Oklahoma’s 2027 wide receiver class is almost full, but the Sooners may have found a clean way to solve the last opening: lean on their newest quarterback commit.
Four-star 2028 QB Trey Tagliaferri committed to Oklahoma last week, giving the Sooners their first pledge in that class. And according to SoonerScoop’s Parker Thune, that commitment could end up helping Oklahoma in a different cycle too, because Tagliaferri plays with two receivers at Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey who fit the profile of flip targets.
The two names to watch are Bryan Porter and Austin Busso.
That matters because Oklahoma has already watched two wideouts leave its 2027 class in a hurry. Four-star Demare Dezeurn and three-star Tra’Von Hall both backed off their pledges on the same Saturday in early June.
Dezeurn stayed home and committed to Cal, while Hall wound up heading to Ole Miss. That left the Sooners in the same spot they found themselves in while building the 2026 class: needing to patch a receiver group that suddenly looked thin.
General manager Jim Nagy has already started repairing the damage. About three weeks ago, Oklahoma landed three-star receiver Malahn Green, who joined four-star athlete Greydon Howell of Broken Bow High School in Oklahoma as the Sooners’ two 2027 receiver commits. Even so, there’s still room for one more.
That’s where Tagliaferri comes in.
Porter and Busso are both already committed elsewhere, at least for now. Porter, a three-star prospect listed at 6-foot, pledged to Georgia Tech last month.
Busso, also a three-star, has been committed to South Florida since May. Porter is ranked as the No. 99 receiver in the 2027 class and already has an Oklahoma offer.
He caught 590 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last season. He’s also the brother of Quincy Porter, who signed with Ohio State in 2025 as a five-star recruit.
Busso, listed at 6-foot-1 and ranked No. 139 among 2027 receivers in the 247Sports Composite, is the more obvious breakout candidate. He didn’t draw much attention until last season, when he put up 41 catches for 901 yards and 11 touchdowns with Tagliaferri throwing to him for the first time. Since March, he’s added offers from Tennessee and Ole Miss, and the source material notes that he has recently picked up more interest from Power Four programs, especially in the SEC.
That gives Oklahoma a possible edge it didn’t have before. Tagliaferri already knows both receivers, and if the Sooners decide to push for either one, the chance to pair with their high school quarterback could make the pitch a lot stronger than what Georgia Tech or South Florida can offer.
In Other News...
Oklahomas Roster Split Says Everything About Venables Long-Term Plan
The long view of Brent Venables roster building shows up most clearly on defense, where Oklahomas projected 2026 starters are mostly players who have spent at least three years in the program. There is very little portal dependence in that group, a sign the staff has been able to develop continuity and keep its best pieces in place while leaning on homegrown talent to shape the unit.
The offense tells a different story, and not entirely by choice. Injuries in 2024 and the depth losses that followed the 6-7 season pushed Oklahoma into a more aggressive retool, and the staff has had to supplement the lineup with transfer help while trying to stabilize the group. The broader goal is obvious enough: build a roster that turns over less, stays together longer and gives the Sooners a chance to look more like a program with a defined core than one constantly patching holes. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Could Put Multiple SEC Coaches On The Hot Seat
Brent Venables has already changed the conversation in Norman by pushing Oklahomas performance back into the national picture since 2021 and getting the Sooners into the College Football Playoff. Now, with the SEC schedule looming in 2026, the Sooners could wind up shaping more than their own season. Oklahomas place on the calendar has turned into a pressure point for a few coaches around the league, because the Sooners are the kind of opponent that can make a shaky situation feel even shakier.
South Carolina, Mississippi State and Texas all have reasons to treat their meetings with Oklahoma as more than just another game. Shane Beamers Gamecocks face the Sooners on Oct. 31, Jeff Lebby is trying to stabilize a difficult start at Mississippi State, and Steve Sarkisians Longhorns could be staring at an early-season slide if Oklahoma gets them in the right spot. For Venables, it is a reminder that a strong Oklahoma team does not just affect the Sooners own outlook, it can also become the standard by which other SEC jobs are judged. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma's Playoff Breakthrough Just Sparked A Major 2026 Debate
Oklahomas return to the College Football Playoff in 2025 gave Brent Venables a needed validation point, especially after the Sooners had spent so much of his tenure searching for a way to finish tighter games. The improvement was real in the margins, too, with Oklahoma going 4-1 in one-score games after previously struggling badly in those situations, a sign that the program has at least started to harden in the moments that usually decide a season.
Still, the bigger question hanging over 2026 is whether that breakthrough can hold if the offense does not take a meaningful step forward. Among playoff teams, Oklahomas attack sat near the bottom nationally, and that kind of production tends to invite skepticism even after a postseason return. ESPN analyst Brandon Gall added to that debate this week, pointing to the Sooners as one of the teams whose path back to the bracket may be far from guaranteed. [Read more 🡒]
