this discussion matters. They’ll need assistance from their 2023 recruiting class, a transfer, or a surprise from their depth chart to make up the remainder of the receiving production lost this offseason.
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