Player Poll: Which Cowboys Will Surprise in 2025?

Throughout fall camp, PFB polled Oklahoma State players to see who the Cowboys thought would surprise fans on both offense and defense this season. Twelve different offensive players and 11 defenders got a shout out from their teammates.

Although the poll didn’t reach an overwhelming consensus, only two players came up three different times.

The offensive standout was easily quarterback Hauss Hejny.

“Hauss is gonna be one crazy guy,” offensive lineman Nuku Mafi said. “Especially when he runs with the ball.”

Note: In the polls below, if a player mentioned one player, their vote counted as one point. Most mentioned a few guys for each side of the ball, their votes counted as 0.5 in these circumstances.

Offense
QB Hauss Hejny:  1.5
WR Sam Jackson V:  1.5
WR Terrill Davis:  1.5
RB Sesi Vailahi:  1
RB Kalib Hicks:  1
WR Christian Fitzpatrick:  1
WR Gavin Freeman:  1
WR Tre’ Griffiths:  1
RB Trent Howland:  0.5
RB Freddie Brock IV:  0.5
WR Shamar Rigby:  0.5
WR Da’Wain Lofton:  0.5

Oklahoma State’s receiver room looks deep on paper and that depth appears to translate well to the practice field as seven different guys at the position came up during the poll.

Receivers Sam Jackson V and Christian Fitzpatrick were each recognized by two teammates during fall camp. Both guys also happened to be recognized by their teammates at Big 12 Media Days.

Central Oklahoma transfer Terrill Davis earned high praise during Mike Gundy’s only media appearance of fall camp. Davis led all NCAA players, regardless of division, with 1,609 receiving yards last season.

“I would say Terrill Davis is going to surprise a lot of people,” Hejny said. “I don’t know if it is going to be surprising if he does well (though) because he is a good player.”

Given the depth of experienced receivers it was somewhat of a surprise to hear redshirt freshman Tre’ Griffiths come up. Griffiths didn’t see the field last season until the finale at Colorado and even then he didn’t show up on the stat sheet. OSU named him a practice player of the week twice last season.

“His ball tracking ability that you see every day at practice, it is just crazy,” defensive end Kyran Duhon said.

If there’s any other offensive position that could make an argument against the receivers regarding depth, it would be the OSU running backs.

Four of them were recognized, including Sooners transfer Kalib Hicks who earned two shout outs from his fellow Cowboys.

“Hicks, he’s been playing pretty good to me,” receiver Da’Wain Lofton said. “He’s been having a lot of breakout runs at practice.”

Hicks is averaging five yards per carry in college, though he’s only carried it five times. His highlights include a 9-yard run and a 6-yard touchdown in a game against Arkansas State in 2023.

Running back Sesi Vailahi also came up twice this time around. He was the most popular answer to this question during the 2024 fall camp as well.

“I know he didn’t get much snaps last year because Ollie Gordon,” Mafi said. “But this year, I know he’s gonna go off.”

Vailahi finished second in running back snaps last season with 154 behind Gordon who led the team with 577. Running back Trent Howland finished third with 94 offensive snaps.

Defense
OLB Wendell Gregory:  2
OLB Malik Charles:  1.5
CB JK Johnson:  1
CB (LB?) Jacobi Oliphant Jr.:  1
S Parker Robertson:  1
CB Kale Smith:  0.5
DT Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi:   0.5
CB Jaylin Davies:  0.5
CB David Kabongo:  0.5
LB Bryan McCoy Jr.:  0.5
LB Brandon Rawls:  0.5

It was a lot harder to pin down who might stand out for Oklahoma State on defense this season, but there was clarity at the top. Outside linebacker Wendell Gregory came up three times and was the only player on either side of the ball to earn two points in our poll.

“He is just a freak athlete,” Hejny said. “He has actually done a lot of good things in practice the last five days.”

Gregory only played seven snaps last season at South Carolina, recording one tackle. As a high school senior he recorded 56 tackles including 18 for loss and seven sacks in addition to 14 quarterback hurries.

Mafi was another Cowboy who recognized Gregory, but he also shone a spotlight on seventh-year player Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi.

“He’s surprised me a lot,” Mafi said. “I didn’t know he can move. I thought he was just a regular D-lineman. But him and Wendell, those two are really gonna pop off. The offense better be careful.”

Kaufusi spent the first six years of his career all at UCLA. He played 528 snaps and recorded 22 tackles while overcoming an injury that sidelined him all of 2021.

Outside linebacker Malik Charles is another newcomer primed to impress Cowboy fans this season after finishing second in the player poll. He played 520 snaps at the FCS level before arriving in Stillwater. He turned those into 37 tackles, including 11 for loss and seven sacks. Charles also recorded 16 hurries and two quarterback hits.

Running back Rodney Fields Jr. said Charles was big and strong and added that it is surprising how fast the 6-3, 283-pound linebacker can move.

Oklahoma State just might have more depth at corner than it does at receiver. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that cornerback Jacobi Oliphant Jr. is moving around at different positions a lot this offseason.

“A guy whose been getting moved around from position to position, but if he keep on that he’s going to be a hell of a linebacker,” safety Mordecai McDaniel said. “Just a guy that got value to himself.”

Oliphant Jr. played five snaps against Texas Tech last season, recording one tackle. OSU named him as a practice player of the week twice.

Former walk-on safety Parker Robertson saw a greatly expanded role in 2024 as a first-year scholarship player. To hear one of OSU’s newcomers describe him this fall, it sounds like he hasn’t lost his fire.

“Watching him play, he’s like always around the ball,” Duhon said. “So I think that is really good for our defense.”