As the Big 12 landscape continues to shift and elevate in talent, the Oklahoma State Cowboys may have quietly assembled one of the most formidable defensive backfields in the conference. After a 2024 season that saw flashes of brilliance overshadowed by inconsistency, Mike Gundy’s squad enters 2025 with something they haven’t had in years on defense: star power, depth, and competition across the entire secondary.
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, in his first year calling the plays in Stillwater, has an enviable problem on his hands — how to manage a secondary loaded with experienced veterans, rising stars, and high-profile transfers who all bring legitimate starting credentials. It’s the kind of roster flexibility that can elevate a defense from solid to special, and for the Cowboys, it may be the difference between simply competing in the Big 12 and winning it.
At the core of the group is a reliable foundation of returning talent. Players like Cam Smith, Dylan Smith, Kale Smith, David Kabongo, and Landyn Cleveland have played a combined hundreds of snaps in orange and black. That continuity is rare in today’s transfer portal era and gives Oklahoma State a level of familiarity and cohesion that many programs are still chasing. Kabongo emerged last year as one of the conference’s most instinctive young safeties, while Cam Smith’s blend of length and physicality gives the Cowboys a legitimate boundary corner to match up with elite receivers.
But what separates this year’s secondary from past iterations is the influx of elite-level talent via the portal. Oklahoma State went shopping — and came away with blue-chip names who’ve seen the big stage. JK Johnson (a former top-100 recruit who played at both Ohio State and LSU), Jaylin Davies (previously at Oregon and UCLA), and Zaquan Patterson (a highly touted safety from Miami) give Grantham instant-impact options with the kind of athleticism that’s tough to scheme against. And that’s just scratching the surface.
Mordecai McDaniel, a Florida transfer, brings SEC battle scars and deep-range coverage ability, while DeAndre Boykins, formerly of North Carolina, offers hybrid versatility — the kind of player who can cover a tight end in the slot one play and blow up a screen pass the next. These are not depth pieces. These are players who expect to start, and many of them will.
Of course, with that talent comes the challenge of fit. Who plays where? Who starts? Who rotates? These are the puzzles that fall to Grantham and his staff to solve during fall camp. But this isn’t a matter of searching for answers — it’s about choosing from the best ones. And that’s a luxury most defensive coordinators dream about.
The competition will be fierce, and that’s exactly the environment Gundy wanted to create. When you consider the potential for injuries, scheme adaptability, and opponent-specific matchups, having a secondary that can go eight or nine deep with minimal drop-off is a massive asset.
Perhaps the most underrated benefit of such a deep secondary is what it can unlock elsewhere. A confident back end allows Grantham to be more aggressive up front — dialing up pressure, sending creative blitzes, and trusting his corners to hold up in man coverage. For a defense that wants to be multiple and disruptive, that’s foundational.
There’s also leadership in this group. Veterans like Cam Smith and McDaniel bring calm to chaotic situations. Younger players like Kabongo and Patterson play with hunger and energy. And in a Big 12 conference that features dynamic passing attacks and tempo-heavy offenses, the Cowboys will need every bit of that maturity and depth to survive the grind.
The unit isn’t without questions — how quickly the transfers adjust to Grantham’s system, and how well the chemistry develops with so many new faces — but those are the kinds of challenges that arise when building something great. Oklahoma State isn’t plugging holes. They’re stacking bricks.
With high expectations comes high responsibility. The Cowboys’ offense should return to being productive in 2025, but for this team to make a legitimate run at Arlington, the defense needs to make a leap. And that leap begins in the secondary.
If everything clicks — if the blend of experience and explosiveness delivers as expected — Oklahoma State’s defensive backfield won’t just be good. It might be the best in the Big 12. And in a league defined by game-breaking receivers and quarterbacks who can light up the scoreboard, that could be the deciding factor come December.
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Matt Hofeld is a college football analyst and contributor covering the Big 12. Follow him for more Oklahoma State and conference-wide analysis throughout the 2025 season.
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