Jaydn Ott on His Time at Oklahoma: 'A Lot of Learning Lessons'

NORMAN — File Jaydn Ott's name under the list of "What the heck happened?" alongside Joe Don Looney, Marcus Dupree and Rhett Bomar. Great talents that, for some cosmic, unknown reason, did not click during their time at the University of Oklahoma.

Ott, however, sees his lone year with the Sooners as a tough experience, no doubt, but a time to learn — necessary for his preferred next step in the NFL.

"Yeah it was difficult," Ott said during Oklahoma's Pro Day. "Being a competitor, I want to be on the field, but I think I took a lot from it. A lot of learning lessons."

“Difficult” hardly captures it for OU fans who expected one of the program’s marquee spring transfer-portal additions to be a major contributor on a 2025 team desperate to reestablish itself in its new conference. Ott was anything but — 21 attempts for 68 yards in only seven appearances.

Oklahoma Sooners, Jaydn Ott — Oklahoma running back Jaydn Ott | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

But the transfer from Cal had to look at his time as a positive. He had very little choice in the matter. Oklahoma, as well, curiously stood by Ott as he received and accepted a bid to the Senior Bowl — remember, general manager Jim Nagy used to run that whole show — and performed rather well during OU's Pro Day, running a 4.46 on his 40-yard dash.

While the results on the field did not sniff the results that either party had in mind, credit both camps for being professional about it.

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Ott's time was derailed, in his view, by minor injuries during fall camp.

"A little shoulder sprain in fall camp," Ott said. "Kind of was dealing with it into the season. Our other running backs were doing very well and so it didn’t really make sense to take them off the field."

Ott did technically start in Oklahoma's season opener against Illinois State as a kick returner. He only earned one attempt on the ground deep in the second half.

Tory Blaylock and Jovantae Barnes were more than capable, which backs up Ott's account of events. But the lingering question — perhaps forever unanswered — is why Ott couldn’t overcome those nagging injuries to claim a confident starting role, especially after declaring himself “100 percent healthy” following Week 2 against Michigan.

Regardless, Ott remains positive that his disappointing year in Norman can set him up to handle adversity better in the future.

"I went through some trials and tribulations a lot of guys don’t face until they get into the league, so I think it was good for me to experience it now," Ott said. "That way when I get to the league, if it were to happen again, something like this, something similar, I’d be more than prepared to handle it.

Ott will always have his film from Cal that excited both Nagy and the Sooner fanbase last season.

"Granted the film was from a couple of years ago," Ott said. "I still think it shows what I was able to do, what I am able to do. A little bit of the Senior Bowl as well. Especially those practices. I’m not too worried. Just let God handle it."