NORMAN — The opening of the transfer portal window has brought some chaos to Oklahoma's roster. Over 20 players have announced their intentions to enter the portal as of Friday afternoon.

Six of those players have come from the wide receiver room.

So far, the Sooners have seen Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony, Jaquaize Pettaway, JJ Hester and Brenen Thompson enter the portal and look for opportunities elsewhere. The departures of Anderson, Farooq and Anthony have been particularly noteworthy, as all of them were expected to play significant roles this season before they all sustained serious injuries.

There had been some optimism for each of them to return next season, and Venables noted in October that all three — along with Jayden Gibson and Deion Burks, who also dealt with injuries — had expressed interest in coming back. What changed?

"The wind," Venables joked when asked on Friday. "Who knows what all goes into a lot of those things. There’s some guys, hey, maybe some of the conversation is you need a fresh start, too. At the end of the day, whoever’s here, my job is to make sure who’s here, they have an appreciation, a thankfulness, a respect for their opportunity. I want guys that show up every day, that are driven, are ambitious, they’re going to fight for their opportunity, they’re going to fight for their teammates.

"The group of guys that chose not to be here, hey, they did a great job while they were here, and we certainly wish them well. We’re thankful for the time they were here, but change is part of where we’re at in college football right now."

That change, and those departures, puts the wide receiver squarely into focus as the Sooners navigate the next few weeks.

The Sooners' wide receiver room was considered one of the strengths of the team heading into the season. But the room was quickly decimated by injuries, and the Burks-Gibson-Farooq-Anderson-Anthony quintet combined to play just 317 snaps in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. 276 of those snaps came from Burks, who was limited to just five games after suffering an injury against Tennessee. As a result, OU's passing offense was historically poor — the Sooners finished the regular season ranked 122nd nationally in passing offense (167.6 yards per game).

While several wide receivers are leaving the program, there remains some optimism. Venables said the Sooners expect Gibson to return, while Burks is still weighing his future. But either way, it's clear the Sooners have work to do in rebuilding the wide receiver room.

"Certainly, that will be an area that’s a great focus for us," Venables said. "Got a lot of guys that would love the opportunity to play at the University of Oklahoma, so navigating that is something we’ve been (doing) for the last several weeks, anticipating.

"I’ll be honest, most of the guys that were banged up and didn’t play this year, we felt like they wouldn’t be here a year ago. So, we’ve been preparing for this for a while, just thinking they’d come and they’d play well and they’d be moving on. In some ways, you positioned yourself for that, but it’ll be a great opportunity for some guys across the country to come here and play.”

The Sooners also have to figure out how to prepare for the upcoming bowl game against Navy on Dec. 27, though they've dealt with issues at wide receiver all season. Thompson and Hester were the most consistent options at receiver this season, combining to play over 1,000 snaps, per PFF. Without them, the Sooners have pretty limited options. Gibson is still out with a knee injury, Zion Kearney's status is uncertain after he suffered an injury against LSU and Burks' future remains up in the air. That could leave the Sooners with only four scholarship wide receivers against Navy — Ivan Carreon, Zion Ragins, KJ Daniels and Jacob Jordan.

“Well, going forward, getting ready for Navy, most of the guys who helped us all year are going to be the same guys out there for the bowl game," Venables said. "We had a lot of receivers; we were actually over our number most of the year, thankfully, so we were able to play with guys this year.

"I just see a great opportunity for a great foundation of young players there to continue to grow, develop. We recruited them for a reason. All well thought-of guys."

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