Oklahoma State FB Recruiting: Immediate Impact

Tyreek Hill: Hill is the top player in the class, being arguably the top JUCO player in the country. Although he played running back at Garden City CC, and is listed as an All-Purpose Back, Hill will be taking over the position of NFL Draft participant Josh Stewart. With JUCO players, it is easier to make a transition from playing against JUCO talent, to going straight into Division 1 games. Hill will bring much more speed to the postion than Stewart did, but it remains to be seen if Hill has the same ability to find the football even in the most precarious of positions.

Mason Rudolph: Rudolph is considered by many fans, the next great freshman QB for the program. Rudolph will be taking part in spring ball and will be competing for the starting job with J.W. Walsh. Rudolph's role this next season could be on either extreme. He could either be leading the team on the field as the starting QB, or he could be providing competition behind Walsh that could help improve Walsh's play. Rudolph is a complete QB, who can put up numbers. The spring will decide if the coaches believe he can do it at the college level yet.

Gyasi Akem: In 2010, a freshman outside linebacker came into the fold at Oklahoma State. That player was Shaun Lewis. Enter 2014, Lewis is graduating and now a new freshman outside linebacker could come in and fill the void. Gyasi Akem is one of the best overall athletes for this recruiting class. Akem is still very raw and should improve over his time as a Cowboy. Linebacker is a portion of the defense that had a lot of seniors this last season. This will give players like Akem to come right in and make an immediate impact.

Keenen Brown: Keenen Brown could be the Big 12 Freshman of the year next season. Baylor's K.D. Cannon and OU's Joe Mixon are other major options, but Brown will be the dark horse in that hunt. Brown's frame, speed, and playmaking ability will remind Cowboy fans of the great Cowboys receivers of old. It would be surprising to see Brown not contributing at a high level this next season. His talent is just too much to overlook, even with significant depth at the wide receiver position.

James Washington: The Cowboys lost six different receivers from all of the respective 3-Deep depth chart postions. The Cowboys list four receiver positions so, that being said, the Cowboys lost half their receiving core this year. Enter James Washington. One thing about this recruiting class is that it is full of immediate and future playmakers. James Washington could be one of the immediate playmakers. Washington makes great plays in the open field and could open up multiple inside receiver options that can make the homerun play. This will also allow for packages that will place Tyreek Hill in the backfield.

D'Nerius Antoine: D'Nerius Antoine was one of the surprise commits this recruiting season. While Antoine could be a contributor at the safety position in the future, his immediate impact will be at the returner position. Antoine has a surprisingly large frame for a player that moves so swiftly and can make so many defenders miss. His highlight film from JUCO is full of big returns and examples of his shiftiness. After losing a dynamic returner like Josh Stewart, there is now an influx of potential replacements, like Antoine and Tyreek Hill.