2022 Oklahoma Breakout Player: WR Jalil Farooq

Leading up to the start of training camp in August, AllSooners examines OU players who could surprise and have a big year

Part 2 of a series exploring Oklahoma’s potential breakout players in 2022:

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Jalil Farooq just needed a chance.

After not playing football his senior year, after injuring his hamstring right before coming to Oklahoma, after a painfully slow start to his freshman season, Farooq healed, up, got bigger and stronger — and then delivered in the Alamo Bowl.

Farooq’s performance against Oregon in San Antonio — three catches for 64 yards, including an impressive 30-yard catch-and-run — showed what he’s capable of when healthy and involved as a piece of the offensive playbook.

One game delivered the bulk of his season-long work as a true freshman: four catches, 69 yards.

Now, with the 2022 football season just around the corner — OU opens training camp Aug. 4 — Farooq needs to go through the door he opened last December and emerge as a reliable, consistent threat in the Sooner passing game.

Jalil Farooq :: Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

Three players ahead of him on the depth chart last season — Jadon Haselwood, Mike Woods and Mario Williams — are gone, Woods for the NFL and Haselwood and Williams via the transfer portal. Haselwood led the Sooners with 39 catches for 399 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns, but he’s at Arkansas now. And Williams caught 35 passes for 380 yards (fourth on the team) with four TDs (third) but now plays at USC.

For the most part, Oklahoma’s passing game was a mess last season. Uninspired play-calling by the head coach, inconsistent play at the quarterback spot (including a mid-season change) and a lack of big-play production out of everyone not named Marvin Mims produced a season in which running backs or H-backs caught 101 passes for 1,089 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Those positions made 36 percent of the receptions for 32 percent of the yards and 34 percent of the TD throws.

Lincoln Riley’s first three offenses as head coach averaged 17.8, 16.5 and 15.9 yards per catch. Last year’s squad only averaged 12.28 yards per catch — the Sooners’ lowest since 2013.

Jalil Farooq :: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports

New offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is going to want to fix that.

With Dillon Gabriel behind center, expect the Sooner receivers to average at least 15 yards per catch again. To get to that number means more throws to the wideouts. Combine that with Lebby’s desire to run a high-tempo offense and tax defenses with a lot of snaps, and that means more reps for the entire two-deep at receiver.

Mims (32 catches, 705 yards, 5 TDs last year) and senior Theo Wease (out all last year with an injury) are expected to put up huge numbers. Drake Stoops (16 catches, 191 yards, two TDs) should expect a bigger role.

Two transfer portal additions — LV Bunkley-Shelton from Arizona State and J.J. Hester from Missouri — will fortify the position but could reduce Farooq’s snaps. Two talented freshmen — Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson — are strong enough and explosive enough to expect significant snaps in 2022 as well.

Farooq’s opportunity, though, is there.

Jalil Farooq / Jalil Farooq via Twitter

Although his school district didn’t play football during the 2020 pandemic shutdown, his contributions as a junior at Wise High School in Landham, MD, were impressive: 718 yards receiving and 11 touchdown catches, 668 rushing yards and 11 TD runs, with 35 tackles, 11 PBUs and three interceptions on defense. Those numbers helped Wise to a 15-0 record and Maryland state championship.

Lots of big-time schools offered Farooq in addition to Oklahoma: Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Baylor, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and others.

At 6-foot-1 and now 206 pounds — bigger, stronger and faster with a full offseason at OU — Farooq could be on the verge of a big-time season.