Oklahoma State could be on the way back up thanks to QB Drew Mestemaker

There's a lot of change going on in the Big 12, but seemingly, as always, Big 12 football promises to feature several big-time offenses.

It's a high-flying conference by its very nature. Remember, the "Air Raid" offensive system hit the mainstream when Mike Leach was the offensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma. He then arguably perfected the offense as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Art Briles ran the Air Raid at Baylor. Dana Holgorsen ran it at West Virginia, and Kliff Kingsbury brought it back to Lubbock when he went from a quarterback in the system to the head coach of the Red Raiders. Current TCU football head coach Sonny Dykes also has Air Raid ties.

Long-time Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy ran a high-flying offense until the very end of his legendary 21-season career in Stillwater. 

New Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris is also expected to air it out. He played wide receiver for Leach at Texas Tech from 2004 to 2008, and he was the offensive coordinator at Tech in 2015 when Patrick Mahomes threw for 4,386 yards and 36 touchdowns. 

All things being equal, it's safe to say that Oklahoma State is going to figure out a way to put up some points under Morris. All things aren't equal in Stillwater, though.

In fact, an anonymous Big 12 coach recently told Adam Rittenberg of ESPN that Oklahoma State's new quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, is the best signal-caller in the conference.

"The best quarterback in the league is at Oklahoma State," that coach said. "Accurate, sneaky athletic, can make all the throws. He's an NFL quarterback when you watch his tape. And then you don't think he's athletic, but he's way more athletic than people give him credit for."

Drew Mestemaker could be the Big 12's top quarterback

Mestemaker played for Morris at North Texas for the last two seasons, and he put up some incredible numbers in 2025. He led the FBS in passing yards with 4,379 last season. He also threw for 34 touchdowns (tied for second-most in college football alongside Duke's Darian Mensah), and he rushed for five more. Mestemaker did throw nine interceptions, but those nine passes were his only flaws in the 2025 season. 

The 6-3, 215-pound Mestemaker has the complete trust of his head coach, and for good reason.

"His superpower is how fast he processes information," Morris told ESPN. "He's big, strong, accurate, a great thrower of the football, all those things. We could talk about a ton of intangibles that the kid has, but he's someone who really retains information. He's able to regurgitate it back really fast, and his recall on stuff is just phenomenal."

Mestemaker will have to transition well from playing in the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12, but he seems to have all the tools to do just that.

After going a combined 4-20 over the last two seasons, keep an eye on the Cowboys of Stillwater for a big comeback season.