Oklahoma freshman wide receiver Jalil Farooq enjoyed his best performance of the season in the Sooners’ 47-32 win over Oregon in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
Farooq led the Sooners in receiving yardage versus the Ducks with three receptions for 64 yards. The Landham, Md., native played in eight games this season.
Most of his work came on special teams, though. Prior to the Oregon game, Farooq’s only grab was against Kansas on Oct. 23 when he caught one pass for five yards.
Farooq was the second-highest graded Power Five wide receiver during bowl season with an offensive grade of 90.7 according to Pro Football Focus. That was also the highest grade any Sooner received from PFF against Oregon.
ELITE behavior from this trio 🤧🔥 pic.twitter.com/1TK32dgkxG
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) January 3, 2022
Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba earned the highest offensive grade among Power Five wide receivers during bowl season with a grade of 91.6 after his record-setting Rose Bowl performance against Utah.
Smith-Njigba hauled in a school-record 15 receptions for an FBS bowl game record 347 receiving yards. The sophomore also had three touchdown grabs in Ohio State’s 48-45 win over Utah.
Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson earned an offensive grade of 90.0 from PFF after nabbing 10 grabs for 170 yards in the Wildcats’ 20-17 Citrus Bowl win over Iowa.
With Oklahoma true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams’ decision to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal, what the Sooners’ wide receivers will look like entering 2022 has been a primary topic of conversation.
Freshman wide receiver Mario Williams also entered his name into the transfer portal following his starting quarterback’s decision. Former five-star recruit Jadon Haselwood has already transferred to Arkansas.
There’s been speculation that other wide receivers could follow suit.
Farooq came to Oklahoma as a consensus four-star recruit across the four recruiting services. The 6-foot-1, 203 pound freshman was rated as the nation’s No. 109 player overall by ESPN, No. 158 by Rivals, No. 174 by 247Sports and No. 238 by On3.
If Farooq chooses to stay, his performance against Oregon is an indicator that he’s ready to step into a primary pass-catching role for Oklahoma in 2022.
Oklahoma expects to return its leading receiver from the past two seasons in Marvin Mims.
Mims caught 32 passes for 705 yards with five touchdowns this season. In 2020, Mims recorded 37 receptions for 610 yards with nine touchdowns.
The Sooners are also set to return Drake Stoops who had 16 grabs for 191 yards and a pair of touchdown receptions in 2021. Oklahoma’s other wide receivers include Brian Darby, Cody Jackson and Trevon West.
It appears that former five-star Theo Wease plans to stay at Oklahoma as well. Wease didn’t play in a game this season and has battled injuries throughout his career. During his time at OU, Wease has 45 receptions, 666 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
OU has also signed four-star wide receivers Nicholas Anderson and Jayden Gibson in its 2022 signing class. Gibson is rated as the nation’s No. 49 player overall according to Rivals, while Anderson is listed as the nation’s No. 106 player by ESPN.
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