Notebook: Jordan Brailford Unsure on Senior Day Walk, Trey Carter and Controlling Will Grier

STILLWATER — It’s the time of the year where nostalgia echoes in nearly every sentence.

Five seniors met with the media Monday and reminisced on their time at Oklahoma State with Senior Day coming Saturday, while also discussing the Cowboys’ game against West Virginia. Here are some topics that were discussed.

Quick note: Justice Hill wasn’t made available to the media Tuesday, or there would be a report on his decision on whether he will walk on Senior Day.

Brailford Unsure If He’ll Walk for Senior Day

Jordan Brailford is two (maybe three) games away from making a big decision, and a the first part of that decision could come Saturday.

Brailford, a redshirt junior, is faced with the opportunity to enter the NFL Draft or return for his senior season at OSU. With Senior Day coming Saturday, Brailford said he hasn’t yet determined whether he’ll make the walk with the seniors.

“Well, I don’t know yet,” Brailford said. “I’m in a weird predicament. … I think I’m leaning toward (walking on Senior Day). I’m not sure because everyone will assume I’m leaving.”

Walking on Senior Day doesn’t lock in Brailford’s commitment to leave OSU after this season, but it’s a small first step toward that process.

Brailford said he will graduate in December with degrees in business management and marketing with a minor in sports management, but if he so chooses, he has a year of eligibility remaining to return to OSU.

Brailford has nine sacks this season, the seventh-most in the country. This is Brailford’s fifth season at OSU, as he redshirted in 2014 and received a medical redshirt in 2016.

Brailford said he hasn’t heard much about the NFL’s interest level in him, but he said he is sure questions about his injury history will be asked. He also said he saw an old scouting report that questioned his physicality, but Brailford’s 38 total tackles and 15.5 tackles for loss this season might have disproved that.

“I’m definitely gonna have to talk to my family about it,” Brailford said. “Weigh my options. … It really just depends on how I feel about it.”

The Mischievous Trey Carter

Jordan Brailford and Trey Carter got kicked out of their first apartment together.

Carter was gone by the time the media were told about it, but the only explanation Brailford gave was that it was Carter’s fault and:

“It involved females and doors getting kicked in. We just had to go. We didn’t break any doors.”

The two then had to move into a family apartment, where Brailford said he made Carter take the little kid’s bedroom.

Carter, a redshirt senior, has 23 tackles this season, adding to the 27 he brought into the year. Carter said he hopes the younger players on the team remember his leadership and “certain things I did to them in the locker room.” He said he couldn’t say more than that.

“They know,” he said. “They know.”

Carter said he has matured a lot in his time at OSU. He pinned his maturation down to when he was moved to defensive tackle from defensive end. Carter’s maturation is something Brailford said he has noticed, too.

“Trey definitely had his difficulties here,” Brailford said. “… He’s matured a lot. He’s a cheerful guy, real childish coming in, but he’s grown up so much. He’s still a goofy guy, but you can see it. He’s matured, got his degree, kept his head on, making the right decisions.”

Cowboys Look to Have Same Success Against Will Grier as They Did in 2017

For only the third time this season, the opposition’s starting quarterback will be the same starting quarterback the Cowboys faced last season.

West Virginia QB Will Grier joins Texas’ Sam Ehlinger and Kansas State’s Skylar Thompson as the only repeat starting quarterbacks the Cowboys faced in 2017.

“We know so much of what he did last year,” said Cole Walterscheid, who sacked Grier last season. “We gameplanned him so hard last year. He’s a good quarterback. Just knowing how he plays going into this week, that kinda helps.”

Despite only sacking Grier one time last season, the Cowboys forced the 2018 preseason All-American into four interceptions. Jordan Brailford said Grier’s picks came because of the pressure the OSU defensive front provided. The Cowboys got three QB hurries against the Mountaineers.

“I remember the game from last year, I feel like as a D-line, we handled them pretty well,” Brailford said. “We got to him a lot I feel like. We had a lot of pressure on him. We made him uncomfortable, which ultimately led us to having a chance to win the game. That’s just something that we have to do again come this Saturday.”