Why Oklahoma State Listed Wyatt Young, Miles Coleman Together on Depth Chart

The Oklahoma State Cowboys threw observers for a bit of a loop on its depth chart when it listed two wide receivers together.

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

Any football coach will tell you that a depth chart is never set in stone. But the depth chart does provide clarity in most cases.

For Oklahoma State, its first depth chart before Saturday's game with Tulsa was a bit of an event. It was the first depth chart released by new head coach Eric Morris and it came after a month of workouts that included 92 new transfers and 25 holdovers from last year's 1-11 team. For that reason alone, the depth chart was dissected as if it was the Zapruder film.

Several positions received the “OR” treatment. It's a way of coaches signaling that either a position competition isn't settled, or multiple players will be used at the same position. Several positions were expected to receive that treatment, including the defensive line.

But one position stood out. That was the Y wide receiver. All offseason the expectation was that Wyatt Young would be the starter. But when the depth chart came out on Tuesday Young had an “OR” next to his name along with Miles Coleman. Morris explained why on Tuesday.

Why Wyatt Young and Miles Coleman Got an ‘OR’

Oklahoma State's Miles Coleman. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

In one of the more underreported stories nationally, Young wasn't a starter when last season began at North Texas. Coleman was the starter in the slot position and Young was his backup. But, after Coleman was “banged up” in Morris’ words, Young moved into the starting role and he thrived.

Young finished last season with 1,264 receiving yards, which was the second most in North Texas history and third in FBS. He was named an all-conference selection. On the back of that season, he was named a preseason all-Big 12 selection.

Morris didn't say that Young was injured or that he had lost favor with the coaching staff. This is a case where both Young and Coleman will get reps at the position because Morris wants to play quickly on the offensive side.

“You’ll see a heavy dose of both of those guys,” he said. “I think this is a game where you're looking at being on that turf at 2:45 in the afternoon — it’s going to be hot. We're going to need multiple guys. If we’re gonna play at the pace that we want to play at, and play with some tempo, both those guys are gonna be super important.”

Coleman is listed first before the “OR,” and that appears to be a function of alphabetical order. The other “OR’s” on the roster are listed in alphabetical order.

Morris also doesn’t want to ignore what Coleman brings to the table. Even as he was banged up last year, he caught 47 passes for 550 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games, six of which he started. Plus, he played at the same high school as Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker — Vandergrift High School in Austin, Texas.

Coleman will also need breaks because the Cowboys will use him on punt returns and he’s listed as Chris Barnes’ backup on kickoff returns.

For those worried about chemistry or jealousy, Morris shut that down quickly. Young and Coleman had been teammates for quite some time.

“That’ll never be an issue as far as the dynamics in our locker room, just because what kind of human beings those two kids are and what their relationship is like,” he said. “We trust both of them. We'll put them on some type of rotation where we can keep them both fresh and and firing on all cylinders.”