Oklahoma State Releases First Depth Chart of the 2025 Season
WRITTEN BY MARSHALL SCOTT | PISTOLS FIRING BLOG
When we all woke up Monday morning, it felt like picking which Cowboys were going to play major roles in 2025 was like throwing darts at a board. It still sort of feels that way, but we did get some insight.
Oklahoma State released its first depth chart of the 2025 season on Monday, with the Cowboys opening their campaign at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against UT-Martin in Boone Pickens Stadium.
Here is a look at that depth chart.
Here are some takeaways from it.
1. All the ORs
There were 19 ORs gracing the Cowboys’ depth chart, which shouldn’t come as a total surprise.
The most-discussed of those ORs sits between quarterbacks Zane Flores and Hauss Hejny, as the world continues its wait as to what happens with their position battle.
The funniest instance of ORs is among essentially the entire running back room. I was expecting a few ORs smattered in there, but not for Kalib Hicks, Sesi Vailahi, Rodney Fields Jr., Trent Howland and Freddie Brock to all be on par with one another as the season gets rolling.
2. Certain Starters?
With all those ORs, it almost makes more sense to look where there aren’t any.
Here are starters with no ORs:
Josh Ford — TE
Oscar Hammond — TE (that’s right, there were two TE spots)
Christian Fitzpatrick — WR
Sam Jackson V — WR
Nuku Mafi — RT
Noah McKinney — RG
Bob Schick — LG
Markell Samuel — LT
Jaleel Johnson — DE
Iman Oates — DT
Parker Robertson — S
Wes Pahl — P
Logan Ward — K
Shea Freibaum — LS
3. We Almost Got the Whole O-Line
The offensive line has been almost entirely rebuilt this offseason after losing a ton of longtime starters at the end of last season.
With that said, this is a spot that has seemingly moved in a direction quickly, with four of the five spots not having ORs up top. The only OR comes at center between Tulsa transfer Kasen Carpenter and returner Austin Kawecki.
Markell Samuel and Bob Schick are set to man the left side of the line. Both are transfers with Samuel coming from Appalachian State and Schick from Virginia Tech.
The right side was internally development. Noah McKinney transferred from UNLV after the 2022 season and has made the switch from tackle to guard at an imposing 6-foot-4, 330 pounds. Nuku Mafi is the youngest player in the group, as it looks as if he is set to start as a 6-foot-4, 325-pound redshirt freshman.
The center battle will be an interesting one. Carpenter is only a redshirt sophomore, but he got a ton of work in at Tulsa last season, playing 873 snaps and starting 11 games. Kawecki has been on the fringes of breaking into this lineup over the past few seasons, but there had been so much experience ahead of him.
4. A Few Missing Names
There are a few names missing that many might’ve expected to be on there.
Talyn Shettron is the most glaring. Shettron suffered on injury in the spring. This plus Terrill Davis taking over his No. 2 might be a sign that Shettron’s injury could be long term.
Nebraska transfer Jaylen Lloyd was also absent. For what it’s worth, OSU is sort of stacked in the slot with Sam Jackson V and Gavin Freeman, so much so that Da’Wain Lofton was listed among outside receivers.
Kyran Duhon is another guy who has had some hype around him after recording seven sacks as a true freshman at UTEP last season. Similarly to the Cowboys in the slot, OSU is deep on its defensive edges.
5. A True Freshman?!
With all the work the Cowboys did in the transfer portal at wideout, I was pleasantly surprised that a true freshman pushed onto the two-deep in wide receiver Royal Capell.
Listed at 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, Capell was a three-star prospect out of Cibolo-Steele (Texas). He picked the Pokes over offers from Oregon, Oklahoma, Baylor, Houston, Missouri and others.
6. Jacobi Oliphant Jr., Linebacker
The Cowboys did an outstanding job recruiting the portal this offseason, but if there was one position I was a little concerned at as far as depth goes, it was linebacker. Well, consider me intrigued with Jacobi Oliphant Jr. being listed among the Cowboy LBs.
Oliphant is a redshirt freshman who came to OSU (and is still listed on the roster) as a corner. He was a large corner at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, but a corner nonetheless. He has ORs connecting him to a potential starting gig with transfer linebackers Brandon Rawls and Trip White.
Out of St. Louis University High School (Missouri), Oliphant was ranked 939th in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the 2024 class. His best offer outside of OSU was to Boston College.
Sign me all the way up for a guy who grew out of being a corner and all the way to linebacker.
7. Kenneth Harris and Landyn Cleveland Are STARs
The position, I mean. We’ll see about what happens on the field.
The STAR spot is essentially a nickel, someone tasked with covering guys in the slot and getting involved in run support. It’s some hybrid of a corner, a safety and a linebacker.
Harris has been with the Cowboys since the 2023 season after transferring from Arkansas State. In three years with the Red Wolves, Harris made 18 starts at corner, but he has mainly played a special teams role as a Cowboy. But he shares an OR as the Cowboys’ starting STAR with sophomore Landyn Cleveland.
Cleveland was one of the more highly regarded prospects of the Cowboys 2024 recruiting class. He didn’t redshirt last season, playing eight games while recording three tackles.