On Tuesday, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables announced the bad news: wide receiver Jayden Gibson will miss the season.
Gibson, a 6-foot-5, 197-pound junior from West Orange, FL, had a knee injury at practice on Tuesday and will be out for the rest of 2024.
“We’ve got one player who won’t be back, and we know that’s Jayden Gibson,” Venables said outside the Switzer Center following a morning session at the OU rugby fields.
Last season, Gibson caught 15 receptions for 387 yards and five touchdowns, averaging an incredible 25.8 yards per reception. Teammates and coaches had observed that he was having a terrific preseason training camp and were looking forward to the next stage in his career path.
Instead, Gibson will redshirt this season and attempt to rebuild in the 2025 summer while the Sooners’ stacked wideout corps continues without him.
“You hate that for anybody, the season comes to an end prematurely,” Venables explained. “But that’s a group that we feel really good about who’s in that group.”
“Other than that, everybody (has) just the normal bumps and bruises,” added Venables.
Venables has been happy with Emmett Jones’ wide receiver room’s performance this offseason and into camp. If there’s one position on the squad that can take the loss of a rising star, it’s receiving.
“Those who have stepped up include Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Deion Burks, JJ Hester, Ivan Carreon, Jaquaize Pettaway, and Zion Kearney.” And we really appreciate what Zion Ragins has showed, especially early in camp. KJ Daniels accomplished several wonderful things. Those two guys are quite fast, and they reach full speed quickly.
“They all complement one another. The receiving group is made up of people who have played a lot of football and have achieved great success. So we have a solid depth there.”
Gibson joined with the Sooners after leaving Florida. He selected OU over Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, and others after accumulating over 1,600 yards and 22 touchdowns in his final two seasons at West Orange High School.
Gibson appeared in nine games as a true freshman, five of which were in the final six, and had only one catch for 12 yards.
Last year, however, he appeared in all 13 games and was a consistent contributor to big plays, with 199 of his 375 receiving yards coming in the Sooners’ final four games.
“He’s really stepped up vocally,” Anderson stated earlier in camp, “and physically, he’s gotten a lot larger, faster, and stronger. And, vocally, he’s been more of a leader to the younger players, raising up everyone around him as well.”
Gibson gained at least 50 yards four times, including 76 yards and a 59-yard touchdown on just two catches against TCU, a season-high 82 yards and a 55-yard touchdown on two catches at BYU, 38 yards on two catches against West Virginia, 50 yards on two catches and a touchdown against Iowa State, and 54 yards and his first career touchdown against Arkansas State.
His touchdown against TCU included an amazing catch in traffic, a burst of speed toward the end zone, and enough strength to drag a defender across the goal line.
“It’s simply a football play. “My team needed me,” Gibson stated afterwards. “I feel like that was really big, a really cool moment.”
