Tulsa Football Position Analysis: Wide Receiver
If anyone had predicted Kamdyn Benjamin was going to be TU's best and most indispensable receiver last year, you would think they would be a time traveler coming back to the present with inside information.
There was just no tangible reason to think that. The evidence wasn't there.
But Benjamin's heart can't be measured by evidence. He wanted it, prepared, believed and finally got his chance.
And when he got his chance, he delivered.
A former walk-on who finally earned a scholarship, Benjamin (5-8, 175, Gr., Cedar Hill HS, Tx.) had only 3 career catches for 18 yards in three previous seasons. But by the end of the 2023 season, he was TU's leading receiver with 47 catches for 727 yards (15.5 yards per catch) and 6 touchdowns.
"The last half of the year, he played about as good as most receivers in this league," said second-year Tulsa coach Kevin Wilson.
Benjamin really took off when Kirk Francis took over at quarterback. In Francis' three starts to end the season, Benjamin had 22 receptions for 393 yards (17.9 yards per catch) and 4 scores, averaging 7.3 catches for 131 yards per game.
"A year ago, you really wouldn't have said much about him," Wilson said. "A walk-on, try hard guy. Everybody liked him, but as the year went along, he became our best practice player, he became our most consistent guy."
A former walk-on himself before becoming a scholarship starting offensive lineman for UNC before he became a coach, Wilson obviously has a soft spot for walk-ons. But he won't play one unless that is his best option.
Benjamin became Tulsa's best option last season, and still is. It will be interesting to see how much he improves with a year of extensive playing time at the college level.
Wilson clearly admires Benjamin and his family.
"Kam's mom is an AD down there at Cedar Hill. It's an athletic family. Dad's a track coach," Wilson said. “Kam's already got his undergrad in business. He got his MBA, and he's already working for his second master's degree in sports leadership here. He's a team captain. He's a leading receiver. He's one of the best players on our team.
"He's a picture of what I'd like to see all our guys accomplish. He's a special kid, and he's a hell of a good player."
Outside of Benjamin, Tulsa doesn't have a lot of returning experience. A few overrated portal guys are gone. And accomplished Malachai Jones, who missed the first part of last season due to injury, is now playing safety.
A lot was expected of Braylin Presley (5-7, 170, Jr.) after coming to Tulsa as an OSU transfer. The former Bixby High School phenom is small, but has electric speed and game-breaking ability.
Although Presley showed a few signs of why he was so highly touted, he didn't live up to expectations last season. He caught 11 passes for 122 yards (11.1), and rushed for 20 yards on 6 carries. He failed to score a TD.
But there is good reason for optimism for Presley this season.
"He struggled last year catching the ball. He never wanted to get his eyes checked. He just couldn't see," Wilson said. "He's got some contacts now, and he's actually catching the ball. You need to get your eyes checked, but it was like pulling teeth to do so."
There is no telling how good a receiver Presley can be if he can catch the ball consistently downfield. In high school, that wasn't needed much while playing for state champions.
"You talk to his coaches at Bixby, they just did a bunch of jet sweeps and bubble screens," Wilson said. "They just got the ball to him on the perimeter. At the high school level, he was just so much faster than the other guys. He was a dynamic player.
"Here, there's equal speed across the board, that's where his size goes against him. In high school he was so fast it didn't matter because they couldn't get to him. He got easy touches. He's very elusive."
Wilson and the coaching staff are confident Presley will make a major step up this season. They are counting on it.
"He's a great kid. He's great in the open field. He's maturing. He had a much better spring,” said Wilson. “He started to show some consistency. He's still probably about a year away from being as good as people expected him. He played so well in high school, people expect him to come in and be phenomenal.
"I talk to him quite a bit because I worry about the stress he puts himself under, the expectation that you're not doing as well as you'd like to. I want to make sure he stays in a mental, good sweet spot. And I think he is. But you worry. In high school he scored a touchdown about every time he touched the ball. He went to Okie State and he does okay, not great, and he comes here his first year and does okay, not great. I just don't want him to get down on himself and doubt himself."
With Benjamin and Presley potentially doing well, that is two smaller returning receivers. Tulsa has plenty of options with more size. It will be a competition to see who steps up.
The most promising of the newcomers to immediately play are two portal players: Jeremiah Ballard from UTEP and Zion Steptoe from Purdue.
Ballard is already accomplished. The 6-3, 205-pound junior caught 34 passes for 551 yards (16.2) and a TD last season for the Miners. He is a downfield threat with size, which the Golden Hurricane badly needs.
"Jeremiah's had a couple of slight injuries, so he hasn't been as consistent as I would like. He showed some flashes," Wilson said. “I'm just looking for a little more consistency.”
Steptoe (5-11, 190, Soph.) is a TU legacy, as both his dad, Sherman Steptoe, and his stepfather, Marshall Gordon, were starting defensive backs for the Golden Hurricane. Gordon was also a wide receiver at TU.
A 4-star rated receiver (ESPN) coming out of high school, Zion Steptoe played defensive back last season for Purdue, registering 11 tackles and forcing a fumble, as well as starting the last two games of the season. He was a receiver his first year for the Boilermakers. He and Ballard were both enrolled at TU in the spring.
"We took a number of high school guys that we liked, but we thought because we lost some guys, we needed a little more experience. They're both bigger, stronger," Wilson said of Ballard and Steptoe. "Zion Steptoe is very muscled up. They're a little bit older, they're very mature physically. They're slightly inconsistent as far as being really good practice players. I expect those guys to be in the top 6 or 7 in our rotation, with (Grayson) Tempest and Presley and Kam Benjamin."
An intriguing returning prospect is Grayson Tempest (5-10, 186, Soph., Tulsa Union), who played sparingly at receiver for TU last season, catching no passes. Almost all of his playing time came on special teams.
"Grayson Tempest had a really good spring. He's real steady," Wilson said. “He's going to be great on special teams. He's going to play a significant amount. He's in the slot right now. In some ways, you think he doesn't maybe have as high a skill set as he does, and gets out there every day in practice and makes a bunch of plays. He's tough as nails, he's physical. He sets up to have a really good year."
Several exciting players just out of high school have arrived, and a few could get playing time among the five high school newcomers. The freshmen are Josh Smith (6-4, 212, Heartland, Tx., Crandall HS), Corey Smith (6-1, 188, Brownsburg, Indiana), Alex Green (6-0, 195, Hutto, Tx.), Jacob Emmers (6-0, 195, Plano, Tx., Anna HS) and Joseph Williams (6-2, 195, Arlington, Tx., Mansfield Summit).
"I'm expecting a lot of those freshmen skill kids to play," Wilson said. "They’re young. It's learning how to play the way we want them to play. It's learning our system, our culture, our style, our means and ways. But they're decent looking athletes."
Both Smiths were 3-star signees who were previously committed to bigger schools, Josh Smith to Texas Tech and Corey Smith to Minnesota.
Green may have the best chance of playing of all the incoming freshmen.
"Alex Green had over 2,000 yards (102 catches for 2,056 and 19 TDs) in receiving last year," Wilson said of the 3-star signee. "That was second most in the nation by any high school kid. He ran 10.63 and qualified for the state 100-meter championship in Texas."
Emmers is an under the radar player who could surprise.
"Jacob Emmers won the state championship. He's 195 to 198-pounds, 6-foot, slot, almost like a big running back," Wilson said. "Last spring, he broke his foot playing AAU basketball. Kind of got missed on recruiting. I think he's a really good player."
Williams is an intriguing 3-star athlete who played multiple positions, including quarterback, receiver and safety.
"Joe Williams was a high school quarterback. He may be the best athlete of the crowd," Wilson said. "Great safety. Coach (Chris) Polizzi (Defensive Coordinator) wants him to play defense. We have him slotted as a receiver right now."
Another player who could be in the mix is transfer Jack Wright (6-0, 190, Sr.). Although a walk-on, the North Dakota transfer is noteworthy because he set the national high school touchdown receptions record while at Tulsa Regent Prep, playing 8-man football there.
Amazingly, Wright totaled exactly 18 catches in each of the last 3 seasons for North Dakota for just over 10 yards per catch each of those seasons. He had 2 catches for 27 yards at Boise St. in 2023.
"He had a slight knee injury. I thought in the spring he would look really good, but he struggled. But in the summer, he's been very impressive," Wilson said of Wright. "I don't think he was full speed. He didn't look bad, but just a little off. This summer he's looked sharp. I would expect him potentially to be a travel guy who gives us good depth.
“He's played three years up there on a good FCS team. I've been encouraged by the way he has practiced. I really thought he was going to be a diamond in the rough when he showed up. By no means did he have a bad spring. He just got off to a slow start."
Wilson clearly is more impressed with the current group of receivers than the 2023 group.
"The thing with all of these guys is they are all significantly bigger than most of the guys we had last year," Wilson described. "We had three receivers (last year) that when they showed up here they were at 150 pounds."
Overall, although the Tulsa receivers don't have an accomplished NFL prospect on the roster, there are some very capable players who can provide Tulsa quarterbacks with good options, and will have the opportunity to become standouts at TU.