Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young Shares This Connection with Big 12 Legend

The Oklahoma State Cowboys expect Wyatt Young to be a huge presence in their offense, and he shares a couple of traits with a Big 12 legend, according to Eric Morris.

Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It’s easy to forget that Wyatt Young is new to being a wide receiver.

The new Oklahoma State star played wide receiver for two seasons at North Texas, where he played for new OSU head coach Eric Morris and with new Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker. In 2024 he led the team’s freshmen in receiving yards. In 2025 he led the entire team in all three major receiving categories.

His routes look polished. His ability to get the football looks natural. Adjusting to his quarterback looks natural. But he’s making it look easy.

Young was a quarterback, running back and wide receiver at Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas. He was an all-state utility player and had 56 career touchdowns, including 35 rushing, 13 passing and eight receiving.

Turns out he’s not the only Big 12 receiver to make that transition. In fact, Morris played with one.

Wyatt Young Shares Traits with This Big 12 Legend

Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Morris, a native of Shallowater, Texas, played four years as a wide receiver at Texas Tech from 2004-08. He was nicknamed “The Elf” for being small and elusive. His teammate, Michael Crabtree, was anything but. And he shares the same back story as Young.

“Michael Crabtree played quarterback in high school,” he said. “So did Wyatt Young. So I think there's some similarities there.”

Crabtree was a three-sport star at Carter High School in Dallas, Texas. He accounted for more than 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns as a quarterback his senior year. Crabtree passed on Texas because he wanted to play offense. That’s all then-head coach Mike Leach needed to hear. He coaxed him to Texas Tech to be a receiver.

The 6-1 star became one of the best receivers in Big 12 history. He won the Biletnikoff and Warfield Awards twice. He was a co-Big 12 freshman of the year in 2007 and was a two-time All-Big 12 selection and unanimous all-American in 2007 and 2008. That 2007 season saw him lead the nation in all three major receiving categories with 134 catches, 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Morris isn’t comparing Young to Crabtree as players. It’s about their transition from being quarterback to wide receiver and noting that Young still has improvement to tap.

“He’s gotten so much more comfortable with the position and being able to manipulate defenders versus man coverage,” Morris said.

Young’s sophomore season was terrific. He caught 70 passes for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was named all-American Conference first-team and first-team all-America by PFSN. He gained national attention when he torched Rice for a conference record with 295 receiving yards on eight catches with two scores.

Now he’s one of the centerpieces in what Morris hopes will be the Cowboys’ turnaround from a 1-11 season last year, along with a 4-20 record in the last two seasons and an 18-game Big 12 losing streak. That’s a lot of bad karma to break.

Morris knows Young is the right receiver to get it done, just as Crabtree was for the Red Raiders nearly two decades ago.

“Once we get him in space, he's really hard to tackle,” Morris said of Young. He's a really good ball carrier, so we'll have to be strategic this year in finding ways to get him in open space.”