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

Oklahoma State is one of the preseason favorites to win the new Big 12 conference in 2024, with a veteran team returning to Stillwater. And that includes a wide receiver room that head coach Mike Gundy feels pretty good about.

Talk with the ESPN analyst Greg McElroy on the Always College Football podcast, Gundy talked about how the depth at not only receiver but also tight end makes him optimistic. All told, this is a part of the offense that Gundy believes is not only talented, but deep.

“We’re very comfortable at the wideout position and/or our tight end position,” Gundy said. “We went back to using tight ends for 90% of the game. We’re trying to recruit a good number of these guys that we can spread some out and do some different things. We brought a young man transferred from Ohio. We brought one a year ago from UMass and it 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 and playoffs that we think can help us at the wideout position.

Of the half-dozen returning players, Gundy named three when speaking with McElroy: Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens And De’Zhaun Stribling.

Presley is the returning star of the group and one of the most productive players 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 a touchdown.

Gundy hopes, for a number of reasons, that the share of targets and receptions will be a little more evenly distributed with the depth of the group this coming season.

“So the advantage we get there is it’s important to keep these guys fresh,” Gundy said. “Brennan Presley comes back, he made over 100 catches. He never wants to leave the field, but he has to get off it a little. If he has a great year and makes 75 or 80 catches and we can share them with other guys, that will help him in the long run throughout the season and potentially at the next level. And the return of Stribling will really help. We lost him in that third game and he was starting to act like a great college football player. So we love what he’s going to bring to the table. Rashod Owens was great for us last year. I think he had over 60 catches. A guy who started on the third team, so you’re right, we have a number of guys at the wide receiver position that we think can really help us be successful on offense.