Oklahoma State is 'very comfortable' with wide receiver room, Mike Gundy says

Oklahoma State is one of the preseason favorites to win the new-look Big 12 Conference in 2024, with a veteran squad returning in Stillwater. And that includes a wide receiver room that head coach Mike Gundy is feeling quite good about.

Speaking with ESPN analyst Greg McElroy on the Always College Football podcast, Gundy explained how the depth at not just receiver but also tight end has him optimistic. All told, it’s a portion of the offense that Gundy thinks is not just talented, but deep.

“We’re very comfortable at the wideout position, and/or our tight end,” Gundy said. “We’ve migrated back to using tight ends 90 percent of the game. We’re trying to recruit a good number of those guys that we can split out some, do some different things with. We brought a young man in that transferred from Ohio. We brought one in a year ago from UMass and was fantastic for us. And with the wideouts, the guys you’re talking about, we have six guys that have played quality snaps in conference play and postseason play that we feel like can help us at the wideout position.”

Among the half dozen wideouts coming back, Gundy named three when talking with McElroy: Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and De’Zhaun Stribling.

Presley is the returning star of the group and one of the more productive wideouts in the Big 12. He caught 101 passes for 991 yards and six touchdowns in 2023. Owens finished with 895 yards on 63 receptions and five touchdowns. Stribling had the least receiving production in 2023, with 14 catches for 198 yards and one touchdown.

Gundy is hopeful, for a number of reasons, that the target and reception share is a little more evenly distributed with the depth in the group this coming season.

“So the advantage we get there is keeping those guys fresh is important,” Gundy said. “Brennan Presley’s coming back, he had over 100 catches. He never wants to come off the field, but he needs to come off the field some. If he has a great year and has 75 or 80 catches and we can share those with other guys, it’s going to help his long-term through the season and potentially at the next level. And having Stribling back will really help. We lost him in that third game and he was starting to perform like a big-time college football player. So we like what he’s going to bring to the table. Rashod Owens was great for us last year. I think he had 60-plus catches. Guy that started out on third team so you’re right, we’ve got a number of guys at the wide receiver position that we feel like can really help us have success on offense.”