Pair of Oklahoma wide receivers could get more snaps to start the season

The Oklahoma Sooners are a month and a half from beginning the 2024 season, their first in the SEC. Head coach Brent Venables spoke to reporters at SEC media days on Tuesday, as OU took their turn at the podium.

The third-year head coach addressed local media before taking the stage, updating On3 and SoonerScoop’s George Stoia about players rehabbing from offseason or spring ailments before the Sooners begin preseason fall camp.

Quarterback Casey Thompson, offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett and cornerback Gentry Williams are all cleared and ready to go for August. Another member of the offensive line, Troy Everett, is ahead of schedule from his spring football injury and Venables expects him back sooner as opposed to later.

However, two members of Oklahoma’s wide receiver room have a little more uncertainty with fall camp around the corner.

Senior Jalil Farooq, who was injured in spring ball, is still recovering from a foot fracture. However, Venables said he didn’t have surgery and is taking it easy at this point. His status will be more clear when the week of the first game rolls around.

Andrel Anthony is still on the mend after getting injured in the Red River Rivalry matchup last October. Venables is hopeful that the deep ball threat will be practicing before August 30th, but Anthony hasn’t been cleared as of yet.

The uncertainty of Farooq and Anthony is nothing to be downplayed, but it’d be even more of a problem most years in the wide receiver room. This year, however, is the exception. The position group is absolutely loaded in 2024.

Though leading receiver Drake Stoops is off to the pros, the Sooners have suitable replacements in the slot. Deion Burks was a star in the spring after transferring from Purdue and Jaquaize Pettaway was a standout in the 2023 recruiting class.

On the outside, if Farooq and/or Anthony miss significant time, two players are ready to step into an even brighter spotlight.

Nic Anderson was a touchdown machine a year ago for the Sooners, making plenty of huge plays in 2023. He was electric, scoring 10 touchdowns and finishing with 798 yards receiving despite not stepping into the starting lineup until Anthony was hurt. He’d be a good bet to start on the outside, especially with the injuries factoring in.

Jayden Gibson also saw more playing time in 2023 when Anthony went down. He came into his own as the season progressed, catching five touchdowns on just 14 receptions. He finished with 375 yards and could have pushed for a starting spot even if the entire receiver room was healthy. These two players, both from Venables’ first recruiting class in 2022 could see plenty of targets come their way, especially early in the season.

Behind them, wide receivers coach Emmett Jones has players like J.J. Hester and Brenan Thompson who could also see an increase in playing time.

But, Anderson and Gibson are the pair that would benefit the most from more targets coming their way. They both posess tremendous upside. If one or both of them can develop great chemistry with quarterback Jackson Arnold, it might be tough to take them off the field, even when the veterans become healthy again.

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