STILLWATER — This was supposed to be the season Oklahoma State went all in with a winning hand.

As it turns out, that hand wasn’t worth much, but with three games left, there’s a case to be made that the Cowboys held more chips back for the 2025 season than most expected.

While injuries have derailed the current season, they’ve also put younger players in a position to shine at times this fall, offering some amount of hope for next year should those guys choose to return.

Below is a projection of what a starting lineup next season might look like, factoring in likely NFL Draft decisions. For the sake of this exercise, players not yet on the roster were not considered.

OFFENSE

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Oklahoma State quarterback Maealiuaki Smith made his season debut against Arizona State.

Quarterback Garret Rangel provided a much-needed spark against BYU and it certainly seems like Oklahoma State would have beaten the Cougars had he remained healthy. He obviously has the experience edge, but he’s also recovering from surgery.

While most athletes bounce back seemingly without setbacks, that isn’t always the case. Plus, Smith seems poised to see additional game action during the final three weeks after playing seven snaps against Arizona State. Maybe he proves something in those games.

Zane Flores will certainly have a chance to make his case this offseason. Still, considering he’s also recovering from injury and will be the only returning scholarship quarterback yet to see the field, he’s easily the odd man out for now.

Fields has looked explosive at times (4.4 yards per carry) and clearly has the coaches' trust, considering his first game action came at BYU in critical moments.

Sesi Vailahi is probably the more complete back right now. He’s the third-highest graded pass-blocker on the team, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), with a grade of 85.5. However, he’s only averaging 2.3 yards per carry.

Receiver De’Zhaun Stribling could choose to return and round out this group. Despite missing some time recently, he still leads the team with 648 receiving yards and looks like the Cowboy's most capable downfield receiver, even if he lacks Brennan Presley’s connection with quarterback Alan Bowman.

Shettron has proven more than capable in spurts since going for 110 yards and a touchdown on three catches at Tulsa. In fact, he’s finished second on the team in receiving three times this season against Tulsa, Utah and BYU. Shotomide-King played over half his snaps for the season in the last two weeks.

As for Ford, he’s easily been the most impressive freshman and should only get better with a year under his belt. Watch what Oklahoma State asks him to do on the field, and it quickly becomes obvious why coaches and teammates sang his praises so often during spring and fall camp.

C Jakobe Sanders- nine snaps, OSU’s highest-graded offensive player on PFF (77.6)

Glass is the only returning starter. The line has been disappointing as a run-blocking unit this season, but his experience could be invaluable.

Kawecki seems to be pushing for real playing time these days, although how much of that is due to ongoing health concerns with starters is unknown. McKinney saw extended action at left tackle at Baylor due to injuries.

DEFENSE

Oklahoma State returns a decent amount of experience in the secondary. Dylan Smith and Cam Smith are returning starters. Rawls might end up being that too. He spent the first month on somewhat of a pitch count due to his season-ending injury in 2023. He played 55-plus snaps against West Virginia and BYU but missed Baylor and played six snaps against the Sun Devils.

Parker Robertson publicly committed to return next season and the former walk-on has already played well enough to earn the right to back up Trey Rucker this fall. Kale Smith has played 21-plus snaps in every game this season.

Daniels seemed to shine in the opening weeks, but the former safety-turned-linebacker has struggled at times securing tackles in recent weeks. It’s not a huge surprise, considering Daniels had to undergo a new change and become a play-caller for the defense when Nick Martin went down.

Speaking of Martin, he was on pace to finish the season with 113 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss and two sacks in 12 games after finishing 2023 with 140 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss and six sacks in 14 games. His return would be huge for Oklahoma State and almost certainly helps his NFL Draft stock, but Martin played well enough this season that his return doesn’t seem like a certainty.

Roberson missed all of 2022 due to injury, so he should be able to redshirt even though he joined the program in 2020.

Among players who could return next season, Johnson has recorded a team-high 18 total pressures (sacks, hits, hurries), according to PFF, despite missing the BYU game. Oates returns and has made plays recently.

DeSean Brown has played 305 snaps and has 16 total pressures, according to PFF. So he’s in the mix as well.

Kirkland has the strength of a professional and voiced a desire to play in the NFL, but has he made his case to the pros with what he’s done in the last two years? Kirkland is the team’s fourth-highest graded defender overall on PFF, but that doesn’t mean anything where the NFL is concerned. It will be interesting to see what feedback he gets from the NFL Draft Advisory.

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