What Is Jalen McCleskey’s Ceiling As a Sophomore?

I’m about to float an insane theory that I realize is an insane theory, but I cannot stop myself from floating it anyway. Jalen McCleskey is going to be better in 2016 for two reasons:

• He is older and weighs more
• He switched to No. 1

Oklahoma State’s history of offensive players wearing No. 1 in the Mike Gundy Era is not necessarily lengthy, but it is impressive. For the last few years, Ra’Shaad Samples has worn the number which didn’t amount to much, but just before him it was Joe Randle and Dez Bryant. Pretty solid company. The number just looks slick on the field. Kevin Peterson wore it well on defense.

I remember Dez’s freshman year talking to some buddies and asking them what number they wanted Dez to wear. Before I could even finish the question, my buddy Sheets just screams, “he has to wear No. 1!!”

Look good play good. I don’t know, but I do know that McCleskey has become the sort of underrated offensive weapon on this team. We focus so much on James Washington and the running back situation and Barry Sanders and Marcell Ateman’s injury that we forget about the guy who did stuff like this as a freshman last year.

“We have to find ways for him to touch the ball,” said Mike Gundy recently. “He is explosive. He is competitive. He is a year into it now. This year’s [offense] could be a little more specific by player than what we have been in the last 10 years. Meaning that, we may have certain guys skill wise that are able to execute certain plays that we need to try and get those called to get the ball to certain guys in order to give us the best chance to be successful on offense.”

That’s probably a good idea. McCleskey, who is up over 20 pounds (hashtag Glass), only had 409 all-purpose yards in 2015, but he also only touched the ball 33 times on offense. I think that probably doubles this year. At least. McCleskey is explosive and can run away, and he’s the rare sophomore with 13 games under his belt.

Awesome photo here after Jalen McCleskey's punt return TD. (via @osuathletics) pic.twitter.com/hQUS3eEGcx

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 1, 2015

“Well, he is a good player,” said Gundy of McCleskey’s pedigree (his father played in the NFL). “It is like anything else, horse racing and whatever.”

Pause. The man with the mullet said “horse racing and whatever” when talking about maybe his most dynamic player. Amazing.

“The history says that if their pedigree is good, then there’s a good chance that that can continue during their career here,” said Gundy. “Not always, but it gives you a better chance. We invest a lot of time in what kind of people they are, how they treat their moms, what kind of respect they have for just the general things in society I think we are lacking as a group maybe in this country. We look at that and they certainly have to be athletic enough to play here and then if they have good pedigree, that makes the stock go up even more.”

Receivers coach Kasey Dunn echoed Gundy’s praise for McCleskey in all facets in the spring.

“The guy that’s shown some speed is (Jalen) McCleskey,” said Dunn. “He’s doing a great job out there. That little turkey will block his butt off too. He’s getting it done and I’m happy with where we are and I’m looking forward to the next practice.”

The little turkey racehorse who will ball in a new number this fall. I’m fired up to watch him.