On back to the Big 12 for Jeff Lebby. After two years of coaching in the SEC as the offensive coordinator for the Ole Miss Rebels, Lebby left for some pretty familiar territory. For the first time since 2016 during his final season in Waco with the Baylor Bears, Lebby was back in the offensive-dominant conference that he got his coaching start in. And, interestingly enough, Lebby returned to the program that gave him his first opportunity to get into coaching, the Oklahoma Sooners.

Brent Venables, a defensive minded head coach, plucked Lebby out of Oxford and took him to Norman, Oklahoma to help get the Sooners moving back in the right direction as a program. Once again, a head coach on the rise turned to Lebby’s offense to try and get things improved for their team.

1. Marvin Mims was explosive, efficient, effective, and terrifying for defenders
2. 2022 Oklahoma Sooners stats: Wide receivers

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This is part of a project of tracking the entirety of Jeff Lebby’s offenses (prior to his stop in Starkville, for now at least). So, here you go. This is just one slice of the project.

Marvin Mims was explosive, efficient, effective, and terrifying for defenders

And while 2022 was a bit of a mess as a whole for the Sooners (a lot of that actually has to do with the way that Lincoln Riley left Norman more than it does with Venables or Lebby), Lebby’s offense did a pretty good job to help elevate the floor of what the 2022 Oklahoma football team was capable of.

And the passing attack? Well, from the quarterback position (we’ll get into examining that shortly) was operated by a familiar face for Lebby in former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

On the wide receiver front? Marvin Mims led the way. And if you’d guess that he had over 1000 yards receiving, you’d be right. Mims caught 54 passes for 1083 yards and 6 touchdowns.

That’s really explosive and efficient and exciting to keep up with.

And more than likely, you’re starting to see a pattern at this point. If you’re not, let’s go over the entirety of OU’s wide receiver corps and check out their stats.

2022 Oklahoma Sooners stats: Wide receivers

Player	REC	YDS	TD
Marvin Mims	54	1083	6
Jalil Farooq	36	461	5
Drake Stoops	39	393	3
Theo Wease	19	378	4
Gavin Freeman	3	46	0
LV Bunkley-Shelton	2	24	0
J.J. Hester	1	13	0
Jayden Gibson	1	12	0
Trevon West	1	7	0

The Sooners did have a really strong showing from tight end Brayden Willis (who was probably more of a H-back than anything else), but someone who is more versed in football than I am is more than welcome to correct me on that front.

But, he’s not a wide receiver. And Jalil Farooq is. And Farooq caught 36 passes for 461 yards and 6 touchdowns. Then there’s Drake Stoops, who was reliable and caught 393 yards and 3 touchdowns. Theo Wease rounds out the bunch with 4 touchdowns and 378 receiving yards on just 19 catches.

So, in 2022, OU’s receiving corps and their stats looked pretty similar to what the 2017 Southeastern Fire, 2020 Ole Miss Rebels, and 2021 Ole Miss Rebels all fielded. One dominant receiver, a bit of a drop off, and then some consistent and impressive performances from various other wideouts on the roster.

For Lebby’s offenses, the 2019 UCF Knights are a bit of an anomaly in how well they distributed the ball amongst the top 3 receivers on their roster.