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Drake Stoops' Journey to His Sixth Season at Oklahoma Was Entirely Unique

From life as a walk-on to dealing with COVID to beating Texas with late heroics twice and through five different starting QBs, Stoops has emerged as the Sooners' leader at WR.

John E. Hoover

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ARLINGTON, TX — Six years into his college football career, Drake Stoops can now be considered a face of the Oklahoma program.

“I am the elder statesman,” Stoops said Thursday at Big 12 Media Days. “And that's just the reality of it being in my sixth year.”

Stoops’ journey to this place is unlike anyone’s:

  • He’s the son of a hall of fame coach, the school’s all-time wins leader, and the one who built the program’s current expectations, Bob Stoops.
  • Coming out of Norman North High School with his twin brother Isaac, Stoops had to walk on to earn his spot on the roster in 2018, 2019 and 2020 before Lincoln Riley granted him a scholarship in the spring of 2021.
  • Like many of his teammates and peers, he played through a pandemic and all the chaos that came with it.
  • He’s a five-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree and last year was nominated for the Campbell Trophy — college football’s “academic Heisman.”
  • He also endured Riley’s sudden departure for USC, his dad’s one-game return, and Brent Venables’ hire.
  • In five seasons, Stoops has caught passes from eight different quarterbacks — Kyler Murray, Austin Kendall, Jalen Hurts, Spencer Rattler, Tanner Mordecai, Caleb Williams, Dillon Gabriel and Davis Beville — including five different starters.

“It helps because you're able to provide perspective and advice for people going through similar things that you've been through in all your time here, or just in life in general,” Stoops said. “So it's nice to be in that spot and have the privilege of helping others intight spots that I once was in myself.”

Stoops isn’t just an old guy on the team now. He’s not just a coach’s kid. He’s the Sooners’ most experienced wide receiver — he has 80 career receptions for 914 yards and seven touchdowns, and his bonafide heroics include the game-winning TD against Texas in 2020 and the tying 2-point conversion against the Longhorns in the 2021's wild comeback. And as such, he is one of the team’s best leaders on the field as well as in the locker room or at practice.

Drake Stoops scores against Baylor.
Drake Stoops scores against Baylor :: NATHAN J FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

“Just have an appreciation for, honestly, everything. Opportunity, how many people have sacrificed to get you to where you're at. I know a lot of it is on you, and you do it. But I mean, there's a lot that's gone into it from other people. Just things like that, the little things that sometimes go forgotten about or taken for granted.”

At 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, Stoops is a prototype slot receiver who scurries around looking for soft spots in the defense. He has good size but he's not big. He has good speed, but it's not elite. So over the years, he’s evolved his game to adapt his own strengths to exploit defenses.

Now, as the Sooners are rebuilding the receiver corps, Stoops trying to elevate his game once again. Maybe there’s a future in pro football, or maybe there’s not. Maybe, like his dad, he’ll go straight into coaching. Or maybe he’ll keep playing.

For now, his eyes are on how he can help this team in 2023.

Drake Stoops beats Texas in 2020.
Drake Stoops beats Texas in 2020 :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

“This offseason, I worked a lot on on my mobility and leaning out a little bit — staying about the same weight, same strength and everything but leaning out eating a little bit better, stuff like that, and working on on my own health in that regard.

“Also just my top end speed, being able to be more of a threat in the deeper, intermediate game, things like that, and just being able to push the ball downfield win those option routes and not let people down sit on my routes thinking I can’t run by them. So definitely my top-end speed, and just my details on my routes and working on the technique of getting in and out of cuts, tops of routes, stuff like that. You can never be too efficient in and out of your route. So I want to continue to always improve that.”

 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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