Oklahoma 2021 Report Card: Wide Receiver

There were plenty of high school accolades, big names and recruiting stars, but for whatever reason, the OU receiver corps didn't put up consistently big numbers.

The indignation over Oklahoma’s unparalleled run of 5-star receiver talent seemed to peak in 2021.

• Trejan Bridges was kicked off the team after an alleged armed robbery arrest.
• Theo Wease sat out the entire season with an injury, then entered the transfer portal, then changed his mind.
• Jadon Haselwood, finally healthy, led the Sooners with a mere 39 catches and averaged just 10.2 yards per catch before transferring to Arkansas.
• And when a disappointing season had finally ended, Mario Williams entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

That group — three from the 2019 class, Williams a freshman in ’21 — exemplified what was another year of underachievement from the OU receiver corps.

Jalil Farooq, Jadon Haselwood / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

More than other positions, the success of a team’s receivers depends on many outside factors — steady quarterback play, good offensive line play and effective play-calling are at the top of the list — and things were sketchy this season in all three departments. That led to a lot of average play by the wideouts.

Such a thing seemed unlikely going into the season: Lincoln Riley is the playcaller, Spencer Rattler is the quarterback and the offensive line is essentially returning four starters.

But with Riley apparently coaching much of the season with one eye on USC, and with Rattler looking over his shoulder at Caleb Williams, and with Williams playing very much at times like a true freshman, and with the offensive line striving for consistency at best, what chance at excellence did the OU receivers have in 2021?

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2021 OU Report Cards

• Saturday, Jan. 8: Offensive line
• Sunday, Jan. 9: Defensive line
• Monday, Jan. 10: Running back
• Tuesday, Jan. 11: Linebacker
• Wednesday, Jan. 12: RECEIVER
• Thursday, Jan. 13: Cornerbacks
• Friday, Jan. 14: H-Backs
• Saturday, Jan. 15: Safety
• Sunday, Jan. 16: Special teams
• Monday, Jan. 17: Quarterback
• Tuesday, Jan. 18: Coaching

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Marvin Mims was again the best of the bunch, catching 32 passes for a team-leading 705 yards (22.03 yards per catch) and scoring five touchdowns. Mims is the team’s most dynamic, most explosive and most consistent downfield threat and deserves more targets. A player of Mims’ talent in an offense like this should catch 70-90 passes.

Haselwood had a strong stretch early and led the Sooners with six touchdowns. But he’s still clearly battling the offseason knee injury that cost him nearly all of the 2020 campaign. Haselwood shows stretches of having go-to characteristics, but also disappears for long periods.

Marvin Mims / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Mario Williams was second on the squad with 35 catches but wasn’t nearly as dynamic as the coaching staff promised in the preseason. Williams averaged just 10.86 yards per catch and scored four touchdowns. He just entered the transfer portal this week and could always come back to Norman, but conventional wisdom says he’ll follow Caleb Williams when he eventually leaves.

Arkansas transfer Mike Woods did exactly what he did his last two years with the Razorbacks: 32 catches, 381 yards, two touchdowns (he went 32-619-5 and 33-423-4 in 2019 and 2020). Woods was one of three Sooners with 32 catches this season and made some nice plays, but never developed into a frontline target before leaving for the NFL Draft.

Drake Stoops again showed he has the best hands on the team, but missed a few games with illness and struggled to deliver a consistent impact. Stoops finished with 16 catches for 191 yards and two touchdowns.

Drake Stoops / Photo via the Alamo Bowl

More production was expected out of true freshmen Cody Jackson and Jalil Farooq, but Farooq battled early injury and a prolonged idle period between his junior year of high school and being healthy as a college freshman (he was finally 100 percent in the Alamo Bowl and led the team with 64 yards on three catches), and Jackson sustained a midseason injury that kept him out of all but two games.

In the future, maybe names like Brian Darby (seven catches, 102 yards, two TDs) and Trevon West (four catches, 45 yards) can become consistent contributors in the OU pass game.

But measured in receiving yards, the Sooners’ fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 11th best totals were posted by three H-backs and two running backs.

If he stays for his senior year, big things will be expected from Wease in 2022. Maybe Stoops emerges with a big season. Farooq and Jackson will certainly see more opportunities if they stick around. Darby and West could be next in line. Freshmen Jayden Gibson and Nicholas Anderson are good enough to see early playing time.

Some of that will depend on who quarterbacks the offense and how new coordinator Jeff Lebby draws things up and how a revamped o-line performs. But those guys and others should be able to put up at least similar numbers, if not superior, to what all those 5-stars ever did.

Grading the Receivers

• Hoover: C-
• Chapman: C+
• Callaway: B-

Receivers GPA: 2.222 (C+ on a 4.0 scale)