Way-Too-Early Depth Chart Projection for Oklahoma State’s 2026 Season
By Marshall Scott | Pistols Firing Blog
Oklahoma State’s football season is a mere 6.5 months away.
With a roster almost entirely made up of newcomers, let’s take a way-too-early stab at the first two-deep under new OSU coach Eric Morris.
Quarterback
QB1 — Drew Mestemaker (North Texas)
QB2 — Grant Jordan (UMass)
Thoughts: This one shouldn’t come as too big a surprise, given redshirt sophomore Drew Mestemaker led the nation in passing last season and is reportedly set to make comparable money to the Cowboys’ coach in 2026.
I do think there’s a world where one of the freshmen could come in and usurp Jordan as QB2, just given Morris’ history. Mestemaker, for example, was a walk-on true freshman for Morris in 2024 before earning his way up to his first start for UNT’s bowl game that year. So, I think it’s possible a guy like Broderick Vehrs could prove to be the heir apparent. But for now, I’ll stick with the guy who has experience at the college level behind Mestemaker.
Running Back
RB1 — Caleb Hawkins (North Texas)
RB2 — Ayo Adeyi (James Madison) OR KD Jones (freshman) OR Tre Page III (Tarleton State)
Thoughts: Again, it seems fairly obvious who is going to be the top dog here. Hawkins led the country in total touchdowns (29) as a true freshman.
Behind him is where things get interesting.
Ayo Adeyi was a 1,000-yard rusher for Morris in 2023 at UNT, but was limited in his action at James Madison the past two seasons.
If you polled Oklahoma State fans, they would probably put hope in KD Jones emerging as the clear guy behind Hawkins. Jones is a four-star prospect and Jenks’ all-time leading rusher.
Tre Page III is another young back. As a redshirt freshman at Tarleton State in 2025, Page ran for 839 yards and seven touchdowns on 7.5 yards per carry.
It feels like this room could be Hawkins plus whoever has the hot hand, and OSU seemingly has multiple solid options to fill that spot.
Wide Receiver
WR1s — Wyatt Young (North Texas), Justin Bowick (Illinois), Chris Barnes (Wake Forest)
WR2s — Miles Coleman (North Texas), Israel Polk (Akron), Jani Weir (Fullerton College)
Thoughts: In terms of depth, this feels like one of the better receiving rooms the Cowboys have had in at least a handful of years.
Young, Bowick and Barnes are all four-star transfers, per 247Sports. For reference, there are a dozen Big 12 teams that don’t have three four-star transfers, and OSU has that just in its receiver room.
Even that next group is super exciting. Coleman was a high school classmate of Mestemaker, and he had 550 receiving yards as a true sophomore last season. Polk had 525 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in the MAC last season, and Weir, a junior college transfer, has elite speed and posted 877 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.
I wanted to find a way to get returning redshirt freshman Matrail Lopez on this list based on how coaches were talking about him last year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he played a factor, as well.
Tight End
TE1 — Donovan Green (LSU)
TE2 — Oscar Hammond (returner)
Thoughts: Donovan Green seemingly has all the tools to be a really good tight end. Now it’ll be up to Morris and his staff to bring that out of him.
The former blue-chip high school prospect started his college career at Texas A&M, where he had 22 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman in 2022. He suffered an ACL injury in fall camp in 2023, meaning that it ended before it started. Then he played primarily as a special teamer in 2024 before being limited in his first season with the Tigers in 2025.
The 2026 season will be a reunion for Oscar Hammond and Morris. Hammond was a tight end at North Texas in 2024, where he caught 19 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. Before that, he spent two seasons at UCO.
Offensive Line
LT1 — Braydon Nelson (North Texas)
LG1 — Jacob Sexton (Oklahoma)
C1 — Tyler Mercer (Kansas)
RG1 — Johnny Dickson III (North Texas)
RT1 — Ashton Lepo (Michigan State)
LT2 — Desmond Magiya (North Texas)
LG2 — Jaylan Beckley (returner)
C2 — Jakobe Sanders (returner)
RG2 — Louie Canepa (returner)
RT2 — Joseph Hanson (Coastal Carolina)
Thoughts: The Cowboys’ new staff went hard on adding to every position via the portal, but it seemed particularly true along the offensive front.
Everyone in that front group has primarily played the position I have them at, aside from Sexton, who played all over the place in his four injury-filled seasons with the Sooners.
If it breaks how I expect (it’s only January, so it probably won’t), I think the potential is there for Hanson and Lepo to duke it out for that right tackle spot. Hanson was an All-Sun Belt selection as a true junior at Coastal this year. Lepo was Michigan State’s starting right tackle in 2024 but played in just four games (two starts) in 2025.