Oklahoma adds transfer tight end with three career catches

Count 'em, three tight ends the Sooners have gotten out of the transfer portal during this cycle.

Louisiana Tech transfer John Locke announced via X on Wednesday night that he has committed to Oklahoma out of the transfer portal with two years of eligibility left. According to Parker Thune of Rivals, Locke will join OU's roster as a preferred walk-on.

Locke is the third tight end Joe Jon Finley has added to his position group from the transfer portal since it opened on Dec. 9. Locke joins Kennesaw State's Carson Kent and Will Huggins of Pittsburg State. None came from another Power 4 program, with Huggins coming from the Division-II level after starting his career at Kansas.

In two seasons at Louisiana Tech, Locke totaled three catches for 6 yards and scored one TD. This season, he caught one 2-yard pass Week 2 against NC State. He caught a 3-yard TD in 2023 as a redshirt freshman. Locke has appeared in every game but one since redshirting his first year on campus.

Locke went to Louisiana Tech as a three-star recruit from the 2022 class out of Helotes, Texas. OU and Finley also offered Locke while he was in high school, as well as Colorado State, Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth.

Now finally coming to OU ahead of his redshirt junior season, Locke will primarily be used to help block unless his play-style drastically changes in new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle's offense before next season. Locke is listed at 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, but it will still be a daunting task to stop edge rushers and SEC linebackers at that size.

Finley dipped into the portal for more bodies after losing Bauer Sharp to LSU and Jake Roberts, who ran out of eligbility. The Sooners still have tight ends Kaden Helms, Hampton Fay, Davon Mitchell and Kade McIntyre on their roster.