Oklahoma Sooners Lose Players to Transfer Portal Hours After Landing Jaydn Ott

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Steph Dwilson | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 7:17 PM ET

Two Oklahoma Sooners football players have entered the transfer portal after OU recruited star player Jaydn Ott. The news comes after head coach Brent Venables said he's considering portal transfers for "every position."

Running back Sam Franklin entered the transfer portal on April 16, just hours after Ott was picked up by OU the night before, Pete Nakos of On3 reported.

Nakos noted: "Former UT-Martin transfer rushed for 132 yards in 2024. Sooners picked up Jaydn Ott last night."

Sam Herder, editor of Hero Sports, wrote about the news: "Franklin was an excellent FCS RB, rushing for more than 1,300 yards two years ago. Unfortunately, he went from 223 carries in 2023 to 18 carries at Oklahoma last year."

And Sooners tight end Davon Mitchell also entered the transfer portal on April 16, Pete Nakos of On3 shared on X. Mitchell has been expected to enter the transfer portal since April 4. The former four-star recruit had already cleaned out his locker earlier this month, On3 reported.

Mitchell has four years of eligibility remaining. After finishing the 2024 season without one snap, On3 reported that he said on social media: "I know a lot of people got a lot of questions about why I ain’t been on the field and blaming Coach V and Joe Jon but all honesty I put myself in the position not to be on the field I was very much inconsistent this year but I TRUST THE OKLAHOMA STAFF …YALL should do the same."

Ott joining OU is a huge win for the team. He was California's starting running back since his freshman year in 2022, when he scored eight touchdowns and was named to the Pac-12 All Freshman Team. He struggled more this past season with a total of 385 yards rushing and four touchdowns. However, many experts believe he will bounce back with OU.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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