Oklahoma State Cowboys Football’s Highest-Graded Players After Four Games
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys are coming out of their bye week and preparing for a stretch of eight straight games, beginning with the UCF Knights on Saturday.
The Cowboys (3-1, 1-0 in Big 12) are the No. 18 team in the country for the Associated Press Top 25 and are just outside the Top 25 and the coaches poll. The Knights (3-2, 1-1) come to Stillwater having never played at Boone Pickens Stadium and having lost their last two road games. UCF is coming off a 27-17 loss to Houston on Saturday.
Oklahoma State had time to recover from their first four games of the season. The bye gave coaches the opportunity to recruit and break down film of the Cowboys from their first four games. That likely meant grading out players in a variety of categories to help foster improvement the rest of the season.
We don't have access to the grades that Oklahoma State uses for its own players, but we were curious to see which players graded out the best per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Here are the Top 5 — with some surprising appearances.
WR Wyatt Young (84.0)
Young is the highest graded player on the team through four games. It's easy to see why. The former North Texas star leads the Cowboys in receptions (22) and yardage (410). His three touchdowns are behind only Justin Bowick, who has four.
Young had his biggest game of the season against West Virginia as he caught eight passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. He has caught a touchdown in each of his last three games.
He's a precise route runner who knows exactly where to be to help his quarterback move the football down the field. Speaking of his quarterback …
QB Drew Mestemaker (83.1)
The better he plays, the more attention he's going to get. And he's played well through four games. Entering the UCF game Mestemaker has 1,271 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He's completed close to 67% of his passes, and he put on a clinic in the third quarter of the West Virginia game on how to exploit a depleted secondary downfield.
The only debit against his season so far are the turnovers. In addition to the five interceptions, he's fumbled twice. Ball security was probably his biggest emphasis point during the bye week. That said, if Mestemaker continues to play like this, he'll have big decisions to make in January — namely whether to go to the NFL draft or play another season at OSU.
DE Malik Charles (82.6)
The surprising part of the list is that the next three players are all on defense. The grades show the improvement that defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity has built in the unit. It's also a surprise that Charles, a second-year Oklahoma State player who played in every game last season, is the highest graded defender through four games.
Charles has five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He’s coming off a 2025 in which he transferred in from West Georgia and had three sacks for a defense that was one of the worst in college football. Charles also has an interception, which he picked off during the Murray State game. Cassity and his staff have helped the defensive end find a new level to his game in 2026.
LB Ethan Wesloski (79.1)
Wesloski was one of many players that transferred to Oklahoma State from North Texas after last season and his performance through four games hasn't disappointed.
He leads the Cowboys with 36 tackles, 13 of which are solo shots. He has a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. He's missed only a handful of snaps this season, most of which came in the West Virginia game.
He's proven to be one of the defense's most capable tacklers and has assumed a mantle of leadership that has allowed the unit to quickly become one that has a penchant for making critical plays in critical moments.
CB Mo Horn (78.1)
Horn was a starter at Texas Tech in 2024 but he lost his starting job last season due to an influx of transfers and a minor injury. But he's been a great fit for Oklahoma State since he transferred after last season.
He has 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss — all of which came against Murray State and all of which were in the open field. He also has two pass breakups, second only to LaDainian Fields.
The Cowboys wanted him for his Big 12 experience and for his leadership. He's been a terrific addition, and he's proven to be one of the best tacklers in the secondary, which no doubt boosts his overall grade.
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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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