Former Oklahoma WR, Blue Chip Recruit Enters Transfer Portal

For a moment, it looked like Jayden Gibson could become Oklahoma’s next big-time wide receiver.

But that moment passed abruptly in August of 2024 when Gibson suffered a major knee injury, and it was gone forever when Gibson sustained a setback to the injury this past winter.

Now, instead of emerging as the next CeeDee Lamb or Dede Westbrook, Gibson’s future in football will detour to another school.

Gibson's agent told On3 that Gibson will be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal when it opens, officially signaling the end to his days in Crimson and Cream — an end that most observers had long anticipated.

Former Oklahoma WR Jayden Gibson is entering the @TransferPortal, his agent tells @On3Sports

The 6’6 195 WR will have 2 years of eligibility left

He departed from the team in October

Repped by @caseygunn0
⁰https://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/P1ZGOz7WS0
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 9, 2025

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Gibson arrived in Norman from West Orange, FL, in 2022 as part of a highly anticipated wide receiver class that looked elite — and certainly offered some spectacular moments — but never quite measured up to the expectation.

Gibson played in nine games as a true freshman but made just one catch for 12 yards.

In 2023, however, Gibson put up impressive numbers despite catching just 14 passes in 13 games. He exploded for 375 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 25.8 yards per catch — a number that would have led the nation if he had caught the minimum number of passes to qualify for the NCAA statistical leaderboard.

Most appealing about that season was that 199 of his 375 yards, or 53 percent, came in his last four games. That included a 59-yard touchdown against TCU, a 55-yard TD against BYU and an otherworldly 41-yard touchdown against Iowa State on which he took two big hits and broke four tackles on his way to the end zone — on a fourth-and-7 play that Gibson later said was “a really cool moment.”

He also hauled in a 33-yard high-point grab over a corner that landed at the 1-yard line against Arkansas State, a 21-yard TD grab against the Red Wolves, a 34-yard snag while taking a hard hit at Tulsa, and a 32-yard score against West Virginia.

Gibson in April 2024, before the knee injury, that he had grown into much more of a leadership role.

“Like, my tone and how I talk to my teammates,” he said. “ … I’ve been trying to live my life in the best way off the field and I feel like that’s what’s gonna allow me to have the most blessings on the field — schoolwork, how I talk to people, how I talk to my teammates, how I attack film, how I attack recovery, I try to get on all that, man.

“I’m still not perfect. I’m still far from where I need to be. I still need to get more extra work on the JUGS. So I’m not nowhere close to where I need to be, but I’m strides further than where I was and I’m excited to be able to go out to the stadium this year and show everybody, ‘Hey, I’m still working; I’m just gonna keep on getting better and better.”

Gibson signed with the Sooners after flipping from Florida. He chose OU over Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Miami and others after amassing more than 1,600 yards and 22 touchdowns during his final two seasons at West Orange High School.

“He's really stepped up vocally,” former teammate Nic Anderson said in 2024 before Gibson’s injury, “and physically, he's gotten a lot bigger, gotten a lot faster, stronger. And vocally, he's been more of a leader to the young guys, and really bringing up everybody around him as well.”

Gibson hasn't been with the team since October, but he is OU’s first official casualty via the portal.