Brennan Presley is breaking the mold for top OSU receivers

Nov. 22—Brennan Presley, by the numbers, is on pace to be one of the most productive receivers in Oklahoma State history.

Assuming he stays healthy for the final three (potential) games of his senior season and all 12 games of his super senior season, his career statline will be in the area of 275 catches, 3,200 yards and 22 touchdowns.

That would place him second in catches, fifth in yards and seventh in touchdowns all-time among OSU receivers, joining a group of names such as Rashaun Woods, Justin Blackmon, James Washington, Tylan Wallace, Hart Lee Dykes and Dez Bryant. Those receivers combined to earn eight First-Team All-American selections and three Biletnikoff Awards and all but Wallace were drafted in the first two rounds of the NFL draft.

Presley likely will leave Stillwater without any of those accolades.

But who among them, except Blackmon, can say they enjoyed as much team success as Presley? By Dec. 2, he will have played in two conference championship games and possibly won one, won a New Year's Six bowl and been lifted onto the shoulders of OSU fans after winning Bedlam twice. And there's still another season to go.

"We win the game, and that's all that matters," Presley said. "I'm not bigger than the team. I'm not bigger than any one player. I'm just another player on the team just trying to do my part to help us win."

Presley, in the Houston win, had a season-high 189 yards and his 15 catches were one shy of tying OSU's single-game record, which Alex Lloyd set in 1949.

Coach Mike Gundy said Monday that it was one of the few OSU football facts he wasn't aware of, and he was surprised the record has stood that long.

"If the offenses that we're in now, we used back then, (Dykes) would have had 20 catches a game because you couldn't cover him at all. Two people couldn't cover him," Gundy said. "I'm surprised Justin Blackmon hadn't got that many. James Washington played with so many other receivers that we had to spread it around."

Presley doesn't have blazing speed, an insane vertical leap or giant hands on long arms that can snatch any ball out of the air, but offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said he runs great routes and has great spatial awareness.

"We always talk about running the line in the book. When you draw up a play, you draw these straight lines, and there's a lot more fluidity to it than what you see on paper," Dunn said. "He brings plays to life. That's been really a unique thing for him, and we're certainly the benefactors of that."

That's a skill he developed, not one he was born with.

"When he first came in, he wasn't a true, just natural receiver but the guy works at it a ton, so when you see him catch the football now, it's really, really fluid and natural," Dunn said. "He's out there catching balls every day. He's on the JUGS and grinds it and he takes a lot of ownership in it. And it hurts him if he drops the ball. It really hurts him."

Presley, during interviews, clearly tries to downplay how impressive his career has been when his small stature (5-foot-8, 180 pounds) enters the conversation as a factor.

But it's undeniable that most people outside of Oklahoma wouldn't think of him as a No. 1 receiver on a good Power Five team if they saw him out in public.

"I get hit hard every single week, so to me, it's nothing new," Presley said. "I'm kind of used to it at this stage and in my life in college football."

Marcus Trevino is a sports reporter for the News Press. He can be contacted at mtrevino@stwnewspress.com.