Oklahoma football number to know: WR Jeff Badet, No. 2
By Chip Rouse
In the last two years, the Sooners have said goodbye to two of the best wide receivers in Oklahoma football history.
Sterling Shepard was the Sooners leading receiver in 2016, and Dede Westbrook carried the mantle in 2017. Shepard is second in career receiving yards at Oklahoma, and Westbrook is seventh. Both are now in the National Football League.
One of the burning preseason questions in 2017 is who is going to step up in the receiving corps for the Sooners in the coming season.
One player to keep an eye on this season is someone new who also has the most experience at the position than any of the Oklahoma receivers. Jeff Badet is a graduate transfer, who played at Kentucky under Bob and Mike Stoops’ younger brother, Mark.
Badet, a 6-foot, 180-pound receiver from Orlando, Fla., played three seasons at Kentucky and was the Wildcats’ second leading receiver in 2016 with 31 catches for 670 yards and four touchdowns. He led the SEC and ranked sixth in the nation in average yards per catch (21.6).
He is able to play immediately at Oklahoma, despite the NCAA transfer rule, because he has his degree.
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Badet won’t be putting up the same career numbers as Shepard, Westbrook and the other great Oklahoma receivers of the past because he will only have one year of eligibility in a Sooner uniform, but his experience and talent will be a value added to the OU offense in the coming campaign.
The Sooner have had great success in the recent past bringing in one-year receivers. Justin Brown came to Oklahoma in 2012, from Penn State, and caught 73 passes for nearly 900 yards and five touchdowns. He also was the Sooner punt returner for much of that season.
Geno Lewis, another Penn State graduate transfer, had one of his best college seasons a year ago for the Sooners, with 32 pass receptions and a couple of TD catches.
Oklahoma is expecting a similar contribution from Badet, who probably would have put up bigger receiving numbers at Kentucky were it not for the fact that the Wildcat offense was more geared to the run game over putting the ball in the air.
Badet will wear the No. 2 jersey, but he could very easily put up No. 1 numbers in Lincoln Riley’s Air Raid attack this season.