Sooners have one of the best returning players in college football, and he wasn’t even wearing Crimson and Cream last season
The Oklahoma Sooners have a very good wide receiver room, and Trell Harris is going to be a huge part of it.
The Oklahoma Sooners are getting one of the highest-graded returning wide receivers in college football, and he wasn’t even on the roster last season. Trell Harris, the former Virginia wide receiver who transferred to Oklahoma, checked in at No. 3 on PFF’s list of the highest-graded returning receivers heading into the 2026 season with a 77.0 grade.
Harris finished his 2025 campaign with 847 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns, averaging 14.4 yards per reception. He sits behind only LSU’s Jackson Harris (83.9) and Texas A&M’s Mario Craver (81.4) on the list, and his arrival gives the Sooners a significant boost at a position that needed reinforcement.
Oklahoma’s wide receiver room looks different this year
The Sooners’ receiving corps wasn’t terrible last season, but it didn’t live up to expectations. Deion Burks didn’t have the year everyone thought he would, and some of the younger players who were expected to contribute never became real factors. It was the Isaiah Sategna show for most of the season, and while Sategna will likely enter 2026 as the No. 1 receiver again, he won’t have to carry the load alone this time.
Harris is an elite deep-ball threat. When you watch his tape from Virginia, the catches he makes down the field are absurd. At 6’0, 200 pounds, he has the size to compete in the SEC, and his speed complements that frame well. Then there’s Parker Livingstone, who transferred in from Texas after posting 500 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns as a sophomore. Between Harris, Livingstone, and Sategna, Oklahoma has a receiver room that can actually spread the field and take pressure off each individual player.
Harris could take over as the Sooners’ top target
Everyone expects Sategna to be the primary option, and that makes sense given what he showed last year. But opposing defenses know it too. If Sategna draws the majority of attention from secondaries, Harris could feast as a complementary weapon. And it wouldn’t be surprising if Harris eventually takes over that top role altogether. He was graded that high at Virginia for a reason, and now he’s surrounded by better talent on a bigger stage. The only concern right now is that Harris is currently dealing with an injury, though coach Brent Venables noted he should be ready for training camp.
“He’s really close… He ran routes full speed last week,” Brent Venables said at SEC Media Days on Monday.
It all ties back to the quarterback
A lot of this hinges on how quarterback John Mateer performs in 2026. Last season, Mateer dealt with a hand injury that affected his play at times, but some of the offensive struggles were self-inflicted as well. The offense stalled out in stretches that had nothing to do with the injury. It goes both ways, though. A better receiver room could help Mateer play with more confidence and rhythm, and a healthier, more decisive Mateer could unlock the full potential of these new weapons.
The Sooners needed to upgrade the wide receiver position this offseason, and they did exactly that through the transfer portal. Harris and Livingstone give Oklahoma legitimate depth and playmaking ability alongside Sategna. If Mateer takes a step forward and Harris performs the way his PFF grade suggests he can, the Sooners could have one of the more dangerous passing attacks in the SEC this fall.