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Oklahoma 2024 Report Cards: Tight Ends Were Still a Major Liability

Two transfers looked like they would upgrade the position, but while there was a necessary uptick in production, the Sooners' TEs struggled with consistency.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma tight end Jake Roberts
Oklahoma tight end Jake Roberts / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
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Oklahoma’s tight ends in 2024 were supposed to be an upgrade.

But far too often, the opposite was true.

Transfers Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts certainly had their moments this season, but those moments were too infrequent for an OU offense that struggled in literally every area.

Simply put, it probably wasn’t fair to anyone to put so much on Sharp and Roberts, but with so many wide receivers out all season and with such shoddy play on the offensive line, OU’s play-callers in 2024 probably felt like they didn’t have much choice.

The 6-foot-4, 247-pound Sharp, a transfer from Southeastern Louisiana of the Division I FCS level and a converted quarterback, fortunately stayed healthy all season and was one of the busiest players on the team, logging 644 offensive snaps this season. He also played 161 snaps on the Sooners’ kickoff return, punt coverage and field goal special teams units.

That workload — combined with a lack of productivity and other offensive positions and perhaps some unreasonably high expectations he set in spring practice — may have ultimately wore Sharp down.

Sharp posted a 53.1 overall grade, according to Pro Football Focus — well below the 62.9 and the 81.2 he posted at Southeastern Louisiana in 2022 and 2023. His grades of 32.7 against Houston, 45.1 against South Carolina, and 35.6 against LSU were season lows.

Read More: Oklahoma 2024 Report Cards

Early in the season, Sharp acknowledged that his blocking was lacking and needed improvement, and it did get marginally better over the course of the season, although he posted five single-game PFF grades below 50.

Sharp started all 12 regular-season games before opting out of the Armed Forces Bowl. With no other receiving targets healthy, he ended up leading the Sooners with 42 catches and posted a team-high 324 yards as well, and finished with two touchdowns. Fans might linger on Sharp’s dropped passes, but he only registered three drops this year, according to PFF (one of those was a touchdown on a double pass against Alabama, a game the Sooners won comfortably).

He’ll also be remembered for his disastrous throw straight up into the air on a double-pass trick play in the loss at LSU (it was intercepted in a game the Sooners eventually were blown out) as well as a second-and-10 jet sweep that resulted in a 4-yard loss at Missouri (OU didn’t score on the drive and ultimately lost that game at the end). Another lowlight came on a fourth-down throw on a fake punt against South Carolina, a poorly designed sneak that put Sharp out wide and 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage (the play resulted in a 4-yard loss in a game the Sooners were blown out.)

Oklahoma Sooners Bauer Sharp Jake Roberts
Oklahoma tight ends Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts / SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite the sometimes catastrophic results and Sharp’s obvious limitations, OU offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley continued to put the ball in Sharp’s hands in key situations, which drew heavy criticism from fans and media. Sharp did his best and shouldn’t be blamed for bad coaching.

Sharp was at his best downfield, such as when he caught a pass on a fake punt from Luke Elzinga and hurdled downfield for a 43-yard gain against Mizzou. He also had a 35-yard catch and run at Auburn.

Roberts, a Norman North product, began his career at North Texas and transferred to his hometown school from Baylor. Playing for the Sooners was his childhood dream, and although he was usually the second tight end behind Sharp, he made an impact on the OU offense.

The 6-4, 252-pound Roberts finished his final collegiate season ninth on the team with 12 catches for 112 yards and was tied for second with three touchdown receptions.

Roberts played 346 offensive snaps, per PFF, raising his five-year career total to 2,126. His PFF overall offensive grade this season was 61.6 — down from his previous two seasons at Baylor (70.6) and North Texas (69.0). Roberts was targeted 18 times and did not drop a pass.

As a run blocker, Roberts was called on 180 times and graded out at 63.6, with only two games posting grades below 50.

Injuries and inexperience continued to hold back any development by the underclassmen at the position.

Redshirt sophomore Kaden Helms and redshirt freshman Kade McIntyre combined for just two receptions for 19 yards and one touchdown — all by Helms.

The 6-5, 239-pound Helms played in just five games (one SEC game) and logged 71 total offensive snaps, per PFF, and posted an overall offensive grade of 47.8.

The 6-3, 221-pound McIntyre also was limited to just five games (two SEC games) and recorded just 48 offensive snaps and a 56.7 grade.

Walk-on Hampton Fay did not play this season.

As mediocre as the OU tight end room was this season, one of the real disappointments for group was the lack of action for true freshman Davon Mitchell.

The 6-3, 259-pound Mitchell committed to OU as a 5-star prospect in the 2025 class, but he reclassified to 2024 and was never ready to play as a rookie — according to both head coach Brent Venables and Mitchell himself. Mitchell suited up all season and, with Sharp’s departure, was even on the two-deep for the bowl game, but he never got into a game this season. Venables said being so young put Mitchell behind the curve at more than just football, as he struggled early in the semester just to stay on top of the academic side of things.

Mitchell’s immediate development in 2025 will be paramount to the Sooners’ tight ends next season, as OU has dipped into the transfer portal this offseason to add Carson Kent from FCS Kennesaw State and Will Huggins from Division II Pittsburg State.

Sooners On SI Grade: D+

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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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