Transfer Portal losses are usually tough, but especially when it's the most promising player at an already thin position.
Hayes Fawcett of On3 reported on Monday that OU tight end Kaden Helms plans to enter the Transfer Portal once it officially opens on Jan. 2. He will have two years of eligibility left.
Oklahoma TE Kaden Helms entering Transfer Portal
Injuries hindered almost all of Helms' time in Oklahoma after signing with the Sooners as a consensus four-star recruit in the 2022 class and kept him from ever reaching expectations. He redshirted in 2022, then missed all of 2023 because of injury. He was then also sidelined five games last season because of injury.
With the Sooners seemingly having no one else proven at tight end, 2025 looked to be Helms' breakout season, but then he suffered a hand injury during fall camp that led him to miss the first three games of the season. During that time, converted linebacker Jaren Kanak asserted himself as the No. 1 tight end and Helms never got going.
In 20 career games, Helms, listed at 6-foot-5 and 238 pounds, caught eight passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns. This season, he had all career-highs with five receptions, 35 yards and a three-yard TD against Kent State.
Helms' eventual departure immediately makes tight end one of the Sooners' top priorities for this transfer cycle. Kanak is out of eligibility and no other tight end on the roster had much production at all for the Sooners this season.
As OU fans dread, that puts OU tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley having to go out and get talent for his usually lagging position. The Sooners were basically in this same spot last year, and all Finley did was add Group of Five talent with little previous production and none ended up being real contributors this season.
Definitely need something to change because for the past several years we have never figured out how to properly develop or utilize the TE position at OU.
— BURLY B⭕️⭕️MER ☝🏼 (@burlyboomer1) December 22, 2025
Helms had great potential but nothing ever became of it.
Who’s next? https://t.co/1OKRFuKTBJ
Oklahoma TE Kaden Helms is entering the transfer portal
— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) December 22, 2025
With Jaren Kanak's career finished up and Helms moving on, it'll be a complete reset for OU in the tight end room
Will be one of Oklahoma's highest priorities in the transfer portal #Sooners pic.twitter.com/2mmgbiGcKs
Either JJF is gone or he is trying to save his ass by wiping the room and starting again. https://t.co/AH9sano8OA
— Brewer Sooner (@BrewerSooner) December 22, 2025
Joe Jon Finley fired confirmed? https://t.co/jh7dwbyfgR
— Johnny OU (@OUFball218) December 22, 2025
The Sooners have already lost three players to the portal since a season-ending loss to Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Friday. That made five OU players total expected to transfer so far. Offensive lineman Isaiah Dent also on Monday announced his intentions to transfer.