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The Five Most Intriguing Players for Oklahoma State in 2017

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As the 2017 football season draws nearer — tomorrow is the 100 day mark! — we begin to think about the players and coaches who will play major roles in the next 13, 14 or 15 games in Stillwater. The star roles are obvious. Justice Hill, Mason Rudolph and James Washington will thrill and awe deep into several cold October and November afternoons and evenings.

But what about those players that aren’t so obvious? What about the ones that remain more ambiguous? Often, it is upon these players that entire seasons turn and shift. And Oklahoma State has a whole host of them.

Here are five that I picked out as the most intriguing for the upcoming season. Just missed the list: Calvin Bundage, Adrian Baker, Chuba Hubbard, Tylan Wallace and Trey Carter.

1. Keenen Brown (CW)

The cowboy back has become an important role in the offense, and though that will likely change slightly with the departure of Zac Veatch and Blake Jarwin, it won’t go away altogether. Mike Yurcich has (literally) made a living using this chess piece, and the emergence of Brown (or another player in the same role) would add an extra dimension to an already-potent offensive scheme (as outlined here by Thomas Fleming).

Brown, a former receiver, has beefed up to 250 pounds since moving to the position last spring and seems like the perfect candidate to step in and fill the shoes of Jarwin and/or Veatch. He will be spelled by Sione Finefeuiaki and others, but I’m fascinated to see how the redshirt junior evolves this season.

2. Tyron Johnson (WR)

The great unknown. I don’t know if we’re stumbling into the next Dez or the next C.J. Curry. And that’s where the intrigue lies. Johnson settling into a spot on a team that already includes Washington, Marcell Ateman and Jalen McCleskey (not to mention Chris Lacy) will be interesting as well. Will he excel in special teams? Will he become the No. 2 guy? The No. 1 guy?

He’s the most hyped OSU transfer since John Lucas dribbled his way up I-35. Now we get to see if the hype is for real and what it entails.

3. A.J. Green (CB)

We have no idea what we’re getting here, but we’re going to find out in a hurry. I think Green will eventually be the starter opposite Clemson grad transfer (and all-name team savant) Adrian Baker. Whether he will thrive there remains to be seen, but color my interest piqued.

The pedigree is there with Green. He starred at DeSoto (shout to Tatum Bell) and was a top 15 corner prospect in the state of Texas coming out of high school. He also was a stud basketball player. Basically the epitome of a Mike Gundy recruit.

It will be less baptism by fire and more baptism by inferno with Baker Mayfield, Shane Buechele and whichever 50,000-yard HS passer Texas Tech digs up this season going at Green and Co. Nobody knows yet how he’ll fare, but we’ll certainly find out faster than Gundy can comb out his mullet.

4. Patrick Macon (LB)

I’ve heard the term “badass” thrown around by people who know things, and Oklahoma State could use one after losing Jordan Burton and Devante Averette. We know what we’re getting from Chad Whitener (which is nice), but Macon has a chance to solidify what could be a pretty star-studded cast of linebackers with Calvin Bundage, Justin Phillips and Kenneth Edison-McGruder.

5. Jordan Brailford (DE)

After a solid redshirt freshman season, Brailford missed all of last season with an injury. He could take an already-deep defensive line to the next level. With injury always comes mystery, and we don’t know if we’re getting redshirt freshman Brailford who had 23 tackles and 3.5 TFLs or a lessened version of that guy.

Brailford seems excited to be back out on the field. If he’s improved, he’ll make Cole Walterscheid, Vili Leveni and Tralund Webber even better. Either way, as with all of these guys, there’s a lot of intrigue.

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