Biggest Questions Oklahoma State Must Answer Before Week 1
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When the Oklahoma State Cowboys start fall workouts, it will be a month of putting together a depth chart for their season opener.
This is a team coming off a 1-11 season and a coaching change in 2025. Before that, the Cowboys were 3-9. New head coach Eric Morris can’t afford to just give jobs to players, though some — like quarterback Drew Mestemaker — are on better footing than others.
Here are four questions the Cowboys must answer before they open the season against Tulsa on Sept. 5.
What Will the Defensive Line Rotation Look Like?
Oklahoma State’s defense was awful last season and was in the lower quarter of FBS rankings in most categories. In this 4-2-5 scheme, the defensive line must get push up front inside the tackles to open tackling lanes for linebackers and the edge rushers must get pressure on the quarterback and ensure they don’t break contain. The unit did neither well last year.
For that reason, most of the candidates were not with the Cowboys last year, save for a few lifers like end Jaleel Johnson.
Some players have a leg up on the competition. Three played at North Texas a year ago for Morris and defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity — Saadiq Clements, Keviyan Huddleston and Fatafehi Vailea II. It’s not that the 4-2-5 scheme is hard to learn. But they have experience with the coaching staff the others don’t.
Johnson is already well-respected by the new staff for sticking it out and Morris and company will want to give him every chance to win a job. There are other returning players like Landon Dean and DeSean Brown. Plus, since freshmen don’t have to redshirt anymore, they’re in the mix, too.
It’s not just about a starting lineup. It’s about having eight to 10 players ready for a rotation opening weekend.
Who Will Rotate Behind RB Caleb Hawkins?
What happens behind Caleb Hawkins at running back is going to be one of the biggest open questions during fall camp because theirs is talent there and plenty of it. Tre Page III transferred from Tarleton State after a near-1,000-yard season. Freshman KD Jones joins the program from Oklahoma power Jenks and was the highest-rated player in the recruiting class.
William Mason transferred from Division II Central Oklahoma after rushing for more than 1,500 yards in his career. Ayo Adeyi was an all-conference back at North Texas in 2023, where he rushed for more than 1,000 yards, before he transferred to James Madison.
The Cowboys have a healthy problem here. Plenty of talent, but only one football. Figuring out who gets the touches after Hawkins will be key to ensuring the run game remains productive when he’s not on the field.
Can Jakobe Sanders Win a Starting Job?
Jakobe Sanders is the only Cowboys offensive lineman with a letter. The Stillwater, Okla., product barely played in 2023 and 2024 before he finally played on a regular basis in 2025, where he played in all 12 games and started six of them. It isn’t that he’s the only OL returnee with a letter — he’s the only offensive returnee with a letter. The turnover is crazy.
To an extent, the game is rigged for him to not earn a starting job. The Cowboys have 20 offensive linemen. Many of them have collegiate experience. Many of them have more collegiate experience than Sanders. Cody Crill is the offensive line coach that must sort through all of this. He has been an offensive coordinator before — for Morris at Incarnate Word. He knows what the boss is looking for.
This will be Sanders’ fourth year in college. He’s earned the runway to claim the job. The question is whether he can rise above the transfer talent to do it?
Will Iman Oates be Eligible?
Granted, this is less about Oklahoma State and more about the resolution of the lawsuit he is part of that is seeking another year of eligibility for him after he started his collegiate career at a junior college. He played his first two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before transferring to OSU, where he redshirted for a year and played two more.
He’s supposed to be done. But his attorney has filed using a similar logic that led to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to get an extra year of college — that his time at a junior college cut into his NCAA eligibility and into his ability to leverage his name, image and likeness (NIL).
The Cowboys need to know before the season opener. For now, he can practice with Oklahoma State but playing him would risk NCAA infractions, which would not be a good look in Morris’ first season.
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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