Oklahoma State’s linebacker room is shaping up as one of the more interesting battles of fall camp, even if plenty of people assumed that job was already spoken for.
Head coach Eric Morris, speaking with the media after the first practice on Wednesday, was asked about the most compelling position fights on the roster. He pointed to several areas, including the chase for the backup role behind running back Caleb Hawkins and the need to settle on seven or eight offensive linemen before the season opener. But he also brought up a group that many outside observers had probably already penciled in.
That group is linebacker.
Former North Texas standout Ethan Wesloski is widely viewed as a starter, and that makes sense. He already knows how defensive coordinator Skyler Cassidy wants the defense run, which gives him a clear edge. Still, Morris made it obvious the Cowboys aren’t treating the spot like a finished product.
“We’ve got Wesloski that's played a ton of football,” he said. “He knows this scheme.
[We] feel really confident in him. But then the guys like [Isaiah] Chisom and Tate [Romney] and Dallas [Winner-Johnson] and all those guys behind.
We got to figure out who our top four are that are going to play for us there.”
That’s the key detail here: Oklahoma State doesn’t just need two linebackers. In most looks, two are on the field, but Morris is talking about building a top four. That suggests the real question may not be whether Wesloski starts, but how the rest of the rotation gets sorted out.
Wesloski arrives with a strong résumé. He led North Texas with 113 tackles, 59 of them solo, and earned second-team All-American Conference honors. He spent four seasons with the Mean Green, including a redshirt year in 2022.
Chisom brings his own production to the table. In his third year of college football at UCLA, he finished second on the Bruins with 84 tackles, including 40 solo stops, along with 2.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. On paper, that gives the Cowboys a pair of proven options at the top of the depth chart.
But Romney and Winner-Johnson make the picture more crowded. Winner-Johnson played in 10 games for Tulane last season and had five tackles, but in 2024 at Missouri State he was an FCS Stats Freshman All-American after posting 62 tackles, 26 solo stops and 6.5 tackles for loss. Romney came from Arizona State, where he logged 52 tackles in 2023 with four tackles for loss and a sack before injuries and reduced playing time slowed things down.
So yes, Wesloski looks like a logical fit. But Morris’ comments suggest Oklahoma State is still sorting through the best combination, not simply handing the job to the most familiar name. However it shakes out, linebacker is suddenly one of the spots worth watching closely the rest of camp.
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