All Sooners

Oklahoma Wide Receiver Poised for Breakout Season

After playing sparingly as a true freshman, the younger brother of a former Sooner star seems ready to make an impact in year two.
Randall Sweet|
Oklahoma Wide Receiver Poised for Breakout Season
Oklahoma Wide Receiver Poised for Breakout Season

In this story:

Oklahoma Sooners

Former 4-star recruit Nic Anderson was hoping to make an impact on OU's offense during his first season with the team.

While the big-time pass catcher did not have the season he hoped for in 2022, Anderson seems is ready to make a leap heading into his redshirt freshman year. 

Dealing with a number of injuries last season, the Katy (TX) High School alumni played in just three games for the Sooners as a true freshman.

Despite notching only one touch for five yards during his first season in Norman, Anderson's teammates and coaches are confident that the younger brother of former Oklahoma running back Rodney Anderson can be a big contributor to the team in 2023.

To even have the skilled pass catcher on the Sooners' roster is a testament to his belief in head coach Brent Venables, as Anderson originally committed to OU under Lincoln Riley, back in November of 2021. Even after Riley's departure for USC, Anderson stayed true to his commitment and arrived in Norman just a few months later.

Since coming to Oklahoma, Anderson has had multiple wide receiver coaches and didn't see much playing time as a freshman on a lackluster offense. This scenario would have made many young college football players restless, but Anderson seemed to take it all in stride, receiving rave reviews from teammates and coaches over the offseason.

Now, heading into his redshirt freshman year, Anderson seems like he will have a big part in Jeff Lebby's offense. With Marvin Mims leaving for the NFL draft and the Sooners' not having any real production returning at wide receiver outside of Drake Stoops and Jalil Farooq, Anderson will likely have the opportunity to make a name for himself this fall. 

While Stoops and Farooq are good players who will certainly be major factors in OU's passing attack this season, Anderson provides a different body and play style that not many other players on the roster can. 

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds on the team's 2023 roster, Anderson is almost 10 pounds heavier than what he was listed as a freshman. 

At Big 12 Media Days, Venables praised Anderson's size and said that the former Katy (TX) High School standout will be crucial to the Sooners' offense this season.

"Nic Anderson is a guy we’re really counting on," Venables said at Big 12 Media Days. "He’s got size, length, great catch radius. Was just snake-bit last year from an injury standpoint, but he’s really looked great in the offseason."

With another year in Lebby's offense, more time to mesh with Sooners' quarterback Dillon Gabriel and a healthy offseason, Anderson could turn heads in Norman this fall. 

Venables wasn't the only member of OU's program to notice the strides Anderson took over the offseason, with Stoops also highlighting the Houston-area product. 

"We have a lot of competitive depth in (the receiver) room now," Stoops said at Big 12 Media Days. "Nic Anderson outside, a big physical body that's very fast." 

Coming out of high school, Anderson was a 4-star recruit, choosing Oklahoma over Oregon, Texas, USC, Notre Dame and Penn State, amongst others. Nic and Rodney's middle brother, Ryder Anderson, played college football for Indiana and Mississippi.

With three siblings all playing Power 5 football, it is no surprise that Anderson has a very strong work ethic. When he first arrived on campus, one of the first things Gabriel noticed about the early enrollee was his effort.

"I think (Anderson and Jayden Gibson are) super hard working," Gabriel said early in his time at OU. "The way they attack every single day. I think when you’re a freshman, especially early freshman, early enrollee, I think there’s just a lot more challenges than just any typical freshman would go through. ... So I’m super proud of them and how they continue to fight every single day. Whether it’s a good or bad day the day before, you know they just continued to attack every single day."

Off the field, Anderson co-hosts the "Red Dirt Rambles" podcast with fellow Sooners redshirt freshman Kaden Helms. 

If Anderson is able to take advantage of the lack of experience in Oklahoma's receiver room this season, he has the potential to become an instant fan-favorite. For OU to have a successful passing attack in 2023, they will need the second-year player to step up and make his presence felt this fall. 

Published
Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

Share on XFollow RandallSweet5
Home/Football