Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
Projecting Oklahoma State's Football Starters for 2020 Season
STILLWATER -- Here is a process that is certainly in its' infancy and has a long way to go. Normally, it is hard to project future starting line-ups from one season to the next because there are so many positions where players don't return and you are picking that slot from a bunch of names that you have little good practice knowledge to go on, much less real game performance.
Here is a situation for Oklahoma State where you have multiple players at positions with plenty of game experience and you are trying to decide between them. Now, after this week, you also have incoming transfer portal additions that also have significant experience and are coming in fresh to the program.
From a coaching and fan standpoint, this situation for the Cowboys is a lot more fun than say it was last season for Joe Bob Clements and Greg Richmond on the defensive line to determine starters where there were no returning starts among all the players coming back. For example, there are 52 returning starts, every position and every game, returning for the Pokes this season.
On that note, let's start on defense. Just one starter is departed and that is cornerback A.J. Green. He is a big loss as Green should make it on an NFL roster, certainly a practice squad. In any Big 12 defense, the corner position is a priority. All of the linebackers return, except for special teams captain Philip Redwine-Bryant, and all of the defensive linemen that played a prominent role except for Mike Scott, who was more of a designated pass rush player.
The competition for starting roles will be thick on the defensive line with so many young players wanting to claim spots, but the defensive line should continue to be a heavy rotation position. Linebacker is locked in with two returning top tacklers and All-Big 12 performers in Malcolm Rodriguez and Amen Ogbongbemiga. The secondary will be competitive as the bowl game showed that Tanner McCalister, moving to corner, and Jason Taylor II are both ready to play.
© Thomas Shea | 2019 Dec 27 USA Today Sports Images
| Position | 2019 Most Frequent Starter | Projected 2020 Starter | Top Competition and Projected Back-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
DE/DT | 89 Tyler Lacy | 89 Tyler Lacy | 93 Collin Clay |
DT | 92 Cameron Murray | 92 Cameron Murray | 42 Jayden Jernigan |
DT/LB | 95 Israel Antwine | 95 Israel Antwine | 35 Samuela Tuihalamaka |
DE | 40 Brock Martin/94 Trace Ford | 94 Trace Ford | 40 Brock Martin |
LB | 11 Amen Ogbongbemiga | 11 Amen Ogbongbemiga | 33 Kevin Henry |
LB | 20 Malcolm Rodriguez | 20 Malcolm Rodriguez | 16 Devin Harper |
CB | 4 A.J. Green | 2 Tanner McCalister | 14 Thomas Harper |
Strike Safety | 24 Jarrick Bernard | 24 Jarrick Bernard | 25 Jason Taylor II |
Bandit Safety | 31 Kolby Harvel-Peel | 31 Kolby Harvel-Peel | 18 Sean Michael Flanagan or 1 Calvin Bundage |
Rover Safety | 3 Tre Sterling | 3 Tre Sterling | 12 Kanion Williams |
CB | 8 Rodarius Williams | 8 Rodarius Williams | 23 Gabe Lemons |
On the defense it is by the numbers as all the starters are back with the exception of Green and that will be a competitive spot with young sophomore Thomas Harper and the more experienced Tanner McCalister competing for that position. I'm going to lean a little toward experience with McCalister, but Harper is gifted.
There are young players that we expect to jump in like red-shirt freshmen Isreal Isuman-Hundley and Kody Walterscheid. Expect them to compete.
The linebacker position is in such great shape with a starting caliber two-deep.
Then at safety I put in an interesting twist. I can't see Calvin Bundage playing in that mix at linebacker, but if the very athletic, yet sometimes assignment challenged Bundage does make a comeback and is physically able to play, then I would use him in situations at the Bandit safety. It is hard to ever think of taking a healthy Kolby Harvell-Peel off the field, but maybe you sometimes use two "bandit" type of players and have them focused on pressuring the backfield. This is what Bundage can do best. I needed some imagination and a twist.
Now, over to offense. We're a week away, or less, or maybe a day or two more away from finding out what Chuba Hubbard will do. Hubbard is a major piece to the offensive puzzle for the Cowboys. Like the defense there is little lost from last season.
Quarterback Dru Brown, who started the final three games, left guard Marcus Keyes, center Johnny Wilson, and wide receiver Jordan McCray are the departures and only one of those players started every game and that was Keyes.
| Position | 2019 Most Frequent Starter | 2020 Projected Starter | Top Competition and Projected Back-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
LT | 76 Dylan Galloway | 76 Dylan Galloway | 67 Cole Birmingham |
LG | 75 Marcus Keyes | 75 Josh Sills | 70 Hunter Woodard |
Center | 72 Johnny Wilson | 50 Ry Schneider | 60 Tyrese Williams |
RG | 78 Bryce Bray | 78 Bryce Bray | 77 Hunter Anthony |
RT | 73 Teven Jenkins | 73 Teven Jenkins | 52 Jacob Farrell |
WR | 2 Tylan Wallace | 2 Tylan Wallace | 88 Langston Anderson |
WR/Cowboy Back | 12 Jordan McCray | 8 Braydon Johnson | 35 C.J. Moore |
WR/Cowboy Back | 17 Dillon Stoner | 17 Dillon Stoner | 1 Landon Wolf |
Cowboy Back | 89 Jelani Woods | 89 Jelani Woods | 87 Logan Carter |
RB | 30 Chuba Hubbard | *30 Chuba Hubbard | 7 L.D. Brown or 27 Dezmon Jackson |
QB | 3 Spencer Sanders | 3 Spencer Sanders | 16 Shane Illingworth |
The asterisk above is with Chuba as he is on their pending his decision on whether to return for his junior season or not.
Very little surprises here except while I'm positive that there will be some doubling up and some either/or back-up situations on the offensive line, I have red-shirt freshman Cole Birmingham jumping in and competing on the depth chart at tackle. The Katy, Texas product is my best best from last season's freshman class to jump in and get in the mix.
The receiver position will be very competitive and there are several names that could creep into the two-deep that I didn't have in there. It is a loaded position for Kasey Dunn.
Special Teams will be interesting as Australian punter Tom Hutton disappointed at times and in situations where he needed to bang a big punt to flip the field. Matt Ammendola is lost to graduation and while he would annually have one disappointing game, he was very consistent most of the time.
| Position | 2019 Most Frequent Starter | Projected 2020 Starter | Top Competition and Projected Back-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
Kicker | 49 Matt Ammendola | 19 Alex Hale or 39 Jack McClure | 19 Alex Hale or 39 Jake McClure |
Holder | 39 Jake McClure | 28 Tom Hutton | 39 Jake McClure or 59 Brady Pohl |
Punter | 28 Tom Hutton | 28 Tom Hutton | 39 Jake McClure |
Deep Snapper | 53 Matt Hembrough | 53 Matt Hembrough | 63 Braedy Wilson |
Kickoff Returns | 8 Braydon Johnson and 7 L.D. Brown | 8 Braydon Johnson and 6 Brennan Presley | 7 L.D. Brown and 1 Landon Wolf |
Punt Returns | 17 Dillon Stoner | 17 Dillon Stoner or 6 Brennan Presley | 1 Landon Wolf |
Not a lot of surprises here, although I do think Hutton will improve and become the punter that he often shows he can be in practice. He has to be more consistent. The X-factor as it is always there is some player can walk in the door as a walk-on and show he is a dynamite kicker, snapper, or punter. It happens more often with specialist than in any other place.
