‘He’s Unbelievable’: Oklahoma State Coaches, Players Rave about True Freshman Receiver Royal Capell

STILLWATER — The Cowboys brought in six receivers from the transfer portal this offseason, but despite that, a true freshman has managed to carve himself out a role through Oklahoma State’s first four games.

Royal Capell (pronounced kuh-PELL) is the only Cowboy true freshman to play offensive snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus. After not playing in the season opener, Capell has caught five passes in Oklahoma State’s past three games, gaining 33 yards. He also has a six-yard rush.

“Man, Royal’s just a guy,” OSU interim coach Doug Meacham said. “He’s super-hungry for information and studying. He’s always up there with David Glidden. Every day, he’s the one guy who’s up there more than anybody, asking questions, watching tape, taking notes. Getting out his iPad and watching film. And that kid does exactly what you tell him to do.

“For a true freshman, he’s unbelievable. Wherever you want him to be, he’ll be there. He’ll do it correctly, and he’ll do it full speed. … For a quarterback to know that kid’s gonna be in the right spot, no matter what, it’s a big comfort. And he’s 18 years old.”

Capell grew up in a military family, which meant he moved around. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but went to high school at Cibolo-Steele in Texas. He had at least 750 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns in his final three years of high school, including a senior season that saw him eclipse 1,000 receiving yards.

He earned offers from Oregon, Oklahoma, Baylor, Duke, Houston, Indiana and others but pledged to the Pokes and enrolled early, joining the Cowboys for the spring semester.

Meacham said it wasn’t immediately evident that Capell would make an impact as early as he has, but after surviving the spring, he started thriving in the fall.

“In spring, I think he was trying to figure out how to survive because it is a lot different,” Meacham said. “In high school, you can be the man, show up and have a bad day and still be the man. In college, you can have a bad day and you get beat out. So you gotta show up every day with your stuff dialed and ready to roll. It took him a minute to figure that out.”

Capell has an 83.3% catch percentage, catching five of the six passes intended for him. He’s 3-for-3 on contested catches, per PFF, and three of his catches have also gone for first downs.

He had his longest reception of the young season Saturday, and it came from an unlikely source. In OSU’s 45-27 loss to Baylor, running back Trent Howland took a handoff running to his right when he pulled up and tossed to Capell between a pair of defenders. Capell was oh, so close to paydirt but was tackled at the 1-yard line.

“He works,” said Howland of Capell. “He’s earning his opportunity to go out there and play. I always have talks with him, like, it’s good that he’s getting this experience now because down the long run, it’s gonna pay off big for him. He comes in, he works every day and he’s bought in to the program, and he wants to show up and show Coach DG (David Glidden) that he’s capable of being out on the field to make those plays.”

Everyone we’ve asked about Capell has mentioned some combination of his work ethic (specifically time spent with former Cowboy slot receiver David Glidden) and his mind for the game.

“He loves football,” OSU receiver Sam Jackson V said. “That’s all he knows is sleep, eat, football. Even from the beginning, you can tell as far as the cerebral part of the game, if he had it or not, and he had it. I think that’s why (David Glidden) feels comfortable with putting Royal out there any time over me and Freak (Gavin Freeman), or any time of the game. And I feel comfortable with him, too, because I know he’s gonna go out there and block, he knows his assignment, his alignment and his technique. He’s gonna do that every time.”

So, as the Cowboys go through the next eight games before prepping for the new era, consider Capell on the list of guys OSU should battle to keep in Stillwater for years to come.

“Just a great kid,” Meacham said. “He’s gonna have a great career in college. He’s gonna make a lot of plays. He’s just a comfort for those QBs because they know, like you’re going through a read and you go one, two, and he’s supposed to be a certain spot, and he’s gonna be right there. He’s gonna do it right. He’s gonna ID man/zone and make his adjustments. Just phenomenal mentally for a young kid. Way ahead of it.”