Role Play: Patrick McKaufman Returns After Missing 2018 With Injury

There was a lot of optimism surrounding Patrick McKaufman this time last year before an ACL injury ended his season before it started.

McKaufman, a JUCO product, returns for what will be his redshirt junior season as part of a receiving unit that is as deep as any in the country. He is the next player we’ll look at with our Role Play series.

Profile

Player: Patrick McKaufman
Position: WR
Number: 85
Height: 6-6
Weight: 200

WR Room: Tylan Wallace, Landon Wolf, Braydon Johnson, Tyrell Alexander, C.J. Moore, Dillon Stoner, Jonathan Shepherd, Gabe Simpson, Taje Williams, Jacob Morris, Jordan McCray, Langston Anderson

Background

McKaufman transitioned to wide receiver from quarterback in his one season at NEO in 2016. He got limited work as a Norseman, only gaining 125 total yards that season, but his credentials as an athlete span much beyond that.

As a quarterback at OKC-Douglass, McKaufman put up 8,243 total yards in 49 games. He also led Douglass to a state championship in basketball as a senior, averaging 20.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game.

Ceiling/Floor

As of now, there is a big gap between McKaufman’s ceiling and floor because he is unproven as a pass-catcher to this point.

His 6-6, uber athletic frame puts McKaufman’s ceiling somewhere in the stratosphere. But coming off an ACL injury will also factor into how good McKaufman can be this fall.

He played the spring in a knee brace, but after the open spring practice, Gundy said McKaufman should improve a ton over the summer in terms of confidence in that knee.

As of now, he is a bit of an enigma. All of the tools seem there, but no one has seen his abilities as a Big 12 receiver outside of practice.

Expectations/Role

McKaufman not only has competition within the Cowboys’ receiving corps as a whole, but he also will compete for targets among the Pokes’ big-body receivers.

Receivers’ coach Kasey Dunn has 6-6 McKaufman, 6-6 Jordan McCray and 6-5 C.J. Moore at his disposal. In an already deep position group, those three could be in an internal jump-ball target competition.

Among the three, McKaufman carries around the most weight. At 200 pounds, McKaufman is 13 pounds heavier than McCray and 25 pounds bigger than Moore. Maybe in the red zone, Sean Gleeson will line up McKaufman, Moore and McCray and 6-7 Jelani Woods and just throw the ball at the goalpost and see who comes down with it.

There is an opening where Tyron Johnson left a season ago, but that spot has more than only the three towers eyeing it. Gundy mentioned in the spring that Dillon Stoner could move to the outside from the slot. Braydon Johnson and Jonathan Shepherd will also look to break into the lineup this season.

It’s a true embarrassment of riches for OSU at receiver, but McKaufman’s body and athleticism should give him a chance to contribute.