Position Group Superlatives Heading into Oklahoma State’s 2025 Season

There was so much turnover within the Oklahoma State roster this offseason that, here in July, it’s still difficult to hone in on who will emerge from the various position battles throughout the roster.

So, rather than focusing in on individuals, I thought I’d take a broader look at the Cowboy position groups and how I feel about them at this point in the summer.

If you’re looking on some commentary on OSU’s quarterback room, I wrote some on that after Garret Rangel and Maealiuaki Smith hit the portal.

Most Confident In: Running Back

It feels odd saying that I’m most confident in a group that lost a consensus All-American, but this group is the most proven at Oklahoma State among probably all other position groups.

For me, it starts with the tandem of Rodney Fields Jr. and Trent Howland. Those two combined to run for 329 yards on 5.3 yards a carry in 2024. It looks like the classic thunder-and-lightning duo.

From there, Sesi Vailahi has been building experience over the past two years, and the addition of Kalib Hicks (Oklahoma) via the portal provides another capable body. Oh, and I almost forgot about Georgia State transfer Freddie Brock, who ran for 819 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

The room is deep, which feels like a luxury in this portal era.

Biggest Question Mark: Offensive Line

I’m of the belief that the OSU offensive line is headed in the right direction, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that there isn’t a ton of proven experience in that room right now.

It feels like the past decade has seen the Cowboys roll out an offensive line that included some combination of Preston Wilson, Joe Michalski, Cole Birmingham, Jake Springfield, Dalton Cooper and Taylor Miterko. All of those guys finished out their eligibility last season. That coupled with OSU hiring Andrew Mitchell and Cooper Bassett as co-coaches means this group will be entirely different next fall.

As far as returners go, you feel good about what Austin Kawecki can become. He started to break into the rotation last year and has really developed his body in his time in Stillwater. During his redshirt year in 2022, Kawecki was listed at 265 pounds. He’s up to 300 on the most recent roster. Aside from Kawecki, Noah McKinney (tackle) and Jakobe Sanders (center) played the most snaps last season among returners, but, according to PFF, they played just 30 and 32 snaps, respectively.

It was necessary for the Cowboys to hit the portal hard here, and they did. Kasen Carpenter played the second-most snaps of any player for Tulsa last season, and he was a redshirt freshman. That’s promising. OSU also got Snow College’s Tyler Brumfield on campus for the spring after he was a junior college All-American.

OSU’s O-line additions in the second portal window were strong, as well. Markell Samuel started 15 games at App State across the past two seasons. Bob Schick started 23 games at Virginia Tech across the past two seasons. Nebraska transfer Grant Seagren might have the highest ceiling of anyone in the room, but he was just a redshirt freshman who played 57 snaps last season for the Cornhuskers.

Again, I think this room is headed in the right direction, but going from clean slate to dominant O-line over the span of a handful of months feels like a tall task.

Most Talented: Defensive Back

The Cowboys already had what seemed like a strong nucleus of young players on the back end, and then they made some big-time additions in the portal.

Starting with returners, Cam Smith and Kale Smith played a ton of football last season at corner and both now enter their redshirt senior seasons. At safety, Dylan Smith has played a lot for a rising junior, and David Kabongo and Landyn Cleveland showed flashes of what they can be as true freshmen last year.

Newcomers include JK Johnson, a former Top 50 recruit who has spent time at Ohio State and LSU; Mordecai McDaniel, a former four-star recruit who spent time at Florida; Jaylin Davies, a former four-star recruit who played at Oregon and UCLA; DeAndre Boykins, a former four-star recruit who played at North Carolina; and Zaquan Patterson, a former four-star recruit who played in all 13 of Miami’s games last season as a true freshman.

Who plays where and how much? I don’t know, but it’s hard to imagine that talent will be an issue in this room.

Most Underrated: Linebacker

Contrary to the defensive back portal additions the Cowboys made this offseason, the linebacker additions perhaps didn’t come from blue-blood programs. But just about all the chatter about the group throughout the spring was super positive.

The Cowboys added Bryan McCoy from Akron, Brandon Rawls from Saginaw Valley, Trip White from Ole Miss and Darius Thomas from Western Kentucky. Aside from Ole Miss, that’s not the who’s who of college programs.

McCoy was a Group of Five All-American last season after recording 120 tackles, and Rawls played in 32 games across the past three years at Saginaw Valley, where he was a two-time all-conference performer.

I’m still not exactly sure whether the players listed as outside linebackers will play like linebackers or de facto defensive ends (or some combination of the two), but Malik Charles, a transfer from West Georgia, also generated a lot of buzz during spring ball. He was mostly a basketball player in high school, which explains his unique path (Western New Mexico to Northern Arizona to West Georgia) to Stillwater.

Depth might be a bit of a concern, but I wouldn’t read the schools these guys came from to base your opinion off them.