Oklahoma State Offense Filled with Proven Talents, Especially at WR

Oklahoma State’s starting offense will include almost zero familiar faces this fall, but that doesn’t mean these Cowboys are inexperienced.

In fact, six players have at least 850 career offensive snaps at the FBS level, according to Pro Football Focus. For context, former Cowboy Joe Michalski led the offense last season with 810 snaps.

Experience isn’t everything in college football these days, but it does establish a foundation for the Cowboys. If these guys don’t win starting jobs during the ongoing fall camp, then Oklahoma State probably has some pretty talented younger players stepping up instead.

Four Wide Might Not Be Enough

Oklahoma State’s receiver group is the Cowboys’ most experienced offensive unit, and it isn’t particularly close.

Christian Fitzpatrick leads all OSU receivers with 1,185 snaps at the FBS level, including 722 last season at Marshall. Throughout his career, Fitzpatrick has hauled in 56 receptions for 848 yards and seven touchdowns.

Da’Wain Lofton looked the part for Oklahoma State last season in his four-game run that saw him play 83 snaps while grabbing six receptions for 140 yards before redshirting to preserve his final season of eligibility. Lofton is second among OSU receivers with 994 career snaps on offense and has 41 catches for 550 yards and three scores.

Gavin Freeman also decided to redshirt last year after four games. During his limited run, he hauled in six catches for 45 yards. He played 284 snaps across his career, including his time as a Sooner. Freeman has 28 career receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown in addition to 12 rushing attempts for 93 yards and another score.

Jaylen Lloyd: 327 snaps, 19 receptions for 492 yards and 3 TDs

Shamar Rigby: 327 snaps, 11 receptions for 113 yards, one rush for 5 yards, 1-of-1 passing for 8 yards

Lloyd, a Nebraska transfer, represents a big-play threat with eight career catches of at least 25 yards. Meanwhile, Rigby, a sophomore from Purdue, proved his versatility in his first season last year.

Other receivers of note:

Sam Jackson V: 381 career snaps (299 at quarterback); flashed his athleticism in the spring game, but only has two career catches for 63 yards.

Talyn Shettron: 361 career snaps, 21 receptions for 354 yards and 2 TDs; broke out last season, but his availability this season seems murky at best as he recovers from a late season-ending injury suffered in 2024.

Terrill Davis: D-II snap numbers not tracked, 164 career receptions for 2,288 yards and 19 TDs; the Central Oklahoma transfer finished with 1,609 yards last season, which topped all NCAA receivers regardless of division.

Cam Abshire: D-II snap numbers not tracked, 89 career receptions for 1,718 yards and 19 TDs; like Davis, he will get the chance to prove he can keep putting up numbers at the FBS level during fall camp.

The OL Rebuild Might Be Overblown

Oklahoma State’s three most experienced offensive players this season line up in the trenches, and the third isn’t far behind them, so perhaps this is closer to a reload than the complete rebuild it appeared initially.

App State transfer Markell Samuel played 1,403 snaps on offense during the last three seasons after starting his college career on the defensive side of the ball. Almost all of his playing time came at the left tackle position and Samuel earned All-Sun Belt honorable mention last season.

Virginia Tech transfer Bob Schick started 23 games in the last two seasons and played most of his career 1,276 snaps during that stretch at either guard position.

Louie Canepa followed offensive line coach Andrew Mitchell from New Mexico State. Canepa started 14 games and played all but 44 of his 1,199 career offensive snaps during the last two seasons. His time was split close to evenly between the right guard and right tackle positions.

Tulsa transfer Kasen Carpenter (876 career snaps) played 853 snaps at center for Tulsa last season, where he started 11 games. 

Lavaka Taukeiaho started nine games during his time at Weber State, where he played 745 snaps at the FCS level. His case for playing time is weaker since Taukeiaho will need to prove he can handle what should be much larger, faster defensive linemen in the Big 12.

Other OL of note:

Austin Kawecki: 163 snaps, no starts; leads all returning OSU OL in snaps played last year or ever.

Tyler Brumfield: Earned All-American honors at the JUCO level in 2024 at Snow College in Utah.

The Most Proven Unit

Earlier this offseason, Marshall declared OSU’s running backs to be the position group he was most confident in despite the departure of Ollie Gordon.

Rodney Fields Jr. appeared on the verge of a true breakout before redshirting last season. He still finished with 21 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown. Considering how much OSU struggled to run the ball and the fact that he produced in critical moments at BYU, on paper, Fields seems like a safe bet for OSU coaches to make when it comes to playing time in 2025.

And yet, he will have to fight to see the field based on the experience and proven production from two of the running backs suiting up for OSU this season.

Georgia State transfer Freddie Brock IV played 458 snaps in the last two years. During that time, he rushed for 1,126 yards and nine touchdowns while picking up 181 additional yards and a score on 23 receptions. That’s enough to put him on top in the room in terms of experience, but it doesn’t include the additional 700 snaps he played at Maine from 2020-2022 when Brock rushed for 1,273 yards and 10 touchdowns. At the FCS level, he caught another 38 passes for 276 yards and four scores.

Trent Howland joined the Cowboys just over a year ago. Playing behind Gordon, a struggling offensive line, while trying to pick up the playbook on the fly definitely limited him. He finished with 27 carries for 154 yards, but Howland is a proven commodity at the Power Conference level. The former Hoosier has 340 career snaps and 123 carries for 613 yards and three scores to go along with six catches for 29 yards.

Other running backs of note:

Sesi Vailahi: 173 snaps, 48 carries for 126 yards and two TDs, 10 catches for 58 yards; Vailahi has yet to really pop in the backfield, but teammates consistently point to him as a guy with potential.

Kalib Hicks: 26 snaps, five carries for 25 yards and a touchdown; the former Sooner is the only other back on the roster to play a down at the collegiate level.

A Break from Competition

As Oklahoma State’s only returning starter, sophomore tight end Josh Ford seems like the safest starter to project during the first week of fall camp. 

He played 392 snaps last season, which is more at the FBS level than any of his teammates can claim across their entire careers.

Ford only caught 10 passes for 92 yards and one score, so it remains to be seen how much the starting tight end job is worth from a production standpoint, but that could change with Doug Meacham taking over as the Cowboys’ play-caller.

Ford’s biggest competition is North Texas transfer Oscar Hammond, who played 333 snaps last season and finished with 19 receptions for 238 yards and one score. Hammond also caught 58 passes for 790 yards and five touchdowns while at Central Oklahoma earlier in his career.

Other tight ends of note:

Will Monney: 228 snaps, 12 catches for 141 yards and one score; transferred from Utah State after two seasons

Quinton Stewart: 191 snaps, one catch for 2 yards and a touchdown; Oklahoma State’s longest-tenured Cowboy is hoping to earn a more consistent role with the offense this season.