Is Sooner WR Jacob Jordan becoming the next Drake Stoops?

Oklahoma has been without its five leading wide receivers for most of the season. Someone two or three down in the depth chart was going to have to step up to compensate for this critical loss, but who was that going to be?

Among those thought to be the best candidates to step up and seize the opportunity to fill the need a wide receiver, no where on that list was the name of 5-foot, 9-inch, three-star prospect Jacob Jordan.

The former Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School product, who was not heavily recruited, walked on at Oklahoma and did not see his first collegiate action until the seventh game of the season as the Sooners hosted South Carolina. Since that time. however, Jordan has been the most productive receiver on the Oklahoma team with 15 catches for 160 yards and an average of nearly 11 yards per reception.

Jordan had a team-high six catches for 86 yards in his debut against South Carolina and followed that with another six-reception game and a touchdown catch in the Sooners' 26-14 loss at Ole Miss. His production was down slightly with only three catches this past weekend against Maine as the OU quarterbacks spread the ball around to nine different players who made at least one catch in the game.

Entering his senior in high school, Jordan reportedly held just six scholarship offers from a mix of schools including Western Kentucky, Tulsa, North Texas and Texas Tech. The Texas Tech offer was extended by then Red Raider wide receiver coach Emmett Jones.

Jordan attended an Oklahoma football camp at the invitation of Jones, who is now the wide receivers coach at OU. Jordan had an impressive showing at the OU camp, and he himself was impressed with Venables and the Sooner coaches and with culture of the program. He already had a relationship with Jones, and it didn't take long for the Dallas-area native to catch the attention of Venables.

"Man, I'm loving on him, and I said, 'You could play here, 100 percent,'" Venables told reporters in reminiscing about Jordan 's performance showing at the OU camp. "He's really good. He's super explosive. He's got really good speed, but he's got great lateral explosiveness and quickness. And he's got fantastic hands."

We're seeing all that and more from the walk-on side receiver in three games in which he has appeared. Too bad he didn't see the field earlier in the season.

After Jordan's performance at the camp, OU offered him as a preferred walk-on, and despite the scholarship offers that would have provided him with financial aid, he chose to bet on himself and walk on at Oklahoma.

"To be honest, it wasn't that hard for me," Jordan told reporters recently, including Dekota Gregory at Sports Illustrated.com. "I was confident in my abilities, and I knew it was going to take a lot of work, but I was confident I was going to be able to come in here and play."

I liked the other schools that were interested in me, he said, "but it was just something about this place (OU) that I just felt like I would regret it if I didn't come here." As things have turned out so far, the Sooners would have regretted it as well.

Even though the sample size is low, with just three games under his belt, it's not surprising that comparisons are already being made to former Sooner walk-on Drake Stoops, who as everyone knows had a pretty special career at OU and the reputation as Mr. Reliable. The similarities, in size, position type and grittiness are striking. from what we've seen so far, there's no reason to think the production won't follow suit.

Perhaps Jordan's breakout moment in his short three-game career as an Oklahoma Sooner was the spectacular catch he made against Ole Miss that gave the Sooners their first lead against an SEC opponent this season

Faced with third down and goal-to-go at the Ole Miss nine-yard line with 12 seconds remaining in first half, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold rolled out to his right scanning the end zone for an open receiver. At the last second, Arnold spotted the true freshman Jordan break free, streaking toward the right corner just inside the goal line and rifled a pass that Jordan snagged as he fell to the ground with his first career touchdown.

I don't think that will be the only time Jordan finds the end zone over the next several years.