How Oklahoma's Inexperienced WRs Are Getting Better Fast This Spring
NORMAN — As a group, Oklahoma’s wide receivers stand alone in 2023.
Not necessarily in a good way.
Simply put, no position group on the Sooners’ roster has had less college experience or less production at OU than the wideouts.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, for one, thinks that will change.
“I like it,” Gabriel said last week. “I think they’ve competed well and it’s a healthy room, which is good. We need that because the receiving room is a committee.”
Sixth-year senior Drake Stoops has the most experience, with 80 career catches for 914 yards and seven touchdowns. Next is Jalil Farooq, who in two seasons has 41 career receptions for 535 yards and five touchdowns.
Gavin Freeman (82) and LV Bunkley-Shelton
John E. Hoover / AllSooners
After that, Gavin Freeman is the Sooners’ most experienced wideout — three catches for 46 yards, seven rushes for 71 yards, one touchdown as a true freshman walk-on last season. Arizona State transfer LV Bunkley-Shelton had two catches.
Running back Marcus Major caught eight passes. Running back Jovantae Barnes caught five.
Up next on OU’s list of most-experienced pass catchers from 2023 is Zach Schmit — the kicker — who was credited with two receptions.
That could be a problem.
It’s one reason why tight end Austin Stogner came back to Oklahoma and is expected to have such a big role this fall. It’s one reason why offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby spends so much time having his quarterbacks throw to DeMarco Murray’s running backs in practice every day.
It’s certainly one reason why Andrel Anthony transferred from Michigan.
Andrel Anthony
John E. Hoover / AllSooners
“It’s a deeper group,” said head coach Brent Venables. “A group of guys, got some young guys, old guys.”
Marvin Mims is gone to the NFL, leaving a bit of an impact crater from his three explosive seasons. Theo Wease transferred to Mizzou and takes with him 64 career catches for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Bunkley-Shelton caught 44 passes for 518 yards and two touchdowns in his two years at Arizona State, but last year grabbed just two passes for 24 yards for the Sooners.
J.J. Hester caught 12 passes for 25 yards and two TDs in one active season at Missouri, but caught just one pass for 13 yards last year at OU.
That’s why this spring has been absolutely monumental for Gabriel and Lebby to identify targets beyond Stoops, Farooq and Stogner — all while speeding along the process for new receivers coach Emmett Jones.
Emmett Jones
John E. Hoover / AllSooners
“I love my classroom. I love my classroom,” Jones said. “I got all types of skill sets. The good thing about it is we’re kind of young, too. Young, but eager to learn. Eager to gain experience. We got length. We got true slots; small-type bodies. Guys that have grit.
“ … And I try to challenge those guys every day in the class room, on the football field. And at the same time, I always tell them, ‘Do not let coach Jones get in your head. I’m your No. 1 fan.’ But my job is to see who I can go to war with every day. So I’m going to try to bring it to you as much as possible out here on this practice field.”
Jones has plenty of tantalizing candidates to fill in the spaces alongside Stoops and Farooq.
One is 6-foot-5 Jayden Gibson, who caught one pass for 12 yards last year as a true freshman. Nic Anderson spent most of 2022 injured and got just one rushing attempt, but came in last year with limitless potential. This spring has been big for both of them.
Jayden Gibson
John E. Hoover / AllSooners
“Those guys have been really, really good,” Venables said.
Likewise, two freshmen in this year’s class could develop — but neither is here this spring, so would have to do so quickly. Jaquaize Pettaway was a 4-star prospect at Langham Creek High School in Houston, TX, and has elite speed en elusiveness, and Keyon Brown showed massive production at Rickards High School in Tallahassee and, at 6-foot-3, fits Lebby’s prototype.
Anthony could be an x-factor this season. Transfer wideouts can be hit or miss, but Anthony averaged 21 yards per catch as a freshman in Ann Arbor and had 19 receptions for 328 yards and four touchdowns in his two seasons with the Wolverines. He’s big (6-2, 190) and extremely fast, and says he takes great pride in running precise routes.
“You throw in the speed that Anthony can bring to the table, and he’s hungry and super coachable, that’s been fun to see that,” Venables said. “ … His speed has really been showing up.”
D.J. Graham
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Another x-factor could be a defensive transplant. D.J. Graham moved from cornerback to wideout.
“I recruited D.J. out of high school as a wideout,” Jones said. “That joker probably has some of the strongest hands I’ve ever seen. Suction cups.”
It would be folly to not expect a bigger role for Freeman, who went 46 yards for a touchdown on his first career touch, made a diving catch to set up a touchdown against Kansas and earned himself a scholarship.
“Freeman has been really outstanding, too, through the first eight practices,” Venables said. “ … He’s taking the next step.”
Ultimately, Jones knows he’ll rely on Stoops and Farooq the most.
Jalil Farooq
Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Jones said Farooq is a “tough, skilled player, man. Probably one of the best guys I’ve been around. He reminds me of Jakeem Grant, Keke Coutee, Andrew Parchment – a unique skillset. And he wants to be coached. He wants to be developed. He wants to be challenged.”
After coaching against him for so long, Jones also said he finally understands why Stoops has become such a fixture at OU.
“He’s another coach in the room,” Jones said. “Does everything right. Practices his tail off. I was telling the room the other day, even when I was at KU, even when I was at Texas Tech watching film on the University of Oklahoma, I used to always ask my room why is this guy on the field for the University of Oklahoma with the type of receivers they have in the room? But being around him I see why now. He’s a true student. He’ll give you everything he got. And he’ll fight. I told the coaches — I will walk down any dark alley in South Dallas with him.”
Gabriel is doing everything in his power to ease the transition for the newcomers, make sure the inexperienced players understand the system and help the more established players play with confidence.
“It’s something I’m kind of familiar with to be quite honest, so luckily I have that experience,” Gabriel said. “I think what’s really important with inexperienced receiver groups — or, I wouldn’t even say that, I would just say guys who haven’t played much — just getting those scrimmage reps and creating confidence for the coaches. Likewise, it becomes super clear for the players, the connections and that sort of thing. Really, for receivers, it’s fun. Because it’s about making plays. And when they do, it makes a really clear picture for everyone.”
Drake Stoops
NATHAN J FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK
Multiple players are getting time at multiple positions, Jones said, so everyone has a broader understanding. That way, the cream should rise to the top.
“One thing we’re doing in the room is learning different concepts to get guys used to moving all around and playing all over the football field, and they’ve been absorbing it,” Jones said. “I’ve got guys in that room working on that as far as increasing the pace of the learning level here in this offense because we’ve still got to go back and learn a lot of stuff from last year.
“While I’m coming into a new offense, we still got to fix a lot of stuff from last year. So spring ball, I like to start all the way over with the development with the wideouts, and at the same time, learning a new system also. But I’m breaking them all the way down. Just like in the curriculum – we’re at chapter one right now. I don’t how long we’ll be in chapter one, but they’ve got to show progression before we move onto chapter two.
“These guys are blessed with some ability. I’ve got some guys in my room, and once it’s all said and done, we gotta lineup against anybody. Let’s go. It don’t matter to me. But we can’t lose any day right now during spring ball. We’re just trying to show progress. It’s progress over perfection and one step better every day.”
