Oklahoma State Football: Full 2018 season preview, predictions
Previewing the offense
It feels weird to worry about a Mike Gundy offense. He’s been so consistently good at coaching offense in his career, that any kind of drop off feels completely foreign. However, it’s almost inevitable. With Rudolph gone, there’s a huge gap at the most important position in an air raid offense. The replacement will be one of five (!) possible quarterbacks.
While there are five answers to the quarterback question, only two of them seem to be at the front. Taylor Cornelius, and Hawaii transfer Dru Brown. Keondre Wudtee and Spencer Sanders have shots too, but we’ll focus on Brown and Cornelius. Cornelius feels like the safer answer. The former walk-on has been in Oklahoma State’s offense for four years, and will keep mistakes to a minimum. He looked like the best option in spring practice.
However, he’s limited. He’s got a big arm, but struggles with accuracy, and may not fit too well in the quick hit centric offense Oklahoma State runs. Enter Dru Brown. The Hawaii grad transfer was very solid each of the last two years, and would almost certainly be more efficient than his counterparts. He’s not big (6-foot-1 on a good day), but he’s crafty, smart, and accurate. That may be a much better fit for this offense, especially without a deep threat like James Washington.
Whoever the starter is, he’ll have a ton of help beside him in the backfield. Justice Hill is entering his junior year, coming off an awesome campaign last year. He’s explosive, efficient, and deadly in open space. He got lost a bit last year behind the outstanding passing attack, but still racked up more than 1400 yards. he could be in for an even bigger year now that he’s set to be the focal point.
The new quarterback should have a pretty good receiver group as well. Even with Washington and Ateman off to the NFL,there’s plenty of returning talent, starting with Jalen McCleskey. While he was mostly a possession receiver in 2017, he flashed the potential to be a true number one receiver, and he’ll fill that role now. On the other side of the field, Dillon Stoner will need to step up as well.
Behind them, the Cowboys have plenty of depth, because if there’s one thing Gundy has recruited well, it’s wideouts. LSU transfer Tyron Johnson and Tylan Wallace should be valuable targets in the three and four slots, and will see plenty of receptions. If Brown is the quarterback, whoever takes over in the slot (my guess is Johnson) could be in for a huge year.
Related Story: Justice Hill ready for All-American production in 2018
Up front, it’ll be a bit of an uphill battle. Three starters return, but unfortunately, the two best starters on the line last year are gone. That means that Marcus Keyes, Johnny Wilson and Larry Williams will need to improve. If they don’t this could be a very long year, because whoever the other two starters are will be inexperienced.
New look?
The 2018 version of Oklahoma State’s offense may look quite a bit different from those of years past. Without an elite quarterback (eg. Weeden, Rudolph), Gundy will have to adjust away from such a pass heavy approach. Even if they do find a good quarterback to take over for Rudolph, he won’t be Rudolph, which means there will be some struggles. The lack of elite receivers will obviously hurt too.
Justice Hill will help soften that blow, and could be an integral part of the new look offense. He had plenty of carries last year, but could be in for an even heavier workload in 2018. He’s one of the best backs in the country, and he’ll have a chance to prove that this year. I don’t think Oklahoma State is going to go away from their air raid attack, but it could look more like a power spread (think Ohio State or Clemson) in 2018.