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Oklahoma State could sneakily end up as one of the best teams in the Big 12, all thanks to three very impactful offensive transfers who all came from the same school. Not every program fishing in the transfer portal gets that fortunate, but the Cowboys absolutely did. 

It all starts with running back Caleb Hawkins, the returning third-best player in the country according to BiteScore. He finished the year with a 8.80 BiteScore, making him the fourth highest-rated returning running back. He was the only player outside of the Power 4 conferences that sniffed the top of our list, too. 

It makes sense why that was the case. He finished the year with 1,434 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on 231 carries, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Hawkins was a true workhorse who made the Mean Green offense hard to stop. 

Alongside him will be quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country last season for North Texas. Mestemaker is the best returning quarterback in the country, according to his 8.19 Bitescore. That’s ahead of players like Arch Manning, Darian Mensah and Julian Sayin.

He threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns, along with nine interceptions. He led the entire country in passing yards by a pretty significant margin, too. 

Mestemaker will now be surrounded by better weapons and a better offensive line. He will be facing stronger competition in the Big 12, but he clearly has what it takes to lead an offense with anyone around him. 

Having Wyatt Young, his top target last year, will certainly help him adjust to the power conference level.  Mestemaker helped Young rack up 1,265 yards and 10 touchdowns last season on 70 receptions. The two were a lethal duo that was rarely stopped in the American Conference. 

This trio heading to Stillwater should make Oklahoma State dangerous. The Cowboys have a ton of question marks on their offense still under new head coach Eric Morris, but there’s no doubt that they have talent. Morris’ defense will have to hold up in order to bring them far, but it’s hard to imagine an offensive juggernaut with Hawkins, Mestemaker and Young not leading Oklahoma State to some sort of success in the Big 12. 

Oklahoma State’s slew of new players makes them hard to predict heading into the season. It’ll have harder matchups like Oregon in Week 2 and Texas Tech later in the season, but those are the only two games that look to be pencilled-in losses. 

Even with a new staff and basically a brand-new roster, the talent on offense should be able to lead the Cowboys far. They’ll have to put the pieces together quickly for that to be the case, though.

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