What Oklahoma Transfer TE Jack Van Dorselaer Adds to Sooners' Tight End Room

Even as a true freshman, Jack Van Dorselaer was an every-game contributor in 2025.

Van Dorselaer, a tight end who signed with Oklahoma in January, played in all 13 of Tennessee’s games in the fall.

A native of Southlake, TX, Van Dorselaer was a consensus 4-star recruit in the Class of 2025 and the No. 6 tight end in the class, per ESPN.

Van Dorselaer appeared on 186 snaps in his first season of college football. The tight end finished the year with only five catches for 23 yards and a touchdown.

Still, Van Dorselaer’s willingness to contribute to Tennessee’s offense — even if he wasn’t catching passes regularly — stood out to Tucker Harlin, who covers Tennessee athletics and recruiting for Vols Wire.

“I think Tennessee’s use of Jack says a lot about how comfortable he is in doing things other than catching the football to help out an offense,” Harlin said. “That’s something that can go a long way for players trying to make names for themselves in college.”

Van Dorselaer’s touchdown came in the Volunteers’ drubbing of East Tennessee State in Week 2. He caught only four passes after that, two of which came against Florida in Tennessee’s penultimate game of the regular season.

The tight end was targeted only two other times in 2025 — and one of them was costly.

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In the fourth quarter of Tennessee’s game against Oklahoma, Van Dorselaer dropped a wide-open pass on fourth down. The Sooners went on to win the game 33-27, and Harlin believes that drop will be what Tennessee fans remember most about Van Dorselaer.

“It’s not fair to judge a player on one moment, but there was a reason other TEs were getting more targets than him,” Harlin said.

Aside from those catches and targets, Van Dorselaer was primarily a blocker — and his blocking abilities are largely why he was such a highly regarded prospect.

Van Dorselaer was often used in goal-line or fourth-and-short situations, thanks to his 6-5, 236-pound frame.

“His blocking was the major selling point to Tennessee in his recruitment, thus a big reason why he was able to see the field for a considerable amount of snaps last season,” Harlin said.

Though Van Dorselaer’s blocking was utilized frequently, his grades weren’t stellar.

Van Dorselaer finished the 2025 season with a subpar, 44.6 Pro Football Focus (PFF) run-blocking grade. He played 113 snaps as a run blocker.

Harlin, though, said that Van Dorselaer’s blocking didn’t stick out as particularly poor.

“I did not find his inability to run block super noticeable,” Harlin said. “Despite playing in every game, he was not heavily utilized in comparison to some of the tight ends on the 2025 team. The run blocking could be one of those things that gets better with more reps.”

Van Dorselaer is one of three tight ends who signed with Oklahoma after the 2025 season, along with Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Hayden Hansen (Florida). The Sooners also hired NFL legend Jason Witten to be their new tight ends coach after they parted ways with Joe Jon Finley in December.

For Van Dorselaer to be effective at a new SEC program, Harlin thinks that the tight end must become a better down-field threat.

“He was not heavily utilized in comparison to some of the tight ends on the 2025 team,” Harlin said. “He did catch a couple of touchdown passes in the 2025 spring game, so maybe pass catching is something that will improve with more targets.”OU will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.