Oklahoma WR Brenen Thompson's Offseason Improvements Are Being Rewarded

After reportedly having an outstanding performance in fall camp, Sooners wide receiver Brenen Thompson earned a starting spot on OU's first depth chart.

Oklahoma wide receiver Brenen Thompson / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — In his first season at Oklahoma, former Texas transfer Brenen Thompson played sparingly, dealing with injuries and adjusting to a new offense.

When Thompson was able to find his way onto the field, however, the Spearman, TX, product was always a vertical threat who was able to attack defenses down the field.

In just 30 offensive snaps during the Sooners' 2023 campaign, according to Pro Football Focus, Thompson notched seven catches for 241 yards and one touchdown, averaging a whopping 34.4 yards per catch.

Thompson could have had an even better statline as a sophomore, but had to stop and come back to the ball multiple times on deep routes after outrunning Dillon Gabriel's arm range.

With Jackson Arnold stepping in as OU's starting quarterback in 2024, however, Thompson could become an even more dangerous weapon in Seth Littrell's offense.

"It’s been awesome. Obviously he had a great fall camp," Arnold said. "A lot of yardage. Had him running a lot, but he did a great job this fall camp with developing his route tree and even in the offseason and in summer, he did a great job developing his route tree, expanding on what he was already good at. And I credit that a lot to (Oklahoma wide receivers) coach (Emmett) Jones, too. Fantastic coach. He gets those receivers ready. Brenen had a fantastic fall camp and I’m really excited for how he’s going to contribute for us this year."

After playing quarterback and other posiutions at Spearman High School, Thompson came to college with very little experience as a wide receiver. Despite having elite speed, running a 10.19 in the 100-meter dash in high school, Thompson only recorded one catch with the Longhorns as the 5-foot-9 wideout attempted to learn the position.

After transferring to Oklahoma, Thompson played 22 fewer offensive snaps, but was able to make a much bigger impact in the Sooners' offense. In 2024, Thompson will have the opportunity to take another step forward and become an even larger contributor.

Thompson is listed as a co-starter at wideout on the Sooners' first depth chart. He said that means "everything" to him and was asked if he could describe all the hard work that went into it.

“Really, no, because it goes all the way back to the summer with Schmitty (strength coach Jerry Schmidt), as y’all know," he said. "Had a great summer with Schmitty, you know, just having the team around me to lift me up when I’m down, and vice versa with me to them, and just the grind — the grind of camp, the grind of summer and just attacking everything.”

OU head coach Brent Venables also seems to like what he saw from the speedster over the offseason, lauding Thompson's leadership and pointing to his improved route-running ability.

"What you may or may not know, he didn’t play much receiver, if at all, in high school, Venables said in his weekly press conference on Monday. "He was an athlete. Played a lot of quarterback. Goes to Texas and has a bad hamstring. Was in the two-deep but didn’t really play much at all. Had a little bit of game experience in a couple games. So he was an inexperienced guy, a track guy. Certainly was a vertical threat, but what I love the most about Brenen Thompson, he’s become one of our best leaders. Incredibly vocal. Really bright young guy that really cares about his teammates. He can run the entire route tree. He’s focused on not being labeled as just a nine-route or go-ball guy.

"So he’s done a great job, whether it’s the curls, the mesh, the digs, cross the middle of the field. Shows great toughness and durability. Had the most yardage of any of our receivers through the course of fall camp. So his willingness to build his body up — and again, a small frame, he’s competed and played at a really high level and just a physical, tough level for a smaller-diminutive guy. So really proud of his growth as a player, but every bit as much as one of our vocal leaders on offense. Just plays with tremendous, tremendous effort all the time."

Thompson's teammates in the wide receiver room have also noticed the junior playmaker's improvement over the offseason.

Jalil Farooq, a senior wideout who is one of the more experience players in the position group, added that Thompson practices hard and has a great work ethic to go along with his elite speed.

Thompson's ability to stretch defenses vertically should help open up some of the underneath routes in OU's offense, which will help players like Farooq get open in shorter and intermediate areas of the field.

Thompson said he worked hard to improve his overall game as a receiver.

“Learning how to play the position," he said. "Ever since I came out of high school, that was my goal. I came out of high school as an athlete, then I went to Texas my freshman year as a wideout, here as a wideout. So, learning the position’s a big part of that, and I think over the last three years I’ve done a great job with that.”

At Spearman, his talents were used all over the field.

“High school, you know, shoutout to Coach Witten," Thompson said. "I was doing safety, I was doing corner, I was doing quarterback, I was doing running back, and I was doing a little bit of receiver. But I was mainly playing quarterback, so that’s where I was at in high school.”

Thompson also said he worked extra hard on building what Venables refers to as a "slight" physique.

"I think it's somethiung I wanted as well for myself," he said. "But it's something that Schmitty can only do so much. it's more than going out every Tuesday and Thursday or Friday and putting up work with Schmitty. Now I gotta go home and eat. I gotta go home and refuel my body. It's not about one day or one week. It's about months and months of preparation, being able to get my weight up, get my body right, get stronger, get healthier."

Thompson said he's up from 155 to 170 pounds and "I'm gonna come thump some stuff, now. Y'all gonna see Friday."

The new weight hasn't affected his elite speed, he said.

"I'm moving. I'm moving," he said. "All I'm gonna say."

He said for smaller receivers like him to succeed, "you've got to play smart. You've got to know how to play the game, and you've also got o be able to play bigger than you are ... to go out there and deliver hits and play bigger than 170, that's huge for me. So I took that weight room seriously, being able to block on the perimeter, being able to get off them hands and stuff, it all goes back to Schmitty and what you did in the summer."

Thompson's offseason improvements and field-stretching speed should give the Sooners' wide receiver room yet another solid option on top of what was already an impressive group.

"Brenen is a guy that brings intensity in practice every day," Farooq said. "He is one of the guys that works consistently, he continuously makes plays 24/7. I take a lot from his game, he's super fast and in our receiver's room we have all (No. 1) receivers. So anybody can step up to the plate and play receiver right now, today."

With so much talent amongst Oklahoma's pass catchers, earning consistent time on the field will be difficult for any of the team's wide receivers. Thompson, however, was listed as a starter on the team's first depth chart of the 2024 season as should see a huge increase in his snap count as a junior.

Thompson doesn't seem worried about the competition at receiver, either, saying that being in the same group as a number of other talented playmakers has helped him improve during his time in Norman. The West Texas product cited one player specifically as someone he was able to learn from.

"The whole talent in the room is deep, as I’m sure y’all know, but it just makes me better," Thompson said. "Makes me a better receiver, learning — being able to learn from each other is huge. Learning from guys in the past, like Drake (Stoops), that’s huge. Just learning off one another and getting better each day"

Even after seeing less than 100 snaps on offense over his first two seasons of college football, Thompson is confident heading into his junior season.

The speedy wideout has set high expectations for himself and is ready to help his team compete in the SEC.

"I think they’re the highest. I think I got the highest expectations, even over Coach V," Thompson added. "I think my expectations of myself are higher than what he has for me. I’m trying to go win for this team. I’m trying to put this team first. I’m trying to do everything in my ability to win for this team.”

Thompson and Oklahoma will face Temple in Norman on Friday, August 30, at 6 p.m. for the team's season opener.