Brent Venables lists players to watch for with Jayden Gibson's season-ending injury

Oklahoma wide receiver Jayden Gibson suffered a season-ending knee injury during fall camp last week ahead of the 2024 regular season.

One of the more experienced wideouts with the program on the roster, Gibson appeared in 22 games during his first two seasons in Norman. Now, head coach Brent Veables is going to have to look elsewhere within his receiving corps for a breakout receiver.

“The receiver group is a group of guys that’ve — a lot of them played a lot of football and have been successful, so we do have some good depth there,” Venables said after practice on Tuesday. “You hate that for anybody whose season comes to an end prematurely. But that’s a group that we’ve felt really good about who’s still in that group.”

Venables name-dropped talents like Nic Anderson, who returns as the team’s second-leading receiver in 2023, as well as Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony, JJ Hester and Deion Burkes, among a bevy of others within the Oklahoma wide receiving room. However, Venables plans to feature more than just his wide receiving corps in the passing game this fall.

“I like our ability to run the ball and attack the field with our tight ends middle of the field,” Venables continued. “So between Bauer [Sharp] and Jake [Roberts], Kade McIntyre, Kaden Helms, Davon Mitchell, that group of guys, it helps everybody. They all compliment each other.”

Anderson, Farooq and Anthony combined for 1,921 receiving yards as three of the team’s top four wide receivers last season. Anderson led the returners with 798 receiving yards to go with 10 touchdowns, which tied Drake Stoops, now a member of the Los Angeles Rams, for the most on the teams. Farooq saw the most touches with 45 receptions.

For the injured Gibson, he was right there with them production-wise. A big-play threat, five of Gibson’s 14 receptions went for touchdowns as he finished his sophomore season with 375 receiving yards.

With Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold — who threw for 361 yards with two touchdowns and three picks in his first career start in the Alamo Bowl last year — expected to have a breakout season during his sophomore season, he appears to have no shortage of weapons at his disposal.

No. 16 Oklahoma kicks off its 2024 regular season at home on Friday, Aug. 30 against Temple. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.