Eric Morris Exlains Why Oklahoma State Added Braylin Presley to Roster

Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Eric Morris doesn’t believe he’s rolling the dice by adding Braylin Presley to the roster.

Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Eric Morris. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Adding a player in the middle of the season is a very NFL thing to do. But this is a weird season in college football.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys added former Tulsa running back/wide receiver Braylin Presley to the roster on Monday. The younger brother of former Cowboys wide receiver Brennan Presley, and the older brother of current freshman safety Braeden Presley, is listed as a wide receiver.

Is that telling of how head coach Eric Morris and his staff will use him? He talked about that during his weekly press conference in advance of the UCF game on Saturday.

Braylin Presley’s Potential Fit

Tulsa Golden Hurricane running back Braylin Presley. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Presley enrolled in classes last week and participated in his first practice with the Cowboys on Monday. So there is plenty of unknown. He also joins one of the deepest positions on the team with only one notable injury issue to Chris Barnes, who returned to the lineup for the West Virginia game.

First things first, though. Presley has a lot to figure out. But Morris believes the fifth-year collegiate has the aptitude for it — or else he wouldn’t have added him.

“He’s a guy that I think we’re really comfortable with his family,” Morris said. “We’re still working through all the eligibility pieces, what that looks like on if he's going to be ready to go and when that is. But he’s a guy that's been here, you know? It's been at Tulsa. The name is something. Just a great family and a great kid that we knew what we were getting. So we'll see kind of when we can fit him in and where we can fit him in.”

Presley joined the team as part of a temporary restraining order he received in a Cleveland County court that provides him a fifth year of eligibility. The suit, which challenges the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility rule, isn’t settled yet. But the TRO allows Presley to practice and, if ready, play for the Cowboys.

The former Bixby, Okla., star started his collegiate career at Oklahoma State in 2022 under then-head coach Mike Gundy, following his older brother to the program. But he was only with the Cowboys for a year. He transferred to Tulsa and spent the next three seasons with the Golden Hurricane. He was on the field for their upset of the Cowboys last season in Stillwater.

As a wide receiver at Tulsa, he had 310 receiving yards on 38 catches. But he moved to running back his senior year in 2025, so he has skills that translate kif Morris wants to use him on things like jet sweeps or end arounds.

At 5-6 and 170 pounds, he’ll be one of the smallest receivers on the team. But that make him a potentially good pairing with Barnes (5-7, 169), who missed time against Murray State. It could be Morris sees adding Presley as good insurance in case Barnes’ shoulder acts up again.

For now, the fifth-year senior is going to have to dive into a new playbook, learn a new system and get up to speed to help the Cowboys at some point this season. It doesn't sound like he'll play on Saturday.