Receiver Roundup: Presley Entering Final Season, Watch Out for Shotomide-King and Introducing Lofton

STILLWATER — There might not be a position group that has been more consistently solid under Mike Gundy than his wide receivers.

The group looks good again in 2024. It’s intriguing at the top with Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens, De’Zhaun Stribling and Talyn Shettron, but that group does have some unproven, though exciting, depth behind it. Here are a few nuggets about OSU’s receivers from this past Saturday’s media day.

Can Presley Hit 1,000?

Entering his fifth season with the program, Brennan Presley has done just about everything one can do in an OSU uniform.

An unheralded recruit in the 2020 class, Presley took his only Power Five offer, traveling west on the turnpike from Bixby to join the Cowboys. He has since climbed to No. 4 in program history in receptions (225), seventh in receiving yards (2,548) and 12th in touchdown receptions (16).

Those tallies are made more impressive given Presley is a 5-foot-8, 175-pound slot receiver. The others on those lists are almost exclusively outside receivers. One thing Presley hasn’t done however, is go for 1,000 receiving yards in a season. It’s a feat that only nine Cowboys have done (some more than once). Presley was oh, so close to becoming the 10th last season when he finished with 991 yards.

Although Presley said hitting that mark is a goal he has for himself, he doesn’t want to get too caught up in the individual stuff and just focus on having a good season. The fact that this goal is attainable, though, is just another reason why the undersized slot man from Bixby has had such a remarkable career, something he said he’ll look back on when it’s all done, but not now.

“To me, I’m not saying it doesn’t feel real or anything like that, but I’m not thinking about that too much because I’m still in it,” Presley said. “So while I’m in it, I’ll never really think about it as I guess everybody else thinks about it or look at myself like that. I’m just loving the game that I’m playing, just playing.”

Name to Know: Ayo Shotomide-King

It’s quite literally my job to know who is on the OSU football team, but when the media was allowed to watch stretches for two of the Cowboys’ first practices of fall camp, I had to jump to my roster sheet.

There was a towering receiver wearing No. 9 who I didn’t know. Looking at the sheet, it was Ayo Shotomide-King, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound redshirt sophomore from Snow College in Utah. With his measurables, Shotomide-King certainly looked the part, but then at OSU’s media day Saturday, he was also getting named dropped a few times.

“Definitely a big body,” Presley said. “He catches the ball. Big, physical receiver. He’s not afraid of anything. Tough. He’s just a receiver you would want on your team.”

Originally out of Chula Vista, California, Shotomide-King caught 37 passes at Snow last season for 438 yards and a pair of scores. He finished second on the team in receptions and third in receiving yards.

Outside of returners Presley, Rashod Owens, De’Zhaun Stribling and Talyn Shettron, most of the Cowboys’ receiving depth is unproven. The way Shotomide-King’s teammates have talked about him to this point, it wouldn’t be too big a surprise to see him play a role.

“Off the field, just a great guy,” quarterback Zane Flores said. “He’s quieter, but still a great guy. On the field, he’s athletic, he’s fast. A couple days ago he was making some great catches.”

Lofton Looked Up to Tylan Wallace

With Da’Wain Lofton transferring in from Virginia Tech,  it might be easy to forget that he is a Texan.

Out of North Side High in Fort Worth, Lofton became a Hokie after also accumulating offers to Colorado, Kansas, Duke, Mississippi State, Louisville, TCU, Penn State and others. He played in 36 games during his time with Virginia Tech, catching 35 passes for 410 yards and three touchdowns in three seasons.

Lofton said at OSU’s media day he actually looked up to another Fort Worth standout: Tylan Wallace.

“I looked up to Tylan Wallace, who came here,” Lofton said. “We’re from the same city. He’s from Fort Worth, went to South Hills. I went to a school on the other side of town. I kinda looked up to him in middle school, watching him play. Once I got to high school, that’s what drew me to play receiver. As I entered the portal, Oklahoma State gave me the chance to come here, and shoot, I took that chance with no hesitation. It’s been great so far.”

Wallace is now in the NFL, prepping for his fourth season with the Baltimore Ravens after a successful stint in Stillwater that saw him catch 205 passes for 3,434 yards and 26 touchdowns in four seasons. Funnily enough, though, Lofton now gets to work under Tracin Wallace, Tylan’s twin brother who also played at OSU and is now a graduate assistant who helps with the receivers.

“Working with Tracin is great,” Lofton said. “He’s teaching me a lot. He actually helped me learn the playbook a lot and especially during the summer. We got to meet a couple times and learn the playbook and signals, as well.”