Oklahoma Working 'Expeditiously' to Speed Development of Young Receivers to Help Passing Attack

After sustaining a pair of serious injuries in August, Oklahoma needs its young wide receivers to step up to help Jackson Arnold.

Sep 16, 2023; Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma s Jaquaize Pettaway (17) receives a pass and runs in the third quarter during an NCAA football game between University of Oklahoma (OU) and University of Tulsa at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium. / Nathan J. Fish-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Oklahoma got a small dose of hope on Wednesday. 

OU coach Brent Venables said wide receiver Nic Anderson returned to practice on Tuesday, raising hope that the redshirt sophomore could potentially return to the lineup against Tulane (1-1) on Saturday. 

Anderson would undoubtedly be a needed boost, as the No. 15-ranked Sooners (2-0) have struggled to consistently move the ball. 

He caught 38 passes last year for 798 yards and an OU freshman record 10 touchdowns, and Anderson is a trusted weapon for quarterback Jackson Arnold, just like fellow receiver Deion Burks. 

But simply getting Anderson back into the fold won’t magically fix Oklahoma’s issues at wide receiver. 

Injuries have depleted Emmett Jones’ position group. 

The Sooners lost Jayden Gibson during fall camp, and then Jalil Farooq re-injured his foot on the first drive of the year, a setback that will cost him significant time. 

In their place, OU has turned to relatively inexperienced junior Brenen Thompson and true freshman Zion Ragins. 

Thompson played 57 snaps in Oklahoma’s 16-12 win over Houston per Pro Football Focus, and Ragins finished with 40 snaps. Ragins was third on the team in wide receiver snaps, while Burks was second with 53 snaps. 

Venables raved about Ragins during fall camp, a clear sign that the coaches are high on the kind of player he can eventually develop into in Norman, but that process has been sped up by the injury bugs repeatedly biting Oklahoma’s offense. 

Pair Thompson and Ragins with second-year pass catcher Jaquaize Pettaway and true freshmen Zion Kearny and Ivan Carreon, and the entire group will have to grow up fast to help Arnold in 2024.

“Those guys are, they're going to have to play,” Venables said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “They've played a little bit, not as much as the first group of guys, but when you look at the initial depth chart, they're either 3s or 4s, when we had everybody available.”

Pettaway only made it onto the field for five snaps on Saturday due to a knee injury that he sustained during the week, though he wasn’t targeted on a single pass. 

Thompson caught two balls for 43 yards and a score, including a 33-yard reception that was the offense's longest play of the day. 

For Thompson, he’s being asked to run different kinds of routes and play more than any other point in his career after injuries kept him from making a massive impact the last two seasons. 

The younger pieces in the the wide receiver room are still just trying to get up to speed with the offense, something Burks is trying to expedite in any way he can. 

“(I’m) just helping them with the playbook,” Burks said on Monday. “Honestly. I mean, it's a lot coming as a freshman. It's just, it's a lot on your plate. Guys go down. You're not expecting to play or get that much snaps, but it's football, and that's what happens. 

“So I mean, I just get in with them, guys building their confidence, and so they could go out there and play loose.” 

One boost to Arnold’s arsenal has been his pair of tight ends, Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts. 

Sharp caught a touchdown pass in the season opener against Temple, and Roberts caught three passes for 51 yards and a score against Houston. 

OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell will continue to lean on his more experienced pieces as the offense tries to get into any kind of rhythm, but Oklahoma is also trying to make up for lost time to develop its other young receivers. 

“When you don’t have guys available, you’ve got to get the next guys ready,” Venables said. “We’ve had several guys. Maybe it’s a Jayden Gibson who’s taking the majority of the snaps all the way through summer camp, and then he’s out.

“Well, the next guy didn't take as many reps, so he doesn't have that experience or the reps. So you gotta, expeditiously, without wearing guys out, give 'em the development, the repetitions that they need from the development piece.”