Oklahoma State Must Develop Quarterback Talent in New Era

College football is in a bold new era, but Oklahoma State needs to stick with what’s led to success.

Over the past several seasons, the transfer portal has become the headline of every college sport, particularly football. With such little regulation, the portal has effectively become the wild west, and there is no evidence of that changing any time soon.

While every team seemingly has a new roster every season, with newcomers filling the depth chart at each position, one position has often been the most important. Of course, as with any other conversation about football, the most important position is quarterback.

Over the past few years, OSU has had its fair share of transfers coming and going at the position. From Spencer Sanders’ departure to Alan Bowman’s arrival and more, the Cowboys are no stranger to the portal’s impact on a team’s quarterback situation.

Of course, this problem isn’t unique to the Cowboys. Teams all around the country have seen a revolving door at quarterback from time to time. 

Even the best teams in the country have won with transfers. Take Oregon and Ohio State last season for example. Oregon was the No. 1 team in the country for most of the year with Dillon Gabriel at quarterback, and Ohio State ran away with the national title with Will Howard.

Just a season earlier, OSU beat both of those quarterbacks at Boone Pickens Stadium when they were with Oklahoma and Kansas State, respectively. But for OSU, replicating that type of success is incredibly challenging, and the Cowboys need to rely on internal development to find elite quarterback play.

OSU has seen some great passers throughout the Mike Gundy era, with Brandon Weeden leading the program to new heights and Mason Rudolph breaking every record in sight. The Cowboys should try to follow a similar formula with Zane Flores and Hauss Hejny.

There is no guarantee that those two will turn into elite quarterbacks, but if one of them has the time and reps to develop over a span of years, the Cowboys could come out on the other side with a home-grown star.

Of course, they would need to avoid their potential star quarterback getting poached in the transfer portal, but the Cowboys could find a way to get great quarterback play the old-fashioned way.