Mason Cobb Announces He Will Go in the Portal on Monday

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State linebacker and the Cowboys leading tackler this past season Mason Cobb has announced he is going to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday when Division I FBS undergraduate players can first enter the portal. 

This season Cobb played virtually every snap on defense the last half of the season and he finished with a team-leading 96 tackles, 13-tackles-for-loss, two sacks, an interception, 11 quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble. 

Pokes Report first reported on Dec. 1 that we had heard that Cobb was considering the transfer portal after being contacted by Texas A&M or an intermediary that conveyed a message that Texas A&M was interested in bringing Cobb into their program and that NIL opportunities awaited him. Pokes Report had this from two sources including one close to the Texas A&M program. These are the days of the wild, wild, west and it is almost impossible to keep tampering and these kinds of activities. 

Cobb was recruited to Oklahoma State out of Provo, Utah after standout high school career that saw him make 237 tackles in his final two seasons for the Provo Bulldogs. He also had 22 tackles for loss, and six interceptions those two seasons in earning All-District and All-State honors. He served as an understudy to standout linebackers like Amen Ogbongbemiga, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Devin Harper before becoming a full-time starter and standout this season as he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors from the coaches. 

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Cobb making a tackle on Bijan Robinson. 

Cobb finishes his Oklahoma State career with 109 total tackles, 14 tackles-for-loss, and three sacks. 

He was recruited to Oklahoma State primarily be Cowboys director of player development Beni Tonga. This is the first time that I can remember a recruit brought in by Tonga and member of the Polynesian culture leaving Oklahoma State before graduating or exhausting their college eligibility.

Oklahoma State will get Cobb’s scholarship back and will be able to put it to immediate use in the upcoming 2023 recruiting class. One possibility to help at the linebacker position was reportedly on campus for an unofficial visit on Saturday in University of Tulsa graduate transfer Justin Wright.

Wright, who has a COVID season and will leave Tulsa after playing through his redshirt senior season. The 6-2, 244-pound Wright is out of Abilene Cooper High School in Texas, and he has been a stat machine on defense for the Golden Hurricane. The last three seasons he has earned some sort of All-American Athletic Conference honors in December. 

In his red-shirt sophomore season Wright had 62 tackles in the shortened pandemic season with 9.0 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks. He also had an interception and a fumble recovery.

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Justin Wright (30)

In the 2021 season Wright tied for the team lead in tackles with 82 stops, 5.5 tackles-for-loss, and 3.5 sacks. He is a ball hawker and had an interception with a fumble forced, and a fumble recovered.

This past season concluded with Tulsa scoring a 37-30 upset over Houston last Saturday that Wright was instrumental in helping happen. He had 101 tackles this season with 10.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, two fumbles recovered, and a fumble forced. 

He most recently was honored by the AAC as the Defensive Player of the Week after Tulsa’s game with Memphis. Wright had a game high 13 tackles, a sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a QB hurry in the game.

Wright already lists offers from Oklahoma State and Georgia Southern already on Twitter.

Whether the Pokes land Wright or other linebackers that they are in on like Utah product Mateaki Helu, they will need to pick up at least two more in the upcoming class. If not by the December signing date, then they will need to recruit for the position leading up to the signing date on Feb. 1.

In an opinion here, it is a further sign of the erosion of loyalty and the crumbling of the integrity in college athletics and college football. The old promise of a scholarship, all-expenses paid opportunity to get that education in return for a player’s talents on the football field are out the window. I am fully aware that over the years that has been violated by schools and coaches, but now the fuse burns at both ends. Maybe, that is fair. However, when players that display the initial loyalty of Mason Cobb become convinced they need to leave, that is proof that the portal and NIL have created a different level of commitment from prospects and active players in the sport.