How Former FCS OL Shaun Torgeson Went from ‘Overlooked’ to Potential Week 1 Starter at Right Tackle

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STILLWATER — The competition remains open, but it sounds FCS transfer Shaun Torgeson is the favorite to start at right tackle for the Cowboys when the season starts.

It’s a position even he wouldn’t have believed 2.5 years ago.

“In high school, I was pretty overlooked,” Torgeson said. “I only had three offers. One of them being Portland State, where I ended up at. And I mean, I always had this vision of playing at the highest level, Power Five football, but yeah, if you ask me my last year of high school, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Among tackles in the portal, he ranked 137th (247Sports) and 143rd (On3). The Cowboys brought in several offensive linemen ranked higher, including the one he is competing with at right tackle.

Torgeson played 185 snaps of offense during his freshman season at Portland State in 2024, before bumping into a huge role, playing 788 offensive snaps there last season. He finished with an overall grade of 58.6, though he did grade out higher than 80 as a pass-blocker on six separate occasions last season.

“Biggest adjustment, I would say, just the speed is, it’s a little bit faster at this level,” Torgeson said. “But I mean, other than that, it’s just how bad do I want it? How bad do I want to win this block every single play?”​

Even when Torgeson committed to the Cowboys out of the portal, he did so knowing that he lacked an easy path to playing time this fall.

“I mean, I’m the type of guy, I’m like nothing, nothing is impossible,” he said. “I mean, if I’m being completely honest, I knew that we had a lot of fifth-year guys that have a lot more experience than I do, but I’m never going to count myself out.”

On Tuesday, Eric Morris said Torgeson would “probably” start if the opener took place tomorrow, but the competition isn’t settled just yet.

“Just one of those cool stories that comes in here and didn’t expect much,” Morris said. “One of the last guys that we took out of the portal. He’s just a guy that we kinda noticed in the weight room, and his times in the GPS stuff over the course of the summer. Pound for pound, as strong as anybody on our team. Super athletic at 300 pounds, smart, processes information really fast. And so, I see him playing a big role for us for the next three years here.”

The 6-foot-4, 302-pounder said his strength is one of his biggest improvements since last season. He’s also faster and has grown a lot working under position coach Cody Crill.

“I mean, I’ve learned moves that I didn’t even know existed,” Torgeson said. “Ways, techniques to block, and then just putting it all together, it has just made me an overall better player.”

Torgeson said he chose to come to Stillwater because he loved what Morris and that staff did with the offense at North Texas. And yes, it helps to have a quarterback like Drew Mestemaker.

“I mean everyone knows Drew,” Torgeson said. “I want to protect him. I want to win with him.”

With the season less than two weeks away, the only thing Torgeson can do now is put his “head down” and “work.”

“I don’t want to say anything until it’s set in stone,” Torgeson said when asked about the ongoing position battle. “But I mean, it’s a great start to where I want to be in the future.”