Oklahoma Excited About 'Competitive Depth' Built at Wide Receiver This Offseason

ARLINGTON, TX — There will be no shortage of opportunity in Oklahoma’s wide receiver room in 2023.

The Sooners lost star Marvin Mims to the NFL Draft and Theo Wease to the transfer portal this past offseason.

Tight end Brayden Willis and running back Eric Gray both played major roles in the passing game a year ago as well, and both are now in the pro ranks.

In total, new OU wide receivers coach Emmett Jones will have to replace 149 of Oklahoma’s 251 receptions from 2022.

Drake Stoops and Jalil Farooq return the most experience by far, with Stoops pulling down a career-high 39 catches last year and Farooq finishing just on his heels with 37 receptions.

Behind the duo, however, remain a plethora of question marks.

Sophomore Gavin Freeman caught just three passes for 46 yards in his season in Norman, but he actually represents the third most returning catches from OU’s ranks of receivers.

In limited action, Freeman showed he has the ability to make big plays.

His first touch as a Sooner ended up as a 46-yard house call off a reverse against UTEP.

Later in the year, Freeman laid out to haul in a 41-yard reception, falling just short of the goal line, to help set up a score.

Things happen when Gavin Freeman touches the ball.#OUDNA | #BoomerSooner | @TheGavinFreeman pic.twitter.com/3ZpiL4mdxV
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) October 15, 2022

And his teammates feel those highlights are just a taste of what’s to come from the Oklahoma City native in 2023.

“Gavin Freeman, he’s just like my best friend honestly,” Stoops said at Big 12 Media Days on Thursday. “… But he’s immensely talented. He’s just getting better and better and better and I mean, he’s already so dang good. So I’m really excited to continue and watch his progress and just help in any way I can.”

Freeman was so top of mind for OU head coach Brent Venables that he was the first name mentioned when asked to assess the options at wide receiver headed into the fall.

“I love everything that he’s about,” Venables said Thursday. “He’s a football player. Just makes plays. He’s always wide open.

“He’s gonna help this football team. He might’ve had as good a spring as anybody on offense.”

Outside of Freeman, Jones has assembled a unit with varying skillsets.

Andrel Anthony Jr., Brenen Thompson and Jaquaize Pettaway are all billed a speedsters with the ability to stretch opposing defenses vertically.

Anthony, a Michigan transfer, was the only one of the trio to spend spring in Norman.

Thompson elected to transfer from Texas to Oklahoma after spring practice had concluded and Pettaway, a true freshman, arrived on campus this summer.

Thompson and Pettaway both have catching up to do, as they obviously weren’t able to work with Jones and the rest of the offense this past spring, but that hasn’t put a limit on how much Venables things they can contribute this season.

“Brenen Thompson is a guy that’s got world-class speed,” said Venables, “so I’m anxious to get a chance to see him on the practice field and what we can do with him in our offense.”

Both Venables and Stoops have been impressed with the work Pettaway has already put in this summer as well.

“To me, there’s nothing he can’t do,” Venables said. “I think he can play inside, he can play outside. A tremendous, explosive athlete that also has tremendous football instincts and football awareness that's gonna help transition him quickly.

“He’s an over-deliverer, a guy that loves to practice, loves to compete, loves to play. He’ll help us, is my expectation, this year.”

The biggest barrier for Pettaway to earn a spot in the rotation will have little to do with his pure talent.

“He’s just now coming in but he’s picking up the offense,” Stoops said. “And that’s always the hardest part for a freshman, learning the offense. But I mean physically and athletically he’s there. He’s ready.”

The Sooners also expect development from last year’s transfer class in LV Bunkley-Shelton and J.J. Hester, as well as rising sophomores Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson. D.J. Graham will also get a chance to show out on the other side of the ball after his first full offseason back on offense, meaning Jones will have plenty of bodies as his disposal to cobble together a rotation in 2023.

“Everyone always mentions me and Jalil (Farooq) because we have experience,” said Stoops, “but we’ve got a lot of competitive depth in that room now.”

All that’s left now before the season is for the competition to rage on into fall camp before OU opens the season on Sept. 2 in Norman against Arkansas State.

“(They) just haven’t gotten a lot of experience,” quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “It will be interesting to see walking into camp but I’ve got a lot of confidence in them.

“It will be interesting to see walking into camp but I’ve got a lot of confidence in them. Just what I’ve seen thus far in spring, the type of plays they were making but also headed into the offseason, just their approach… I think that’s just as important headed into fall camp where ultimately the plays will be in action.

“Not a lot of talk but a lot of action will prove what everyone’s about.”

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