Can Brennan Presley lead Oklahoma State in receiving yards? He's a QB's 'best friend'

STILLWATER — Brennan Presley has done a lot of extra film study this offseason.

Not of upcoming opponents, or even of himself.

Oklahoma State’s junior slot receiver has been watching tape of Josh Stewart.

Presley is nearing the prime of his college career after a stellar sophomore season in which he caught 50 passes for 619 yards and five touchdowns.

Yet he and his coaches — particularly offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn and head coach Mike Gundy — believe Presley’s ceiling is much higher.

That’s where Stewart comes in.

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Statistically, Stewart is the most successful slot receiver to play at Oklahoma State in the Gundy era. Twice he led the team in receptions, and once he led the team in receiving yards, pulling in 101 catches for 1,210 yards in 2012.

In the slot receiver realm, that season is the benchmark. It’s the only time in the previous 17 seasons under Gundy that an inside receiver has led the team in yardage.

With Presley entering the 2022 season as the most established and most productive returning receiver on the roster, his potential to match that achievement is possible.

The 11th-ranked Cowboys open the season against Central Michigan at 6 p.m. Thursday at Boone Pickens Stadium with a stated goal of running a faster-paced offense, and in the past, that has meant more passing. And when they’ve thrown more, slot receivers have often shined.

“It’s easier to get the ball to the slot,” said Dunn, who is entering his third year as offensive coordinator and 12th as receivers coach. “He’s next to the quarterback. You can toss it to him, bubble screens, all kinds of stuff. It’s easier for him to get the ball, so it’s likely (Presley) is our leading receiver at the end of the day.”

While the Cowboys have multiple talented outside receivers to work with, they don’t have any with the established trust Presley has built in his first two seasons.

And Presley understands his value to quarterback Spencer Sanders.

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“Not only as a slot do you have to be fast, but you also have to process a lot,” Presley said. “I don’t know if people realize how much goes into it. You have to be the quarterback’s best friend.”

Over the last two years, Presley has increased his understanding of the offense and discovered how his game best fits in it. Now he’s trying to add to it.

And watching Stewart’s 2012 game tape has opened doors in Presley’s mind.

“I’ve texted him a couple times and he came out here to practice one time last year and I talked to him,” Presley said. “He was a great slot receiver here. I just try to watch him. Of course, I have my own game, but I try to take something from his game, because I remember his sophomore year, he had 101 catches.

“Doing that from the slot position is a really big thing. I’m just trying to emulate some of the things he did that I can incorporate into my game. He’s also told me some stuff about reading defenses, running routes, stuff like that. He’s been a good help to me.”

While Stewart’s 2012 season stands alone as the only year a slot receiver has led the Gundy-coached Cowboys in receiving yards, it’s just one of five seasons in which a slot has led the team in receptions — oddly enough, in five consecutive years from 2012-16. Stewart and David Glidden each did it twice and Jalen McCleskey once.

Physically, Presley and Stewart aren’t all that similar. Stewart played at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds — three inches taller and 10 pounds heavier than Presley.

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“Except Brennan’s faster,” Gundy said, adding that Stewart ran a 4.75-second 40-yard dash. “Most people don’t realize that, but Josh had the ability to, like when he would return punts and stuff, he could feel somebody coming and slip away from them. Brennan will be able to take off and run away from them, but their side-to-side, their approach, is very similar.”

Regardless, Stewart’s monster 2012 season is the one Dunn and Presley point to as the standard. And Presley feels his knowledge growing while watching the old game tapes.

“I see some things in his game with the way that he moves, how he tries to do stuff,” Presley said. “He’s not necessarily twitchy like me, but he’s fluid. He’s a really fluid route-runner. You see with the way he moves, everything is just smooth and crisp and precise.

“That’s something that I’ve tried to add to my game when I’m out here practicing, so I can use it on Saturdays.”

Of course, Presley’s biggest roadblock in pursuit of leading the Cowboys in receiving yards this year might be the natural flow of the offense. Historically under Gundy, the outside receivers have seen the ball come their way more commonly because they’re often the first guy the quarterback looks for.

And over the years, the Cowboys’ most dynamic receivers have been on the outside, from Adarius Bowman to Dez Bryant to Justin Blackmon to James Washington to Tylan Wallace.

But even in years without a superstar, outside receivers have been the top targets. Hubert Anyiam, Brandon Sheperd and Tay Martin weren’t Biletnikoff Award types, yet still led OSU in receiving.

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This season, with super-senior Braydon Johnson in the coveted “Z” receiver position played by all the stars mentioned above, he could be the first option in a lot of situations.

Sanders, not wanting to give away too much info on how often he might be looking Presley’s way this season, stuck to the company line when asked if it was possible for a slot receiver to lead the team in yards.

“It's kind of what the defense gives us,” he said. “We've always been really dangerous in the slot and I feel like teams really know that. If B.P. goes out and has a hell of a year and he's MVP of the receivers and that's what it is, that's what the defense gives us. But you… can't get greedy.

“It's a comfort level thing. The better we can build a brotherhood between each other, the better that we're going to have a good connection.”

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OSU’s leading receivers under Gundy

Here’s a look at Oklahoma State’s leading receiver in yardage each season during the Mike Gundy era:

Year: Player — Rec. — Yds. — TDs — YPC

2005: D’Juan Woods — 56 — 879 — 8 — 15.7

2006: Adarius Bowman — 57 — 1,131 — 11 — 19.8

2007: Adarius Bowman — 67 — 1,006 — 8 — 15.0

2008: Dez Bryant — 74 — 1,313 — 18 — 17.7

2009: Hubert Anyiam — 41 — 499 — 3 — 12.2

2010: Justin Blackmon — 111 — 1,782 — 20 — 16.1

2011: Justin Blackmon — 122 — 1,522 — 18 — 12.5

2012: Josh Stewart — 101 — 1,210 — 7 — 12.0

2013: Tracy Moore — 51 — 738 — 6 — 14.5

2014: Brandon Sheperd — 39 — 737 — 5 — 18.9

2015: James Washington — 53 — 1,087 — 10 — 20.5

2016: James Washington — 71 — 1,380 — 10 — 19.4

2017: James Washington — 74 — 1,549 — 13 — 20.9

2018: Tylan Wallace — 86 — 1,491 — 12 — 17.3

2019: Tylan Wallace — 53 — 903 — 8 — 17.0

2020: Tylan Wallace — 59 — 922 — 6 — 15.6

2021: Tay Martin — 80 — 1,046 — 10 — 13.1

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU football: Can Brennan Presley lead Cowboys in receiving yards?