All Sooners

Best of the Portal: Oklahoma TE Daniel Parker's Physicality Brings a New Dimension to the Offense

Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley reunited with Daniel Parker Jr. in Norman, a move that has both Finley and Parker excited ahead of the 2022 season.

Ryan Chapman

The Oklahoma Sooners made a number of additions in the transfer portal this offseason. And while a few of those new players were on full display in last month’s spring game, AllSooners is taking a look back at each transfer’s top moments with their former team.

Daniel Parker Jr.’s unique career has landed him in Norman.

A offensive lineman and defensive lineman in high school in Blue Springs, MO, Parker signed on with the Missouri Tigers to play defensive end.

But injuries in Missouri’s tight end room threw Parker a curveball. The 6-foot-2 athlete slid back over to the offensive side of the ball, and he never looked back.

Bringing the physicality he learned in the trenches to the table, Parker excelled along the line of scrimmage early, providing some depth for the Tigers.

Read More Best of the Portal:

By the end of the year under the tutelage of then-Missouri tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, Parker was getting involved in the passing game as well. On Nov. 10, 2018, Parker had his first breakout game in the SEC.

Hauling in three catches for 42 yards, Parker grabbed his first career touchdown off a 20-yard ball from quarterback Drew Lock.

After his freshman year, Parker wouldn’t return to the defensive line room.

In 2019, Parker improved in every receiving category, totaling 15 catches for 140 yards.

No contest was more notable for Parker than Missouri’s battle with South Carolina, where the tight end posted a career-high four catches for 46 yards.

Last year, Parker really began to emerge as a bonafide red zone threat at Missouri.

He started the season off with a bang in his second game of the year, grabbing a pair of touchdown catches in a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.

Parker returned to the end zone in his final game of the 2021 season, housing one of his two catches against South Carolina.

Given the chance to hit the transfer portal this past offseason, Parker couldn’t turn down the prospect of reuniting with Finley in Norman.

“Deciding to leave Missouri I just felt like I needed to improve my game,” Parker said during spring practice. “I felt like just being there was just helping me maintain. And it’s not a knock on those guys. I love those guys over there.

“… Coach Finley was my tight end coach my freshman year as Missouri and we had that connection. He knows what I’m about. I know what he’s about. It was just good to get back wth him.”

Parker said Finley’s attention to detail is what makes him a great coach, and he’s excited to be back in his tight end room.

“(Finley) shows a lot of tough love and that’s what I need as a player,” Parker said. “I need tough love. And he fine tunes those little techniques that the next level is really looking for.

“… Just watching him fine tune those small things that they needed to fix, it was a big eye opener for me.”

Finley said bringing Parker into the fold was a no-brainer for him.

Not only will Parker bring a different level of physicality to the Oklahoma tight ends room, but Finley said Parker’s experience at Missouri will be a benefit to the entire position group.

“He’s very special to me just because of the way he plays, prepares and goes about everything,” Finley said in April. “The way he interacts with my children. He’s like a big brother to them. So happy to have him here with us.”

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

Home/Football