Position Preview: Jelani Woods Leads Cowboy Backs into 2019

No, we didn’t forget about our position preview series (maybe we did).

With Big 12 Media Days and fall camp getting started, the series got a little lost in the shuffle, but it’s back. Today, we’ll look at Cowboy Backs.

QB Preview
RB Preview
WR Preview

The Cowboy Back Room

Valek Cisneros (Fr.): A walk-on out of Clinton, Valek Cisneros is listed at 6-foot-4, 208 pounds.

Jake Ross (R-Jr.): After coming to OSU from NEO, Jake Ross missed all of his first season in Stillwater with injury in 2018. Ross caught two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown as a sophomore at NEO. In two seasons of high school football at Coweta, Ross had 68 receptions for 1,067 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Grayson Boomer (Fr.): The top recruit in OSU’s 2019 class, Grayson Boomer was ranked sixth among high school tight ends in the nation last season for the class. Out of Collinsville, Boomer picked OSU over offers from Arkansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and others.

Dayton Metcalf (R-Jr.): Dayton Metcalf is a walk-on entering his fourth season with the Cowboys. He played in five games last season and in one the year before. At Hooker High School, Metcalf finished his career with 2,500 passing yards, 1,500 rushing yards and 120 tackles.

Logan Carter (R-Jr.): Another walk-on, Logan Carter caught his first collegiate pass last season, a 20-yard touchdown against West Virginia. He played in all 13 games, primarily on special teams. He was given OSU’s 2018 Walk-On Award, given to the team’s most outstanding non-scholarship player.

Jelani Woods (R-So.): Jelani Woods’ career at OSU started as a 6-foot-7 quarterback, but he has shown plenty of promise since switching to Cowboy Back. As a redshirt freshman in 2018, Woods caught seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns in his 11 games played.

2019 Expectations

Jelani Woods’ star hasn’t blossomed quite yet, but everyone can see it’s potential to do so.

There just aren’t many coordinated, 6-7, 265-pound people walking the earth. Mike Gundy mentioned last year that he thought Woods was about a year out, and here we are.

Carter is another guy to keep an eye on, and you can’t rule out Grayson Boomer’s talent.

Position Strengths

See all of that Jelani Woods Kool-Aid I posted above.

Woods threw for 2,316 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior in high school, and when asked specifically about Woods’ experience as a quarterback, here is what new offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson had to say.

“So, if you look at the Harvard vs. Princeton 2017 game up there in Cambridge, a wide out threw a touchdown pass,” Gleeson said. “So, it’s not out of the bag of tricks, but again, it’s all just trying to get the guys to make some plays. We got a left-hander, right-hander, whatever it is, we need to score some touchdowns. I’m inspecting all areas and all abilities.”

Position Weakness

Any time a former quarterback moves to another position, physicality (blocking) is going to be a question. There weren’t any instances that stick out as to where Woods let a guy free off the top of my head, but last year he talked about how he wanted to improve in that area.