Oklahoma Spring Depth Chart Preview: TEs Rebuilding Again, But There's Potential

The Sooners have dropped off at tight end in recent years, but with transfers and development, there could be better times ahead.

Oklahoma tight end Davon Mitchell / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oklahoma opens spring practice Thursday, and Year 4 under Brent Venables needs to be a good one.

After going 6-7 in two of his first three seasons, Venables’ tenure as the Sooners’ head coach is in the spotlight more than ever. The Sooners wrap up spring practice on April 12.

In this series, Sooners On SI previews OU’s 2025 spring by breaking down the depth chart at each position. Next up: tight end:

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Oklahoma’s tight end room wasn’t particularly good in 2024. But with a new offensive coordinator and so many new faces, will it be any better in 2025?

The Sooners aren’t ever going to build around the tight end — not with so many talented players at the other skill positions — but offensive coordinators from Chuck Long to Kevin Wilson to Josh Heupel to Lincoln Riley knew how to utilize talented tight ends and H-backs and either isolate them in a defensive mismatch as receivers or hang certain elements of the offense on their versatility and physicality as blockers.

OU tight ends under Joe Jon Finley haven’t been dynamic in the passing game or vital elements of the run game since Brayden Willis graduated in 2022.

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More Oklahoma Spring Depth Chart Previews

(Follow these links to catch up)
Feb. 26: Defensive Back
Feb. 27: Wide Receiver
Feb. 28: Linebacker
March 1: Running Back
March 2: Defensive Line
March 3: Offensive Line

March 4: Tight End
March 5: Special Teams
March 6: Quarterback

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Perhaps new OC Ben Arbuckle can change that in 2025.

Arbuckle’s tight ends and H-backs at Washington State last season were involved in most aspects of the game plan. The Cougars played five tight ends overall, with three logging action in at least 10 games and two playing in at least three games, according to Pro Football Focus. 

As receivers, they combined for  21 receptions (on 29 targets) for 304 yards (10.5 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns. As blockers, they combined for an aggregate 431 run plays but just 65 pass plays.

Arbuckle showed last season that while he certainly doesn’t rely on the position, he will play tight ends (Cooper Mathers got 439 offensive snaps while Trey Leckner, Andre Dollar and Billy Riviere combined for 385) and can utilize them both as downfield options and as blockers in the run game. 

Oklahoma’s tight ends last season were not great options in either space — they did not create mismatches in the pass game, and they occasionally acknowledged their own shortcomings as blockers in the run game — which explains why Arbuckle and Finley dug so deep into the transfer portal to find a handful of newcomers, might elevate a true freshman, eagerly await the development of a redshirt freshman and even added one candidate from the defense. 

Three tight ends came to Norman this offseason via the portal — all from lower-level schools, and all with minimal to moderate production as receivers. 

Carson Kent committed to OU on Dec. 23 after playing three season at Kennesaw State. The Owls reclassified from FCS to FBS in 2024, and the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Kent caught 18 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns and landed All-Conference USA accolades. In his two previous seasons at Kennesaw State, Kent had 14 catches for 165 yards.

Kent hails from Milton, GA, and helped lead Cambridge High School to the Sweet 16 of the GHSA playoffs in 2021. He was not rated as a high school prospect, but was rated a 3-star portal prospect by Rivals. 

Oklahoma tight end Carson Kent / Carson Kent via X/Twitter

Will Huggins committed to OU on Dec. 28. He played sparingly for four years at Kansas, then last season transferred to Division II Pittsburg State, where he caught 22 passes for 395 yards (18 yards per catch) and scored one touchdown and was named first-team All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. In his four seasons at KU, the 6-7, 250-pound Huggins logged 60 total snaps in 11 career games, with one catch for 20 yards and a TD.

At Shawnee Mission South High School, Huggins was a 247 Sports 3-star prospect. After catching 26 passes for 436 yards and three touchdowns, he was rated as the No. 46 tight end in the nation in the 2020 recruiting class and, after getting an offer from the Jayhawks, chose KU over interest from Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas State and South Dakota State. After finishing his one season with the Gorillas, Huggins received portal offers from Kent State, UTEP, Northern Arizona, Middle Tennessee, Nevada, Houston, Miami-OH, Toledo, Ball State and Washington State before OU’s offer.

Pittsburg State tight end Will Huggins / Pittsburg State Athletics

John Locke committed to OU on Jan. 8 as a preferred walk-on transfer from Louisiana Tech. Over the last two seasons in Ruston, Locke had three catches for 6 yards and a touchdown. He’s played in 26 games in his three seasons.

As a recruit out of Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Helotes, TX, Locke was rated a 3-star recruit by 247 Sports and Rivals. Rivals ranked him as the No. 113 tight end prospect in the country, while 247 Sports ranked him No. 129. He earned All-District and All-City honors as a wide receiver, where he hauled in 180 catches for 2,358 yards and 27 touchdowns in his career while also competing in basketball, track and golf. 

Louisiana Tech tight end John Locke / John Locke via Twitter/X

Will any of those three be an upgrade from what was a largely disappointing season by Sooner tight ends in 2024?

Southeastern Louisiana transfer Bauer Sharp led the Sooners with 42 catches and 324 receiving yards last year, but he only averaged 7.7 yards per catch and got into the end zone twice. 

Baylor transfer Jake Roberts was eighth with 12 receptions and ninth with 112 yards, but averaged just 9.3 yards per catch and scored twice. 

As Oklahoma’s receiver corps dwindled due to an unprecedented run of season-ending injuries, OU tight ends necessitated more and more playing time. Sharp logged 644 offensive snaps, while Roberts played 346. Finley, with more on his plate after offensive coordinator Seth Littrell was fired at midseason, often fell back on curious plays to Sharp, sending him on jet sweeps and wide screens and double-pass trick plays that usually ended in disaster.

Another disappointment from Finley’s group last year was the stark lack of development from freshman Davon Mitchell. The 6-3, 259-pound Mitchell was a 5-star 2025 prospect at Allen, TX, but then transferred to Los Alamitos, CA, and reclassified to the 2024 class — and never got into a game last season with the Sooners. 

Mitchell seems to have limitless athletic potential, but couldn’t crack what was just an average two-deep and spent all season on the scout team. Brent Venables called him “a devastating blocker” with “great, soft hands” and “incredibly talented,” and said in December he was proud of Mitchell’s “body of work and the improvement that he's made and his mindset.”

But earlier in the season, Venables explained how Mitchell arrived a year early and was simply not prepared for the rigors of college life, which include “showing up with the right clothes on, being on time, turning in assignments … nothing malicious, great young man, but he couldn’t get out of his own way,” Venables said. 

To his credit, after the bowl game, Mitchell took to social media and claimed responsibility for his own actions, telling his Twitter followers that “I put myself in the position not to be on the field (and) I was very much inconsistent” and that he trusted OU staff and suggested fans do the same.

The move this offseason of linebacker Jaren Kanak to tight end is partly on Kanak's dwindling impact in the linebacker room and partly on OU's need for something to happen at tight end. The 6-2, 230-pound Kanak has explosive speed and athletic ability, but he hasn't played any offense since high school. He'll need to knock the rust off, but his dynamic talents give him a chance to contribute.

The Sooners have three other tight ends who have struggled to get on the field in their time in Norman, but with all the transition going on at the position, this could be the year they make a move. 

Oklahoma tight end Kade McIntyre / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kaden Helms is a fourth-year junior from Nebraska who has battled injuries every year he’s been with the Sooners. He played just 31 snaps in 2022, missed all of 2023 and got 71 snaps last year. Helms is athletic and explosive and could factor into the passing game if he’s able to stay healthy. Helms caught two passes for 19 yards and a touchdown last season. 

Kade McIntyre, a third-year sophomore from Nebraska, has also been hurt a lot in his college career and will miss all of spring with a shoulder injury. He played in just two games in 2023 and got into five games last year, with a total of 69 offensive snaps. A powerlifter in high school, McIntyre has the strength to be an effective blocker at the point of attack.

Incoming freshman Trynae Washington is an athletic and talented pass catcher with a big frame and strong hands. His original plan was to enroll in June, but he accelerated that, joining the team in January. He's been working out all winter and has already begun to fit into the early rotations at practice.

In all, only four tight ends logged snaps for OU last season. With Arbuckle calling the shots this year, where that number goes in 2025 could depend on how Finley develops the group in spring practice. 

NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect Jaren Kanak's move from linebacker and Trynae Washington's addition to the spring roster.

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