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Oklahoma football: TE Austin Stogner ready to ascend to starter’s role

By Chip Rouse

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 28: Austin Stogner #18 of the Oklahoma Sooners rushes under pressure from defender Grant Delpit #7 of the LSU Tigers during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 28: Austin Stogner #18 of the Oklahoma Sooners rushes under pressure from defender Grant Delpit #7 of the LSU Tigers during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Austin Stogner was not the biggest name in the highly rated 2019 Oklahoma football recruiting class that included three five-star receivers.

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Jadon Hasselwood, Theo Wease and Trejan Bridges were all five-star recruits as wide receivers in the Sooners 2019 class, the same class that brought probable 2020 starting quarterback Spencer Rattler to Oklahoma.

Stogner was the overlooked man in that grouping of uber-talented receivers. It wasn’t that he didn’t have an impressive resume coming out of Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas. He was rated as four stars and the No. 11 tight end in the country by Rivals.com and had offers from numerous big-name programs, including Alabama, Florida, Auburn and LSU out of the SEC, as well as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame.

He chose the Sooners, and that should begin to payoff for him and the Sooners as he enters his sophomore season this fall.

Stogner played in all 14 games last season. He caught a total of seven passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came in the same game — a three-yarder and a five-yarder, both in the second half — in Oklahoma’s remarkable 25-point come-from-behind victory over an undefeated Baylor team.

Most of last season, Stogner was second or third on the depth chart behind junior Grant Calcaterra and senior Lee Morris. Calcaterra was forced to retire because of concussion issues, and Morris is off pursing a career at the next level.

That leaves the door wide open for Stogner to move into a starter’s role. The Sooners do have a four-star prospect, Jalin Conyers coming in as a member of the 2020 recruiting class, but it would be surprising to win the job over Stogner.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Stogner proved in very limited action last season that he can make big catches in clutch situations. The Sooners have had outstanding play from the tight end position in recent seasons. Stogner hopes to follow in the footsteps of a couple of big-game performers in Calcaterra and All-American Mark Andrews before him. Andrews is now a major contributor for the NFL Baltimore Ravens.

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