Jackson Arnold: Oklahoma wide receiver room 'for sure' gets underrated

Jackson Arnold is expected to lead Oklahoma into the SEC this season as the Sooners’ QB1, but questions surrounding who best his weapons out wide will be, remain to be answered.

Whoever it is fans and media shouldn’t be overlooking the Sooners’ wide receiving corps in 2024, according to the sophomore gunslinger.

“For sure, I mean that room to me is stacked,” Arnold told reporters at the Manning Passing Academy, addressing his underrated wideout room. “We’ve got, I want to say, two or three guys at each position they can go and compete at a high level. Compete at Oklahoma, go and score and I would feel confident throwing them a go ball for a touchdown.”

It didn’t take long for Arnold to put that deep ball on display for OU fans during April’s spring game. Arnold connected with junior wide receiver Deion Burks — who just transferred into the program from Purdue — for a 64-yard touchdown during the scrimmage’s opening possession. The duo would hook up for another big-time scoring play, this time going for 50 yards in the second quarter.

Ultimately, Arnold finished the contest 10-for-20 with 233 yards and the two aforementioned touchdowns to Burks. Burks ended the day with five catches for a whopping 174 yards to go with his two scores as the Sooners’ offensive lineup scored 65 points during the contest.

Elsewhere in the lineup, Trey Brown and JJ Hester were the only two receivers to log over 30 receiving yards during the contest. The wide receivers collectively finished with 18 receptions for 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“We’ve got good dudes lined up all across the board, even people who got hurt that will be back for next season that aren’t being talked about right now but are some actual dudes,” Arnold continued.

“Like Andrel Anthony last year like gets hurt vs. Texas but I want to say he was like the top receiver in college before he got hurt and people just want to overlook that. [They’re a] stud group and I’m super excited for them this year.”

Anthony appeared in six games for the Sooners in 2023, logging 27 receptions for 429 yards and a touchdown. Two of those games saw the Michigan transfer eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark.

While these players looking to make an impact for their team this season, Oklahoma’s season opener against Temple will set the tone for the rest of the season for each of Arnold’s wideouts. It’s on them to make the most of their opportunities.