All Sooners

How Multiple Challenges at Oklahoma Put Marvin Mims on His NFL Path

Mims says instability at QB and on the coaching staff didn't hinder him, and neither did a simplistic route tree: "I just wasn't asked to do it" as an OU receiver.

John E. Hoover

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As expected, Oklahoma wide receiver Marvin Mims is confident that his abilities will translate to the NFL.

Multiple times at the NFL Scouting Combine this week — essentially a job fair for college football players who want to play in the NFL — Mims expressed that confidence.

At Oklahoma, for instance, he put up impressive numbers despite playing with three quarterbacks in three seasons — Spencer Rattler, Caleb Williams and Dillon Gabriel — but that wasn't all.

“Two different (offensive coordinators), three different wide receiver coaches (Dennis Simmons, Cale Gundy, L'Damian Washington), it’s just been tough, everything around me,” Mims told reporters during media interviews at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Head coaching change, if you want to call it that. Basically just like, my production over the last three years, it’s always been up there, always been consistent. I think I averaged 16, then 22, then 20 yards per catch, to 19 in my career. You know, that’s amazing numbers — something I pride myself a lot in, just making big plays, whether it’s a screen, short pass, medium pass or deep ball.”

In three seasons in Norman, Mims caught 123 passes for 2,39 yards and 20 touchdowns. His volume of works wasn’t massive as the Sooners endured a pandemic and a quarterback change under Lincoln Riley, and then a new play caller last year in Jeff Lebby. His career average of 19.5 is the best in modern OU history.

But after catching just 37 and 32 passes his first two seasons, Mims’ junior season was by far his best statistically, as he broke out with 54 catches for 1,083 yards and six TDs.

Mims was asked about playing in an offensive system that didn’t require much nuance as a route-runner, and acknowledged that his time at OU wasn’t very technical as a receiver.

“I mean, Oklahoma didn’t ask me to run this technical route tree,” he said. “We didn’t have those routes in. But I mean, I ran routes. I’m a receiver. I run routes. High school; I have a trainer, I run routes with him, all types of stuff. Some practice tape at Oklahoma, especially in coach Riley’s offense, we have comebacks and all that type of stuff. In coach Lebby’s offense, I just wasn’t asked to do it.”

Another question Mims got was whether his big-play ability — especially his tendency to out-jump defensive backs to high-point a deep ball — is just natural or something he works at.

“Both,” Mims said. “I think it’s natural and something you work at. I played a lot of basketball growing up, AAU and all that stuff. Never a big guy. Always had amazing jumping skills, so getting rebounds and all that stuff. And just the footballs in the air, the way I look at it, I’m coming down with it no matter what I have to do. You talk about the Tech catch, sticking a hand behind the guy’s back, trying to tip it to myself, just like crazy stuff, whatever I can do to get the ball in my hands.”

Players meet the press and perform workouts and drills at the Combine, but the real value for some teams being in Indianapolis all week is getting to meet the prospects face-to-face and ask hard questions. Among the coaching staffs that Mims has talked to are two teams that are run by former OU quarterbacks: the Arizona Cardinals (Kyler Murray) and the Philadelphia Eagles (Jalen Hurts).

“I spoke to the Eagles two days ago, and playing in a scheme like that, it’d be great,” Mims said. “I’ve shown that I can block physically on the perimeter in college, and wherever I can get an opportunity, that’d be great.

“ … Yeah, I’ve spoken with the Arizona Cardinals. Their Oklahoma scout has been watching me for the past three years. Marquise Brown’s out there, so talked to him recently in the past. Talked to their wide receivers coach not too long ago in informal interviews.”

Wide receivers work out Saturday with quarterbacks and tight ends at Lucas Oil Stadium. Defensive linemen and linebackers worked out Thursday, defensive backs Friday and running backs and offensive linemen Sunday.

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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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