Soon, the Transfer Portal will be open again on Jan. 2 after the Oklahoma Sooners lost 33 players to it between last winter and spring. However, those losses proved not all are detrimental, especially with the Sooners in the College Football Playoff at 10-2, and a season later, it's clear that most didn't make the right move by leaving Norman.
No one will ever know how things would have actually worked out if these players stayed in Oklahoma, but for some who seemed like massive blows for the Sooners at the time, their next destination definitely wasn't the right place for them, which could be a warning for players looking to leave OU after this season.
Tracking how the season went for some former Sooners
Nic Anderson looked to be the Sooners' next great receiver after a record-breaking freshman campaign, but then he was sidelined all of 2024 before bolting to LSU to catch passes from Garrett Nussmeier, who was supposed to be a Heisman Trophy candidate and top NFL Draft prospect. Everything then went wrong in Baton Rouge, including for Anderson, as head coach Brian Kelly was fired midseason.
An injury again plagued Anderson as he missed the last three games of the season, including a return trip to Oklahoma. In nine games, Anderson caught just 12 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. As a freshman at OU, twice Anderson surpassed that receiving yards total in just a single game, and he also had 105 yards in another outing.
An injury hindered McCullough in 2024, but when healthy, he was a big-time contributor for the Sooners while playing cheetah. McCullough left to be part of a 7-5 Nebraska team instead of the 10-2 Sooners who are in the College Football Playoff thanks to their elite defense. Even while playing four more games for Nebraska this season, McCullough's numbers were still almost the same as when he appeared in just seven games for the Sooners last season.
McCullough announced earlier this week he will declare for the 2026 NFL Draft.
— Dasan Mccullough (@Dasan2022) December 7, 2025
Although many OU fans were glad to see tight end Bauer Sharp go, he left a position that was already incredibly thin for the Sooners and was also OU's leading receiver in 2024 with 324 receiving yards. After his departure ultimately forced Jaren Kanak to covert from linebacker to tight end, Sharp caught 24 passes for 252 yards and two TDs as Kanak was named Third-Team All-SEC with 40 catches for 511 yards. Sharp was also on the other sideline at Memorial Stadium as the Sooners celebrated punching their playoff ticket thanks to a win over LSU.