Cody Jackson was targeted five times in Oklahoma’s spring game on Saturday afternoon. The redshirt freshman receiver caught three of those five targets for 21 yards, with the longest going for 15 yards. On Monday Jackson reportedly made the decision to enter the transfer portal and take his talents elsewhere.
Jackson’s decision to leave is far from damaging to an already stacked group of receivers. His five targets on Saturday tied him with Jalil Farooq for the third most receptions on the day but that’s with Marvin Mims, Theo Wease, and Brayden Willis being used sparingly. True freshman Jayden Gibson emerged as the rising star among the receiving corps with three catches, on a team-high nine targets, for 113 yards and a score.
Jackson, a Richmond, TX native, came to Oklahoma as a member of the 2021 recruiting class. He was ranked by 247Sports as the #6 receiver in the class and the #10 overall player from the state of Texas. I think at best Jackson would have been third on Oklahoma’s depth chart at the “Y” receiver position behind Mims and Drake Stoops. That’s probably the biggest contributing factor to his departure right there. Even with him gone the Sooners can still go six deep on experienced talent with Wease, Trevon West, Brian Darby, Mims, Stoops, and Farooq. When you add freshmen Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson in the mix it shows that this group is still stacked and talented.
While we hate to see him go, it stands to reason that Jackson’s departure will have very little impact on the receiving depth in 2022.
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