Oklahoma football: WR Theo Wease stands alone from historic 2019 class
By Aaron Gelvin
Let’s take a trip back in time to the 2019 recruiting class for the Oklahoma football Sooners.
The Sooners were coming off of back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners and NFL No. 1 overall draft picks. They were also fresh off of making their third trip to the College Football Playoff in four seasons and had won the last four Big 12 titles.
That was the scene when this group of offensive weapons arrived in Norman as true freshmen to start the 2019 season, one that would also end with a conference title, a trip to the CFP and Jalen Hurts becoming a Heisman runner-up and a Day 2 draft pick.
QB Spencer Rattler
TE Austin Stogner
WR Jadon Haselwood
WR Trejan Bridges
Rattler, Haselwood, and Wease were all five-star prospects while Stogner and Bridges weren’t far behind them with four stars. This was supposed to be the next great group of stars offensively for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma and take the team to the next level.
Fast forward to the present day and only one remains on the OU roster entering the 2022 season.
That would be Wease, who is looking for a monster comeback season after missing almost all of 2021 due to injury. But what happened to the others?
After sitting behind Hurts in 2019, Rattler broke onto the scene in 2020, finishing the year very strong. He was projected to have a massive 2021 season, but instead struggled and was replaced by true freshman Caleb Williams. Once the news broke that Lincoln Riley was taking the open job at USC, Rattler quickly put his name in the transfer portal and went to South Carolina to reunite with former Sooner assistant Shane Beamer.
Stogner played right away as a true freshman in 2019 and developed a chemistry with Rattler early in 2020. Stogner dealt with injuries to close 2020 and never truly got rolling in 2021. Still, the 6-foot, 6-inch tight end has made big plays in his career and has NFL-level potential if used correctly. He also transferred to South Carolina to play with Rattler and under Beamer for 2022.
Haselwood got more and more playing time as the ’19 season went along, but he missed nearly the entire 2020 season with an injury. This hurt the development of his chemistry with Rattler, and Haselwood had an up-and-down ’21 season that was supposed to be his breakout year.
The QB change and the overflow of available weapons in the offense really hurt Haslewood. The number one recruit at WR in the 2019 class is now headed to Arkansas to play under Sam Pittman and catch passes in the SEC West from KJ Jefferson.
Bridges played a bit as a true freshman in 2019 but was suspended for the Peach Bowl against LSU. Unlike the other two players who were also suspended for that contest, Bridges did not make his return midway through the 2020 season. He barely played that year, but was in line for a big 2021 season, with reports saying that he was making huge strides and connecting well with Rattler.
As it turned out, Bridges didn’t play a snap in 2021 because of an alleged robbery incident along with other members of the team well before the season even started. This led to him being kicked off the team, and a promising college career ended with just nine catches in two seasons.
That bring is to Wease, who nearly left the team as well after the Riley decision but reversed course and decided to stay put in Norman. Wease and Marcus Major remain as the only offensive weapons left from the 2019 class.
Wease was probably the best of the group in 2019, making big plays in CeeDee Lamb’s absence in the comeback win over Baylor in Waco. He was a key part of the Sooner offense in 2020, and always seemed to be making big catches on the outside when needed.
Wease may be rewarded for being the last man standing from that historic class in 2019, because in 2022, defenses will be paying big-time attention to Marvin Mims in Jeff Lebby’s offense. This should leave Wease with a lot of one-on-one coverage on the other side, as he should slide nicely into the number two wide receiver role in a passing game that will also feature Drake Stoops and Brayden Willis.
Wease has the opportunity to make defenses pay in 2022 and having an elite option opposite Mims can make OU’s offense even better in Year 1 of the Venables era.