Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s Offensive Transfer Portal Haul

PORTAL TRACKER

What a whirlwind of a two weeks.

The transfer portal closes on Friday. Players can still leave the portal after that date, but they can’t enter it.

As of writing, the Cowboys have added 50 players via the portal (if you count the returning Cameron Epps). That’s the most of any team by more than 10 additions.

It was a necessary overhaul for new Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris, as he looks to rebuild a program that went 4-20 across the past two seasons.

The Cowboys aren’t done, either. By our tally OSU has 92 of 105 spots filled for its 2026 roster — a number that could fluctuate depending on some returns. But with the portal window closing, I thought it a good time to share some takeaways. We’ll do defensive takeaways on Friday.

1. The Cowboys Got Their Guy

OSU’s biggest get in the portal window is undisputedly quarterback Drew Mestemaker.

There are thousands of players in the transfer portal, and among all of those, 247Sports considers Mestemaker the third-best available and one of only six five-star transfers.

It’s the most important position in football, if not all of sports, and — while he’ll still have to live up to the billing on the field — Mestemaker appears to be the Cowboys’ most-talented quarterback since at least Mason Rudolph.

The quarterback position has been at best inconsistent since Rudolph left after the 2017 season, and at worst, it’s been straight up bad. The Cowboys haven’t had one guy start every game behind center in a season since Taylor Cornelius in 2018.

That’s a lot to put on a redshirt sophomore, but the expectation is warranted given he led the nation’s best offense as a redshirt freshman while leading the country in passing.

2. The Cowboys Have a Deep Stable of Running Backs

Although Caleb Hawkins might not be as high in the portal rankings as Mestemaker, he was still the No. 1 running back in the portal, per 247Sports.

This comes about a year after Hawkins was a no-name recruit, picking Morris and UNT over offers from UCO and Emporia State.

All Hawkins did in his true freshman season was run for 1,434 yards and a nation-leading 25 touchdowns on 6.2 yards a carry. He’s also a bigger threat in the receiving game than his 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame might suggest, as he caught 32 passes for another 370 yards and four more scores. His 29 total touchdowns lead the country by five touchdowns.

So, yeah, RB1 is covered, but new running backs coach Patrick Cobbs has also added some intriguing depth to the room.

As things stand, OSU has seven running backs on its roster — five incoming transfers and two incoming freshmen.

Ayo Adeyi rejoins Morris, Cobbs and Co. after spending the past two seasons at James Madison. He was a 1,000-yard rusher for UNT in 2023 — Morris’ first season in Denton.

Tre Page III is a young back who broke out as a redshirt freshman at Tarleton State this season, running for 839 yards and seven scores on nearly 7.5 yards a carry.

Then let’s also not forget Jenks standout KD Jones, who the new staff worked quickly to bring back into the fold before signing day. Morris has proven fairly regularly that he isn’t afraid to play young guys.

You feel confident that Hawkins will be the Pokes’ featured back in 2025, but there are some compelling backs behind him to help carry any slack.

3. On Paper, the Receivers Are Electric

Not only did the Cowboys land their quarterback, but they’ve also equipped him with some weapons.

Wyatt Young (North Texas), Justin Bowick (Illinois) and Chris Barnes (Wake Forest) are all labeled as four-star WR transfers. For reference, there are a dozen Big 12 teams that don’t have three four-star transfers at any position, according to 247Sports, and OSU has that in just the receiver room.

If you’ve only lightly been keeping up with OSU in its transition into the Morris era, you probably know about Young. He was North Texas’ leading receiver as a sophomore in 2025, catching 70 passes for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Bowick is a big-bodied receiver the likes of which Morris didn’t have at UNT last season. Listed at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Bowick caught 22 passes for 265 yards and five scores in 2025. In just four games at Ball State in 2024, Bowick caught 20 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns.

Barnes looks electric. As a 5-foot-7, 168-pound redshirt freshman, he caught 39 passes for the Demon Deacons this past season for 547 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 143 rushing yards and 263 kick return yards, which included a touchdown.

With those three, Miles Coleman, Israel Polk, Terrence Lewis, JUCO signee Jani Weir and some young returners, I don’t think Mestemaker is going to lack in options to throw to in 2026 so long as he can stay upright.

4. The Cowboys Added Some Beef

The unit tasked with keeping Mestemaker upright has added nine large bodies via the portal, as of writing.

That group of nine averages 6-foot-5, 312 pounds.

Three of the group (Braydon Nelson, Johnny Dickson III and Desmond Magiya) blocked for Mestemaker in 2025 at North Texas. Another (Tyler Mercer) was at North Texas in 2024 before transferring to Kansas.

It’s obviously early to say how that room will shake out come the fall, but based on PFF snap counts, you can glean where guys at least have some experience.

Nelson, for example, has played 1,190 snaps at left tackle. Dickson has played 1,168 career snaps at right guard. Mercer has solely played center. Coastal Carolina transfer Joseph Hanson has 920 career snaps at right tackle.

OU transfer Jacob Sexton will be an interesting one to keep tabs on. It’s hard to deny Sexton’s talent. He was a blue-chip recruit coming out of Deer Creek and got playing time at left tackle as a true freshman for the Sooners. His 997 snaps on the Sooners’ offensive line have been split somewhat evenly among left tackle (404 snaps), left guard (281 snaps) and right tackle (312) snaps.

Based off everyone else’s snap counts, it feels like Sexton might best slide into the left guard spot, but again, super early.

5. Tight End Room Probably Needs More Bodies

Of the 10 or so spots that still need filled, I imagine at least one will go to another tight end.

The Cowboys have added two tight ends via the portal who took entirely different college football paths to Stillwater.

Donovan Green (LSU) is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound former blue-chip recruit. He was the No. 116 player in the 2022 recruiting class and initially went to Texas A&M over an offer list that featured basically any blue-blood program you can think of.

He spent three seasons with the Aggies. He played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2022, where he caught 22 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. A knee injury in camp heading into the 2023 season meant he didn’t play at all that year, and when he returned in 2024, he played in eight games and didn’t record any stats. That led him to LSU, where he caught two passes for 40 yards this past season.

Bodie Boydstun joins the Cowboys by was of SWOSU in Weatherford. He’s from Enid and played quarterback at Oklahoma Bible Academy — a Class B school. He was a QB his first year in Weatherford before flipping to tight end. He caught 14 passes for the Bulldogs this season for 191 yards and three touchdowns.

That group joins Oscar Hammond in Stillwater, who has experience with Morris. Before joining the Cowboys in 2025, Hammond was at UNT in 2024, catching 19 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. Before that, Hammond spent two seasons at UCO.

Also of note, OSU has Will Monney listed on its somewhat updated 2026 roster, but Monney did announce an entry into the portal. Something to keep an eye on.

There probably wasn’t a position during the latter years of the Gundy era that more OSU fans were frustrated with than the Cowboy tight ends (or Cowboy backs, if you prefer). We’ll see how Morris and Co. implement the position into the Cowboy offense.