Oklahoma football: Breaking down Sooner wide receivers for 2020

Since Lincoln Riley has been at OU, Oklahoma football has been one of the strongest passing teams in college football.

Related Story. Watch for the 'Boomer' in Sooner WR Theo Wease in 2020. light

The Sooners have finished in the top 20 nationally in total yards passing in all five seasons Riley has been in Norman. You need two things for that to happen: a quarterback who can put the ball in the air with a high degree of accuracy and receivers who can catch it with the same high degree of proficiency.

We all know about the recent quarterback success at Oklahoma, but the Sooners have also been blessed with an abundance of receiving talent. This year should be no exception, although OU will have its fourth new starting quarterback in as many seasons, and this time someone who will be making his first career start at the QB position.

In addition to a new starting QB, the Sooners also must replace three of their top four receivers from last season, including consensus All-American CeeDee Lamb.

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Oklahoma’s leading returning receiver is redshirt-junior Charleston Rambo, who caught 43 passes for 743 yards a year ago, including five touchdowns.

The Sooners were hoping this would be a breakout season for their three five-star wide receivers from the 2019 recruiting class. Because of injury and suspension, though, may not have two of the three for five or more games this season.

All three saw action in the 2019 season. Jadon Hasselwood was the most productive of the three, with 19 receptions for 272 yards and a touchdown, but he could miss a significant amount of the 2020 season after tearing his ACL while training in April. Trejan Bridges caught just seven passes for 82 yards last season, but two of them were for touchdowns. He isn’t expected to be available until the sixth game of the 2020 season because of a six-game suspension imposed last season right before the College Football Playoff game with LSU for failing a drug test.

Theo Wease caught eight passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns last season. He had a 21-yard reception in the CFP against LSU.

Also keep an eye on returning wide receiver Drake Stoops, the son of former Sooner head coach Bob Stoops. The redshirt sophomore caught eight passes a year ago, including two for 28 yards in the CFP national semifinal game against LSU. Stoops was also used as a punter returner last season.

To help backfill some of the depth at wide receiver that the Sooners lost after last season, Riley went out an brought in a pair of veteran receivers out of the transfer portal. Theo Howard joins the Sooners in 2020 from UCLA, where he caught 51 passes for 677 yards and four touchdowns in the 2019 season. Howard may be questionable to begin the season because of an Achilles injury he suffered in January.

The other addition to the receiver room from the transfer portal is Obi Obialo out of Marshall. Obialo played in just four games last season at Marshall, catching 18 passes for 244 yards. The year before, however, he caught 42 passes for 505 yards and four TDs.

“We didn’t want to bring in guys that we felt were just added to the numbers,” head coach Riley told The Athletic OU beat writer Jason Kersey recently.

"“We brought in two really quality players (Howard and Obialo), guys that have produced at a high level and guys that we felt were our kind of guys in terms of our culture, expectations and standards here,” Riley said."

Another newcomer who could make an immediate contribution for the Sooners in 2020 is true freshman Marvin Mims from Frisco, Texas. Mims, who possesses both speed and good hands, set a Texas state prep record for career receiving yards with 5,485. Last season, as a senior at Lone Star High School, he caught 117 passes for 2,629 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Tight ends Austin Stogner, a member of OU’s talented 2019 class, and true freshman Jalin Conyers, from the 2020 class, will add depth and production at the receiving position.

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