How OSU Can Make Up for Thinning Depth at Inside Receiver

We got a glimpse last weekend of the Oklahoma State wide receiver unit without both Dillon Stoner and Jalen McCleskey. Although his status going forward remains unknown, we’ll assume that Stoner returns to action this season. On the other hand, McCleskey has decided to redshirt and transfer and we won’t see him in an OSU uniform again. So, the Cowboys are looking for other options to fill the void left at inside receiver.

McCleskey is a very talented player and will be difficult to replace in the Oklahoma State offense, but we got a look this past Saturday at how the Cowboys plan to do it.

Landon Wolf

The 5-11, 174-pound redshirt sophomore was given the bulk of the workload at inside receiver in Lawrence. He made the most of it with six receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. This performance garnered the second-highest Big 12 receiver grade from Pro Football Focus.

The highest receiving grades from Big 12 receivers in Week 5 pic.twitter.com/fM2d7qHpQD

— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 1, 2018

Taylor Cornelius has shown he’s comfortable throwing Wolf the ball on a variety of different routes. The chemistry between the two was most likely formed in practice last season running with the backup offense.

Wolf has shown he’s very talented out in space.

And, Cornelius even looked to him over the middle. Which is an area of the field he hadn’t been very comfortable throwing to up until the KU game.

Jelani Woods

Even though Woods only finished with one catch for 5 yards, we saw a lot of the quarterback-turned-Cowboy Back on Saturday. Woods was lined up on the line of scrimmage, split out wide, as an H-back and… as the inside receiver.

This wrinkle, which Mike Yurcich hadn’t shown much until this game, allowed some different blocking angles for Woods and I think it will be very useful going forward.

In addition, I’d like to see him involved in the passing game more as the Cowboys progress through their schedule.

Braydon Johnson

If it wasn’t Wolf or Woods, Johnson was the other option lining up on the inside.

The redshirt freshman showed off his speed against the Jayhawks. Even though Cornelius over threw him on one, and he was held by a defender on the other, Johnson displayed the ability to take the top off the defense which is going to be a unique weapon for this Cowboy offense going forward.

The coaching staff knows he has big-play ability and they are hoping he will be able to grow up quickly in the OSU offensive system. Mike Gundy talked about Johnson’s upside during his weekly press conference.

“He is a player that is going to be interesting to watch as we progress through because he is going to get reps now,” said Gund. “He is so fast. He ran down the middle of the field. He’s got blinding speed and so he is a really good threat for us and what we do offensively. Hopefully, he will mature fast and be able to make some plays for us.”

These were the three primary ways the Cowboys made up for McCleskey’s absence on the inside against KU. I still expect to see all of these when Stoner returns, maybe just in smaller doses in relation to Woods and Johnson. Oklahoma State also showed the running backs split out wide, and formations with multiple Cowboys backs, and I believe we will continue to see these types of formations as well to make up for the loss on the inside.