Roundtable Mailbag: Position Group Power Rankings, Will Mestemaker Be a First Round Pick?

Now firmly in the dog days of summer, we turned to our subscribers to answer some questions they had about the upcoming football season.

We’ll probably do some more of this over the coming months, so if you’d like  to be a part of that, you can get 25% off a subscription here.

SherlockOhms: How would the season have to go/how well would Mestemaker need to play to get a day 1 NFL draft grade for 2027? Is it even possible?

Marshall: If Mestemaker proves he can do it against the boost in Big 12 competition, I think he’s got a real shot at being in that conversation. With guys like Arch Manning (Texas), Dante Moore (Oregon), CJ Carr (Notre Dame) and Darian Mensah (Miami) — this is a deep quarterback class. But that’s a group that, I think, Mestemaker can become a firm part of.

Even if Mestemaker isn’t a sure fire Top 10-type guy going into the draft, remember back to a draft like 2020 when Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert were all taken in the Top 10, and the Packers had too high a grade on Jordan Love to keep watching him fall.

Still a lot has to happen, but I think it’s definitely possible so long as he continues his trajectory with the move up in competition.

Kyle: I think it’s absolutely possible. If the Cowboys are competitive in the Big 12 and he remains healthy and is a big part of that, he’ll have a decent shot. If he puts up similar numbers to last year against stiffer competition than I think the chances get even better.

Tyler: You’re using the word grade, which implies what the NFL tells players. Quarterbacks often just need a Day 2 grade to be in the first round conversation as most teams would rather draft guys at the position early to lock in the extra contract year.

I assume what you’re actually interested in is that first-round conversation, which is very possible. ESPN’s way too early 2027 mock lists Mestemaker as the fourth, and final, quarterback going in the first round next season.

If Mestemaker comes close to his nation-leading pace set last season he will be in the mix should he choose to leave. However, it’s probably more realistic that he falls off a little from a statistical standpoint given the jump in competition.

He will likely face at least two highly ranked opponents in Oregon (Week 2) and Texas Tech (Week 11). Those two games will get broken down live and after the season by NFL scouts and draft experts. Even if the Pokes lose those guys, if Mestemaker can show real flashes of NFL competency in those games he might earn himself even closer looks in other games. I think it’s a real concern Oklahoma State fans should prepare for based on how he looks in practice.

Bramos: Do you guys think Eric Morris will bring in a Top 15 recruiting class anytime in the next decade?

Marshall: I could go either way here.

On one hand, Morris seems to still value the development piece of this, something that has gone by the wayside for some programs given the prominence of the transfer portal. So, Morris digging into high school recruiting more deeply could lead to a Top 15 class.

On the other hand, Morris does not seem to care about recruiting rankings whatsoever, as evident by this quote at his introductory news conference:

“And so if I take a three-star quarterback, nobody get mad at me. Like that’s all I can say. We have a set of qualifications in a kind of a formula that we have to recruiting these guys.”

It’s still uber early for Morris’ tenure to have any big takeaways on his recruiting, but early signs would suggest he practices what he preaches in that he is getting multi-sport, athletic guys and might not be focusing too much on how many stars are next to their names.

Kyle: A Top 15 class is a big ask, but it’s obviously not impossible. I think comes down to three things: how quickly he can turn things around, followed by sustained success and his ability to leverage that into more financial support for NIL. But he has said that he is going to emphasize traditional recruiting.

Tyler: He sort of already did. 247Sports ranks Oklahoma State’s portal group 15th in the nation.

Now, as good as Morris is with the portal, he’s not going to be able to recruit a whole team like that again so I won’t pretend that’s the new norm in Stillwater.

Morris’ best class at UNT ranked 90th overall and 74th in the portal. Oklahoma State’s best portal class in the last five years of the Mike Gundy era ranked 22nd, though his portal classes averaged out to be around 53rd.

From 2006-2014, Oklahoma State’s classes averaged out to finish 27th with a best ranking of 24th.

If Morris can succeed in the next two seasons using this core group then that 25ish overall ranking might be the baseline of what we can expect from future Cowboys recruiting classes. His ability to push for a top 15 group will likely depend on how much money donors want to give him.

Stephenson: With what you know/have seen coming out of spring ball, where do you rank each position group in relation to each other? (I.e. 1. Safeties, 2. QBs, 3. Edge, etc.)

Marshall: With everything being so new (players and system) this feels like a shot in that dark, but very quickly, without spending two hours refining each take, here we go:

1. QB — Behind Mestemaker is a mystery, but Mestemaker gives you a shot.
2. WR — Wyatt Young had 1,264 yards via Mestemaker last season and might be the third-best WR on the roster (see Chris Barnes, Justin Bowick).
3. RB — Caleb Hawkins is an excellent featured back, and while I’m not sure who will develop into RB2 or RB3, I like how position coach Patrick Cobbs has built that room.
4. DE — Morris sounded sort of surprised at the depth here during spring ball, and it’s hard to blame him. Jaleel Johnson, DeSean Brown, Malik Charles, James Williams, Keviyan Huddleston, Billy Walton — the Cowboys have options.
5. CB — I think people will soon realize how big LaDainian Fields’ return is. I’m not sure who will feature most prominently opposite him, but I think Mo Horn, Kollin Lewis and Kobi Foreman are all solid.
6. TE — Given the state of this position over the past handful of years (or maybe a decade) in Stillwater, I’m cautiously optimistic, but I think Donovan Green is one of the more promising dudes OSU has had in the room in a while.
7. LB — There’s some depth here with Ethan Wesloski, Tate Romney, Isaiah Chisom, Trip White and Carl’veon Young.
8. OL — In theory, I like this group, but there is some “prove it” to it as to how some guys handle the step up in competition and whether others can stay healthy.
9. S — I’m still not entirely sure who will emerge here, but I think the likes of Christian Bodnar, Quinton Hammonds, Cameron Epps and Vincent Holmes are all good options.
10. DT — Again, I like pieces in this room but am interested to see what it looks like when the bullets are live. It would also be a big help for this unit if Iman Oates can get that extra year.

Kyle: Man, from the hip, my top five are:
1. QB
2. RB
3. WR
4. DBs
5. LB

Tyler: This is a great question that I felt a lot more confident in back in the spring when I was seeing these guys regularly. It all feels a little bit muddled now. The top of the list reflects groups I’m extremely high on at the moment, the bottom half is more reflective of just general uncertainty as opposed to low expectations.

1. QB — I actually thought Mestemaker looked as bad as I’ve seen him all spring during the public scrimmage. I’m a little worried that he might force some bad throws, as he did to start the scrimmage, this fall should he find himself under pressure and/or trailing by multiple scores. But even if he does that at times, I fully expect him to light up most opponents this fall.
2. RB — I have similar faith in Caleb Hawkins.
3. LB — Ditto for Ethan Wesloski.
4. CB — I just really like what I’ve seen from the two-deep during practice and LaDainian Fields impressed me late last season.
5. WR — The depth at the position in combination with Mestemaker’s arm gives me confidence the receivers will produce as a whole. Wyatt Young hasn’t jumped out to me as much as expected yet. I still need to see someone on this team prove they can be a No. 1 WR in the Big 12 capable of carrying that load each week.
6. Edges — Jaleel Johnson had a great scrimmage and these guys earned praise from Morris as maybe the most impressive group during the spring. I’m buying into the hype, though this is the point on the list where we move from my eyes to a combination of what I saw and what I heard.
7. Safeties — Largely based on spring, might deserve to be higher, but it’s tougher to evaluate them than corners during 7-on-7 drills we saw during spring.
8. TE — Feels like a one-man show with Donovan Green, and I’m not sure how good that performance is just yet. Not a knock on him, I just didn’t leave spring with a huge understanding of his skill, it’s hard to watch everyone.
9. DL — I personally find it impossible to draw strong conclusions on the lines during spring ball given important contact and winning leverage battles are for those guys.
10. OL — Expected starters missed the spring. This is by far the position I have the worst feel for headed into the fall.

R11: Where do you see our Offense ranking in the Big 12? The league? Same for defense.

Marshall: I think the offense is going to be right up there. Morris has proven to be an excellent play-caller, and the guys largely responsible for the most prolific offense in the country last season are now in Stillwater. Again, you have to note the jump up in competition for a lot of those guys, but unless the offensive line is just a calamity, I think this’ll be a Top 3 unit in the league.

I’m less confident in the defense, which is probably evident by my position power rankings. I can certainly see the path for this being a solid unit, but a lot of it is less proven than the offense. Given how good I think the offense will be, if this defensive group can hang in the Top 10, I think it’ll be a successful season in Stillwater.

Kyle: Three Offense, five Defense. Also a bit of a guess because there are some many variables and new pieces that have to gel and adjust.

Tyler: With the transfer portal, this is another good but impossible question to confidently answer, but I will do my best.

I think Oklahoma State’s offense will finish somewhere between third and seventh in the conference this fall. I’m largely basing this off Mestemaker’s arm talent, familiarity with his play-caller and the core group of returning (from UNT) offensive talent and coaches around those two guys. I expect Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, Kansas State, Houston, and Arizona to compete offensively roughly in that order.

I will put Oklahoma State’s defense somewhere between eighth and 12th in the conference. It feels like there is too much familiarity between the players and coaches to be one of the worst units in the conference. However, I have yet to see true game-wreckers on defense. It is a lot harder to evaluate defenses during the spring, so my confidence is also a lot lower on this side of the ball.