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The 2026 Oklahoma football team will enter the fall with perhaps even higher expectations than it carried going into 2025. And much of that has to do with what the Sooners return.
Max Olson at ESPN examined every team in the way-too-early Top 25 and identified the most important returning player for each. Believe it or not, Oklahoma's isn't quarterback John Mateer. Instead, it's his favorite target, Isaiah Sategna.
"The Arkansas transfer was a revelation for the Sooners in 2025, finishing third in the SEC in receiving yards with 965 yards and eight TDs on 67 receptions as a go-to target for John Mateer and gaining 318 yards as a punt returner," Olson wrote. "Oklahoma getting Sategna re-signed to keep him out of the draft and the portal was a key win."
The last time an Oklahoma receiver had both more yards receiving and more receptions in the same season as Sategna did last year was 2018 when both Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb managed it. The Sooners incidentally went 12-2 that season, just one game better than they finished in 2025.
As far as ESPN's too-early Top 25 goes, OU is one of eight Southeastern Conference teams on the list. The Sooners are behind No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Texas A&M, ranking No. 13 overall and fifth among SEC teams.
Oklahoma will open its season at home Sept. 5 against Texas-El Paso.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: ESPN names Isaiah Sategna as most important returnee
Continue reading...
Max Olson at ESPN examined every team in the way-too-early Top 25 and identified the most important returning player for each. Believe it or not, Oklahoma's isn't quarterback John Mateer. Instead, it's his favorite target, Isaiah Sategna.
"The Arkansas transfer was a revelation for the Sooners in 2025, finishing third in the SEC in receiving yards with 965 yards and eight TDs on 67 receptions as a go-to target for John Mateer and gaining 318 yards as a punt returner," Olson wrote. "Oklahoma getting Sategna re-signed to keep him out of the draft and the portal was a key win."
The last time an Oklahoma receiver had both more yards receiving and more receptions in the same season as Sategna did last year was 2018 when both Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb managed it. The Sooners incidentally went 12-2 that season, just one game better than they finished in 2025.
As far as ESPN's too-early Top 25 goes, OU is one of eight Southeastern Conference teams on the list. The Sooners are behind No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Texas A&M, ranking No. 13 overall and fifth among SEC teams.
Oklahoma will open its season at home Sept. 5 against Texas-El Paso.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: ESPN names Isaiah Sategna as most important returnee
Continue reading...
