Newcomer Tracker: Michael Scott — No, Not *That* Michael Scott — Making Big Impact

The new redshirt rule — and how OSU maneuvers it — is a huge reason why we’ve implemented a weekly tracker for newcomers playing time and how many games each youngster has participated in.

The rule states that newbies can play in up to four games while preserving their redshirt status and, ultimately, an extra year of collegiate eligibility. It’s why we’ve got ? on Spencer Sanders as the month of November rolls around.

But lo and behold, as we were distracted paying attention to ramifications of the rule with freshman, the most notable use of it this season came via a bombshell this week as Mike Gundy announced senior receiver Jalen McCleskey would be exercising his redshirt and transferring to a new school.

McCleskey played in only four games for OSU. He won’t play again in a Cowboy uniform.

As for the newbies, there’s still plenty of interesting developments. Both true freshmen Kolby Peel and Jarrick Bernard officially burned their redshirts over the weekend against Kansas, as expected, while junior college standout Mike Scott and true freshman Tanner McCalister both reached the four-game mark.

Barring injury, they’ll soon follow Bernard and Peel by setting aflame to redshirt possibilities as both have emerged as useful weapons on OSU’s defense. This weekend alone, Scott added to his impressive breakout by grabbing a sack, TFL and two tackles in OSU’s 48-28 win.

Here’s an updated look at his — and other newbies — stats through five games.