Oklahoma State football: Late Signing Period primer

The late signing period officially begins today.

While Oklahoma State’s 2020 roster is mostly done — heck more than 70 percent of all 2020 players have already signed — it’s not complete just yet.

OSU has officially signed 20 players; 18 high schoolers and two transfers. That leaves five scholarships available.

So, let’s break down how OSU’s 2020 class will finish up.

Jabbar Muhammad

Three-star cornerback from DeSoto, Texas has been committed to OSU since April 2018 and is set to sign. According to Marshall Levenson of Pokes Report, Muhammad wanted to go through signing day ceremonies with his close friends Wednesday.

“I’m excited for Wednesday because I finally get to do it myself and sign with all my teammates here at DeSoto,” Muhammad told Levenson. “I’m just ready to get to Stillwater to work, I’m excited the time has come.”

Muhammad will make potentially four cornerbacks for the 2020 class.

Lamont Bishop

The JUCO inside linebacker from Iowa Central C.C. committed to OSU on Jan. 29. He adds some quality depth after the decision by Kevin Henry to transfer. Even bigger; Bishop has three years to play two as he has not used his redshirt season yet.

Considering the state of OSU’s linebacking core, this commitment could have a nice impact on 2020, but an even bigger one in 2021.

Bishop had 39 tackles, including five tackles for loss, and one sack, and one interception and one forced fumble in 10 games this past season.

Christian Holmes

The Missouri cornerback transfer will join the team for 2020, at least according to Chuba Hubbard.

However, Kyle Porter of Pistols Firing said Holmes playing for OSU next season isn’t official until it happens.

The info I was given is that Holmes has indicated that he’s coming to OSU and has signed a financial aid agreement but could theoretically still visit other schools and be swayed in their direction.

OSU adding a transfer corner for 2020 is a drum I’ve been beating for a couple of months. At this point that’s Holmes. But if he does decide to change his mind and go elsewhere, I would go ahead and earmark his scholarship for another graduate transfer DB.

Running Back

The one need OSU has in this class that will likely go unfilled is running back.

Technically the Cowboys did sign one in Zach Middleton. He’s listed as a safety by 247 and Rivals, but will play running back at OSU, a position he played his junior and senior seasons at Bishop Kelley (105 carries for 1,129 yards and 15 TDs as a junior).

With Hubbard’s return for his junior season, OSU is set for 2020. But 2021? That’s where things get concerning.

Only three scholarship backs will return for the 2021 season; senior Dezmon Jackson, sophomore Deondrick Glass and Middleton. It will put a lot of pressure on OSU to not only sign a couple of backs in the 2021 class, but for one of those to be of the “immediate impact” variety.

Final Two Scholarships

OSU will bring in a full 25-man class for 2020 and has the scholarship count to do it. The question is, where will those other two offers go?

If you look at who OSU has had on campus, the roster overall, and the offers the coaching staff has been handing out over the past week, you can deduce the likely directions they’re headed.

Quarterback

First is quarterback. OSU has three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster heading into 2020; redshirt sophomore Spencer Sanders, redshirt sophomore Brendan Costello, and freshman Shane Illingworth.

OSU offered JUCO QB Ethan Bullock after a visit to Stillwater last weekend. While he has yet to commit, I would be surprised if he didn’t.

Wide Receiver

After that, comes wide receiver, a position that has seen an exodus during the past couple of months. OSU has four major contributors back in Tylan Wallace, Dillon Stoner, Landon Wolf, Braydon Johnson, but with everyone else unproven, it would make sense for them to add another one-off pass-catcher similar to Jordan McCray last season.

LSU graduate transfer — and former four-star — receiver Dee Anderson was in Stillwater on Monday for a visit.

That said, new offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn had some high praise for redshirt freshman Langston Anderson and incoming freshman Rashod Owens, so they may decide they don’t need the help after all.

This could change through spring ball if a major injury occurs or OSU finds a hole in the roster they weren’t expecting, but so far adding a QB and a WR seem to be the direction they’re going.

---

The late signing period lasts from Feb. 5 through April 1, so if OSU is going to land another player out of high school (unlikely) or a JUCO prospect (likely), that’s the window in which it will happen.

Transfers can sign whenever they like so I wouldn’t expect this class to be wrapped up immediately, but it will sometime between now and this summer.