Oklahoma State’s One Intriguing Position Change and Why It Matters

The Oklahoma State Cowboys made one position change on its roster for fall workouts and it could be an intriguing one.

Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Football coaches don't make position changes lightly. Some are based on athletic ability while others are based on need.

With Oklahoma State opening fall workouts on Wednesday, the roster that new head coach Eric Morris assembled looked like the roster that he broke with at spring workouts — with one exception.

As a reporter pointed out during the post-practice press conference, one player on the roster changed positions from the spring. That player was Carl'veon Young. He is still listed on the team's website as a linebacker but is now listed on the paper roster handed out at Wednesday's workout as a defensive end.

Morris explained why they made the change.

Why The Cowboys Made This Move

Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

By moving Young from his linebacker position into a defensive end role, Morris believes the Cowboys will be able to tap into his athleticism at a position that needs it.

“I thought he was somebody that could be a little bit better for us to use that skill set if he got a little closer to the line of scrimmage,” he said. “You saw that a little bit when he was blitzing as a linebacker. I think, as a young kid, it'll take some of the thinking out of the game and allow him to just read and react and play fast because he is super explosive.”

At 6-4, 240 pounds, he’s not as undersized for a 4-2-5 defensive end as one might think. The position is also wide open. The Cowboys entered camp with 20 players on the defensive line, evenly distributed between tackles and ends. Giving Young the chance to work out with the ends gives Oklahoma State more options for their rotations.

Young played in the season’s final four games at linebacker and preserved his redshirt. He had one tackle against UCF. Before he joined Oklahoma State, he was a prep star at Carl Albert High School in Oklahoma City. There, he had more than 250 career tackles, with almost 20 tackles for loss and seven interceptions. In his senior season he had more than 60 tackles.

He joined Oklahoma State as a four-star recruit by 247Sports, where he was just outside the Top 200 in national recruits.

Entering fall camp Jaleel Johnson and Florida State transfer James Williams are seen as the likely starters for week 1 against Tulsa. But the Cowboys will use several defensive ends during the season, which is why adding Young to the rotation now is so important to the position.

Oklahoma State gets 25 practices before that first game and likely needs anywhere from six to eight defensive ends to be able to rotate in and out of the game. If Morris is right and simplifying Young’s role allows him to grow, then the Cowboys may have a quality pass rusher on their hands.