Oklahoma Football: Why QB Jackson Arnold Believes in WRs Jayden Gibson, Deion Burks

Gibson was a rotation receiver in 2023 while Burks was at Purdue, but both have been stars of the spring, the Sooners' quarterback said.

NORMAN — Oklahoma receivers Deion Burks and Jayden Gibson are emerging from spring camp as two of the Sooners’ top pass-catchers.

The Sooners’ spring game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Owen Field but its status is flexible as the university is monitoring potential inclement weather. As returning starters Jalil Farooq and Nic Anderson are expected to miss the game with injury, Burks, a Purdue transfer, and Gibson, a junior from Winter Garden, FL, could assert themselves as two of Arnold’s favorite targets exiting spring camp as both have made a good impression on the starting quarterback.

“(Gibson) is awesome. He’s stepped up big-time,” Sooners QB Jackson Arnold said after Tuesday’s practice. “The Gib I’m seeing this spring is balling. He’s stepped into a leadership role. He’s taking the lead of that receivers group, and he’s really put on a show this spring.”

Gibson had some success in 2023, catching 14 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns. During Friday’s practice, Gibson ran with the first team and hauled in a beautiful Arnold third-down pass during the two-minute drill segment, setting up a Tyler Keltner field goal. Trotting off the field, Arnold met Gibson near the sideline. They stopped as they slapped hands and Arnold slapped Gibson’s helmet.

WATCH: Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold interview

"(The) offense is going great, for real,” Gibson said after last Friday’s practice. “Obviously we’ve got a new quarterback, so just trying to get down that connection with him every day is really the main goal, just continuing just to support him and uplift him.”

Burks caught 47 passes for 629 yards and seven touchdowns for the Boilermakers last year. He’s already made significant strides since arriving in Norman this semester and wants to play a similar role to exiting Sooner and NFL prospect Drake Stoops. As Burks himself put it, “it’s been nothing but great vibes, man.”

“Deion’s a great guy, an even better person off the field, but, I mean, on the field, he’s a stud. He’s fast as can be. He’s twitchy as can be and he always gets open,” Arnold said. “I can always trust him to go up and catch the ball.”

“That’s (Burks) my dog, man,” Gibson said. “Take football out of it, me and him are real close. We spend a lot of time together off the field, in the locker room, wherever,” Gibson said. “That’s a guy I know I can trust on fourth-and-6, fourth-and-7.”

The expectations surrounding Oklahoma’s 5-star sophomore starter, and his debut season could hardly be higher. Gibson and Burks have his back.

“That’s the kind of guy that Jackson is coming into (the spring), the guy that wants to push the ball downfield and motivate his teammates and hype the crowd up. That’s the type of guys we need here at Oklahoma,” Gibson said. We’re going to go as we go with JFA, just keeping it real. We’re going to go as far as he goes, and I’ve got the utmost faith in him.”

“JA, man, he’s a stud,” Burks said Friday. “He’s reading defenses, and if you make a mistake, he’s going to come back and throw it explosive. He has short-term memory, that’s something a young quarterback, you really don’t see like that.”