Experience, Depth and Versatility along O-Line Provides a Rare Opportunity for OSU in 2024

For years, Mike Gundy has been talking about making wholesale hockey-line changes along his offensive line, but this fall he might just have the depth and experience to do it.

Much has been made about the Cowboys’ returning star power, headlined by the combo of Alan Bowman, Ollie Gordon and Brennan Presley. But just behind (or actually in front) of that Big 3 is one of the deepest and most experienced offensive line units to date at Oklahoma State.

“They’re grown men,” Gundy said during OSU’s Media Day on Saturday. “The best-case scenario would be that we could get to the first game with the faith to play eight or nine guys in that game. It’s the one position that really gets fatigued and, as you know in my 20 years as a head coach, we haven’t had the ability to rotate many of those guys.”

The Cowboys boast six super seniors and a redshirt senior in the group. That’s 34 years of college in just those seven big guys.

One of those big guys is Preston Wilson. He came in as a three-star commit and the No. 866 prospect in the 2019 class and spent that first season redshirting. But after just a year in the system, Wilson worked his way into the rotation and was a starter by the end of his redshirt freshman season in 2020. He’s been a major part of OSU’s line ever since.

“Most places, there’s not guys with this much experience in the country,” said Wilson. “We’re blessed to have a bunch of guys that can plug in and play multiple positions. We’re a very versatile offensive line, one of the most versatile we’ve had in a long time. Guys can move and plug and play. Coach [Charlie] Dickey, that’s a credit to him, too. He’s put in a lot of hard work to help develop us over these years. A lot of us have been here for six years, playing under Coach Dickey.”

Gordon, last year’s Doak Walker winner, is a big reason for the optimism surrounding OSU heading into the fall. And those returning blockers are equally big for him. Huge, in fact.

“Just seeing what we did last year, having them back is a huge success,” said Gordon. “Teams around the country wish they could get all five of their fifth/sixth-year offensive linemen back, and for us to actually do it, it’s a huge deal. It makes all of us excited, especially me. I get to run behind them again.”

The Cowboys were among the better pass-blocking teams in the Big 12 last year and helped facilitate the nation’s leading rusher. That was last year and experience does not guarantee success, but this type of depth gives the Cowboys the ability to weather the normal wear and tear that happens in the trenches. In previous years, if one or two guys went down, the Cowboys’ offense slowed to a halt. Staying healthy is always key, but there’s not the same sense of urgency as in previous years.

Whether it’s wholesale rotating or plugging and playing, the ability to saves reps early in the season will, hopefully, safeguard the Cowboys against injury. It’s a luxury if you’re not a blueblood program that reels in multiple four- and five-star big guys each spring.

“Now, we’ve got a number of guys that have played and we actually can rotate guys and try to keep some of them fresh,” said Gundy. “If we do get a guy that gets banged up a little bit and has to miss some time, we don’t have to hold our breath every play. So, that’s kind of what our thought process is at this point.”

With that opportunity, and with the likely chance that all three of OSU’s Big 3 will be gone after this year, there should, instead, be some urgency to make the most of this roster. Gundy won’t have many teams in his career with this type of experience and depth all over the field.

“I’d say that each year you have to pick up where you left off, and I feel where we picked up from where we left off last year is so high,” said Wilson. “Each spring you’ve got to build, build and build. There’s so much building to be done. I feel like since our starting point was so high that there’s been not as many mistakes because of the amount of experience we have. We have so much room to grow, and just knowing that we started at such a great spot this year, I’m excited to see where we go from here.”