Oklahoma State’s Freshmen Receivers Impressing in Fall Camp

STILLWATER — From early reports of fall camp, it seems like Kasey Dunn has done it again.

Dunn’s talent evaluation skills and recruiting ability have made Oklahoma State a haven for receiving talent since he came to OSU’s campus in 2011. From guys like James Washington and Tylan Wallace to last season when Tay Martin took over the reigns, the Cowboys seemingly always have at least one dude at receiver (or in the case of 2017, like five or six dudes).

Even last season, Dunn had to rely heavily on his four-man freshman class, and each showed enough potential to get Cowboy fans excited for 2022.

Dunn brought in another four-man class of receivers in this season, and its sounds like the group of Talyn Shettron, Braylin Presley, Stephon Johnson and Mason Gilkey are off to a hot start in fell camp. And, unlike last season, Dunn and OSU have the benefit of bringing this group up to speed at a more controlled pace.

How much this group will contribute to the 2022 season remains to be seen. The Cowboys have some quality depth at the position this year with Brennan Presley, Braydon Johnson, Jaden Bray, Blaine Green, Bryson Green, John Paul Richardson, Rashod Owens, Langston Anderson … you get it. But when someone from this freshmen group is needed, it sounds like OSU will still be in a good spot.

Shettron was the top dog of the class. A four-star prospect, Shettron ranked 126th nationally, which put him 19th among receivers in the cycle. He enrolled early after catching 201 passes for 3,057 yards and 34 touchdowns the past three seasons at Edmond Santa Fe High School.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, Shettron made a few impressive catches in the Cowboys’ open spring practice, but he came up hobbled after one and reemerged from the locker room in a walking boot. Dunn said Shettron is still hampered a bit with that, but it’s only a matter of when — not if — Shettron becomes a star player from the Cowboys.

“Talyn has been nicked up a little bit,” Dunn said. “So, he’s still just trying to work back into the situation. I’d love to get him back out there full speed right away. He started off in the beginning of camp and looked good and then was slowed a little bit again. He hurt his ankle in the spring game, and he’s kinda just been recovering from that.

“He’s going to be a great player here, no doubt in my mind. It’s just a matter of time. It’s when. It’s hard to play somebody that hasn’t taken a ton of snaps, and you got a guy like Braydon Johnson and Jaden Bray in front of him, it just makes it harder for a young guy to come in and make a play. Time — but I’ve seen a lot of good things.”

Presley was listed as an athlete by recruiting services after spending much of his high school career as a running back. A major piece to the dynasty that has been built at Bixby High School, Presley ran for 4,235 yards and 63 touchdowns the past three seasons with the Spartans while also having 1,613 receiving yards and another 23 scores.

Presley, listed at 5-8, 165 pounds on OSU’s roster, was the No. 369 player in OSU’s class, ranking him 19th among athletes.

“He’s a hiccup,” Dunn said. “Super quick. We’ve got to find a way to put the ball in his hands. There’s a chance he plays this year. Similar, obviously, with Brennan, so we’re not going outside of the box on trying to create plays different for inside receivers than we would normally for Brennan and JP [Richardson]. He would fit into that role, but we’re probably not gonna design a bunch of things for him either. We’ve got a bunch of talented guys in there, and I want to bring him along slowly. He’s not gonna make a huge impact, I wouldn’t think, right away just because of the talent level we have in there now.”

The only receiver not from Oklahoma in the class, Johnson was a one-time Oregon commit from DeSoto, Texas. DeSoto has been a fertile recruiting ground for Oklahoma State over the years from guys like Tatum Bell up to recent standouts LD Brown, AJ Green and current starting corner Jabbar Muhammad.

Johnson had 1,656 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns in his high school career at three different schools. He committed to the Ducks in March of his junior year before reopening his recruitment in January of his senior year when Dunn and OSU struck, bringing him in on an official visit before signing him in February.

“Stephon Johnson, he’s had a good camp so far,” Dunn said. “He’s a surprise. He might slid into maybe getting himself on the bus. I’m not saying he’s gonna make a dent in our production this year. There are plenty of guys for that — Jaden looks good. Braydon Johnson looks good. BP [Brennan Presley], JP [Richardson], Braylin Presley looks good. Rashod Owens looks good. They’re all playing pretty well right now.”