Wide receiver Jalil Farooq of the Oklahoma football Sooners certainly could have left the team this winter.
Few would have blamed him.
Farooq came to Oklahoma to play for Lincoln Riley and (maybe more importantly) to play with Caleb Williams. The two are friends who both played their high school ball in the Maryland area, and Williams convinced Farooq to commit to the Sooners.
Farooq had a quiet first year in Norman, as he was on the depth chart behind many of OU’s weapons at wide receiver. In the Alamo Bowl win over Oregon, he broke out a bit and showed off his chemistry with Williams. OU fans saw the potential and pegged him as a future contributor.
But, when things started changing this past winter at Oklahoma, Riley and Williams teamed up once again, this time in Southern California, and many Sooner fans thought Farooq might join them.
Instead, it was Mario Williams who packed his bags for Cali and Riley, and NIL swayed Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison to leave the Pittsburgh Panthers and lead the Trojan WR corps. Jalili Farooq was left behind in Norman.
Now playing for new play-caller Jeff Lebby and with new QB Dillon Gabriel, Farooq had a quiet first two games to begin 2022. After all, he’s not the first option in a passing game that features Marvin Mims and Theo Wease on the outside and saves plenty of targets for Brayden Willis and Drake Stoops.
But Lebby and the offensive staff believe in Farooq, the former four-star recruit. So much so that they made him a starter to begin the year. Lebby stressed how much he wanted to get Farooq involved as the season went along.
That’s exactly what happened.
Dillon Gabriel with a DIME to Jalil Farooq for SIX. @OU_Football regains the lead ‼️ pic.twitter.com/iehgyA0v7k
— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 17, 2022
Overall, Farooq had just three catches, but they went for 58 yards in a big Sooner victory. As conference play approaches, look for him to grow into a bigger weapon in the Sooner pass game.
Whether Riley and Williams left Farooq behind in Oklahoma or Farooq was, in fact, recruited to transfer to USC, we may never know. But Brent Venables, Lebby, Gabriel, and the rest of Sooner Nation are sure glad he stayed, and who knows, maybe the Cali boys will someday come to regret that Farooq still dons the Crimson and Cream.