Former Oklahoma Tight End Kaden Helms Pledges With Big Ten Program

Injuries prevented Kaden Helms from ever having a major role at Oklahoma, and he’ll now hope for better luck in the Big Ten.

Helms, who spent four seasons in Norman, committed to Minnesota on Wednesday.

Let’s work! #RTB #SkiUMah @CoachKoehler pic.twitter.com/Vupv4BJxGa
— Kaden Helms (@KadenJHelms) January 7, 2026

Helms enrolled at OU as a consensus 4-star prospect in the Class of 2022. The Bellevue, NE, native chose Oklahoma over offers from Arizona State, Miami, North Carolina and several other major programs.

As a true freshman in 2022, Helms appeared in three games and was able to preserve his redshirt. Helms totaled 31 snaps that year and caught a pass for four yards in the Sooners’ game against Nebraska.

The tight end, though, suffered a knee injury prior to his redshirt freshman season and missed OU’s entire 2023 campaign.

Helms appeared in eight games in 2024, but a hamstring injury kept him out of five contests. He registered 19 yards and a touchdown on two catches.

During his final season at OU, injuries once again got in Helms’ way.

The tight end missed the Sooners’ first four regular-season games before making his season debut — and scoring a touchdown — against Kent State. Helms appeared in each of Oklahoma’s eight games after that and ended the year with five catches for 35 yards.

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Helms played 201 offensive snaps as a redshirt junior in 2025. He posted a Pro Football Focus (PFF) offensive grade of 51.1 — the second lowest on the team — and had a run-blocking grade of just 45.6.

Helms will join a Minnesota program that finished 8-5 in 2025. The Golden Gophers went 5-4 in Big Ten play and defeated New Mexico in the Rate Bowl.

Oklahoma’s tight end room will look much different in 2026.

Helms is one of two tight ends from Oklahoma’s 2025 squad to enter the portal so far, along with Carson Kent, who transferred to OU from Kennesaw State last year. Tight ends Jaren Kanak and Will Huggins both exhausted the remainder of their eligibility in 2025, so they won’t be in the picture in 2026. The Sooners will also reportedly part ways with tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, per a report from Sooner Scoop’s George Stoia last week.

The Sooners have already begun fortifying the position group, though. They have earned commitments from transfer tight ends Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Hayden Hansen (Florida) earlier in the week.

The transfer portal officially opened on Jan. 2, and it will close on Jan. 16. Altogether, 24 players from OU’s 2025 squad have entered the portal thus far.

OU will look to build on its 2025 season in which it finished 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. The Sooners will open the 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.