Oklahoma's wide receiver room won't only be a strength for the Sooners in their first SEC season, but Pro Football Focus ranks the unit as one of the best in the country entering the 2024 campaign.
Tom Green
Oklahoma's wide receiver corps entered the 2023 season as an unproven unit that faced its share of questions this time last year.
That won't be the case as the Sooners begin their journey into the SEC, as OU is set to boast one of the nation's top wide receiver rooms this fall. According to Pro Football Focus, Oklahomatouts one of the top-10 wide receiver rooms in college football ahead of the 2024 season, with the Sooners' corps of pass-catchers checking in at No. 10 on PFF's preseason list.
The Sooners' wideout room is one of six in the SEC to appear on the PFF list of top-10 wide receiver groups in college football, along with Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas, Missouri and LSU. The Rebels' receivers checked in at No. 2, followed by the Bulldogs' unit at No. 4, while the Longhorns' wideouts and Missouri receivers were Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. LSU's receiving corps was ninth on the list, just ahead of Oklahoma's group.
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Here's what PFF said about Oklahoma's wide receiver room:
"Oklahomabrings back five of its six leading receivers from a year ago, losing only Drake Stoops. Nic Anderson is the leader of those returners and was second in the Big 12 last year with 10 touchdowns to onlyAdonai Mitchell. Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony also came back and combined for 1,109 receiving yards this past season."
The breakdown went on to mention the pre-spring addition of Purdue transfer Deion Burks, noting that "Burks was second in the Big Ten with 18 forced missed tackles on receptions in 2023."
The Sooners feature a wealth of talent at receiver heading into their SEC debut despite losing top pass-catcher Drake Stoops from last year's team. Stoops led Oklahoma with 84 receptions for 962 yards and was tied with Anderson for most receiving touchdowns on the team, with 10. Stoops also finished the year with an impressive catch rate of 78.5%, which was fourth among all FBS receivers with at least 100 targets last season.
With Stoops graduated, Oklahoma added Burks in the transfer portal during the initial transfer window. Burks, rated as the No. 10 receiver and No. 49 overall player in the portal this cycle, had 47 receptions for 629 yards and seven touchdowns at Purdue last season but is now set to play in a more explosive offense at OU. The 5-foot-9, 189-pounder was a breakout performer for the Sooners in his first spring, which was capped with a five-catch, 174-yard performance in the spring game that included touchdown catches of 64 and 50 yards from quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Burks should not only help replace Stoops' production from last season, but he brings an added dynamic to the slot position in OU's offense, with the ability to stretch the field on top of being a reliable option who can get into open space in the short and intermediate passing game.
"Probably the best thing he does is his work ethic," Brent Venables said of Burks after the spring game. "He's wide open when it comes to practice and his passion for the game, he's incredibly competitive. He helps the guys he's lined up against and the guys next to him as well. So, he's been fantastic. Great playmaker. He's got tremendous speed and quickness. He's got great hands. He's really done a great job of learning what to do and transitioning that within our system."
Along with Burks is the group of returning pieces in the room wide receivers coach Emmett Jones has helped rebuild in short order. There's Anderson, a Freshman All-American last season who was the team's second-leading receiver (38 receptions for 798 yards and 10 scores), as well as the aforementioned Farooq and Anthony, though both are working their way back from injury. Farooq, who had 45 catches for 694 yards and two touchdowns last season, fractured his foot late in spring, while Anthony was OU's leading receiver through the first half of last season (27 receptions for 429 yards and a touchdown) before tearing his ACL in the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry against Texas. Both will return this fall, though an exact timeline remains unclear, and Oklahoma has the depth to where it does not have to rush either player back onto the field.
Beyond that group, Oklahoma has Jayden Gibson, who had a miniature breakout as a sophom*ore with 14 catches for 375 yards and five touchdowns. His five touchdowns trailed only Stoops and Anderson's 10 apiece, while his 26.79-yard average on receptions was second on the team behind only former Texas transfer Brenen Thompson (34.43 yards per catch), who had seven receptions for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Sooners' receiving corps, which saw Gavin Freeman transfer to Oklahoma State after the end of spring, also includes redshirt senior J.J. Hester, sophom*ore Jaquaize Pettaway and 2024 signees Zion Kearney and Ivan Carreon (both of whom were early enrollees), plus summer arrivals Zion Ragins and KJ Daniels.
