This preseason the buzz around Oklahoma State football has centered around its talented group of transfers. Some have received much more attention than others.
Take quarterback Drew Mestemaker . After he led FBS in passing yards a year ago at North Texas and then transferred to the Cowboys , he landed an invitation to the Manning Passing Academy this summer. He impressed the Manning family with his ability.
The Cowboys also have other talented and highly productive transfers including two of Mestemaker's former teammates at North Texas, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young .
Outside of the near 20 Mean Green that followed head coach Eric Morris north from Denton, the Cowboys also pulled a wealth of other talented transfers.
Recently, both CBS Sports and 247Sports published extensive previews of the Big 12, including under the radar players. Both sites agreed that this Oklahoma State transfer is generating a lot of preseason buzz, even though he doesn't have the career production to back it up.
Oklahoma State Cowboys helmet. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The transfer is linebacker Tate Romney , a senior transfer from Arizona State who also played at BYU . One site, 247Sports (subscription required), quoted a source that had seen Romney play this spring.
"Tate just running the show (has been impressive)," that source said. "Physical. Natural feel in the run game. Very smart football player."
He's projected to start alongside another former UNT player, Ethan Wesloski, at linebacker in OSU's 4-2-5 defense. The difference is production. Wesloski led North Texas with 113 tackles (59 solo) last season. Romney doesn't have that many tackles for his entire career. Why? Injuries and lack of opportunity have worked against him.
Romney is Oklahoma State's oldest player, per the OSU site. He is already married and has a child. He did two years' worth of missions from his time at BYU. But, aside from his solid 2023 season, he hasn't played much.
That year, after a true freshman season in which he played three games, Romney was tied for fourth on the team with 52 tackles, adding four a for a loss with one sack. Had a season high eight tackles in games against Southern Utah and Washington State . From the standpoint of use, he was a Top 25 freshman defender.
But it stopped after that. In 2024 he suffered a broken arm that forced him to miss the first six games of the season. From there, playing time was hard to come by, aside from special teams. He transferred to Arizona State for 2025, which was fresh off winning the Big 12 title and going to the College Football Playoff. He was also a native of Chandler, Ariz., where he was 2019 Arizona 6A Varsity Linebacker of the Year and won three state titles.
With the Sun Devils he played inn 10 games, finished with 13 tackles and had five tackles against Utah. But the impact he was hoping for didn't happen.
Romney is a transfer that falls into the opportunity category. The production says that he's nothing more than a solid depth linebacker. That two different sites have sources telling them otherwise is intriguing.
The proof will come in September if Romney finally gets the opportunity for regular starting time alongside Wesloski as the Cowboys attempt to climb out of the cellar in the Big 12. If the predictions are right, the Cowboys may have two productive linebackers on their hands in 2026.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahomastate as The Under-the-Radar Oklahoma State Football Transfer Generating Preseason Buzz .
