With the Transfer Portal officially opening on Friday, the Oklahoma Sooners really have no dire needs to get from the portal -- that is as long as they trust in what they've already built and keep that foundation in place.
As of Monday, four days before the portal opens and 10 days since OU's season ended with a loss to Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Sooners had seven players lined up to transfer. Of the group, only linebacker Kobie McKinzie was a surprise and a real contributor this season, but even he ended the year as a reserve. Only one other expected transfer appeared in more than four games in 2025.
Those losses do not include graduated departures, though, most notably defensive end R Mason Thomas, wide receiver Deion Burks, tight end Jaren Kanak, safety Robert Spears-Jennings, cheetah Kendal Daniels, offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu and, at least as of now, linebacker Owen Heinecke.
OU's top offseason priority isn't getting talent from Transfer Portal, but keeping players out
Regardless, as important as some of those names seem, none are worth fans panicking about the Sooners dropping back out of playoff contention in 2026. Offensively, the Sooners can return 93% of their rushing production from 2025 thanks to Tory Blaylock and Xavier Robinson. Obviously quarterback John Mateer returning for a final run would give OU nearly all of its passing attack back. OU is also expected to have back four of its five starting offensive linemen.
Defensively, the Sooners should return 61% of both their tackle and sack totals from 2025. That includes leading tackler Kip Lewis and sacks leader Taylor Wein. Spears-Jennings is the only member of the secondary who had one of nine interceptions this season and is not expected to return.
The trick, though, in today's college football, is actually getting that production to return, even when expected to. Mateer, Lewis, Wein and leading receiver Isaiah Sategna III all have both the NFL and Transfer Portal that could lure them away. Every single player on the roster also has the possibility of more money and opportunities somewhere else through the Transfer Portal.
If either Mateer, Lewis, Wein or Sategna leave, then their position immediately becomes a No. 1 priority for OU general manager Jim Nagy in the Transfer Portal. The same could be said about any other position if it loses a projected starter to the portal. Returning production takes a drastic dip if any potential starter hits the road, so the luxury the Sooners have right now is fragile.
That also doesn't mean Nagy doesn't have any work to do if they all stay.
The Sooners need a lot of talent at tight end, but it's not a position they utilize anyway. An elite wide receiver to pair with Sategna is also on the wish list, as well as depth pieces at other positions like linebacker and defensive end. For the most part, though, guys already in the program give OU the depth it needs in the future and a future breakout star.
As Nagy creates OU's roster budget for 2026, most of the money first needs to go to the players who have already earned their worth while wearing crimson and cream before making offers to unknown commodities that could end up as another Jaydn Ott waste.