STILLWATER – Something that Pokes Report had been reporting for a couple of weeks now has come out from the source on Twitter as A.P. first-team All Big 12 and Coaches All-Big 12 honorable mention offensive lineman Josh Sills confirmed that he will be back at Oklahoma State next season. The 6-6, 325-pound Sills, who transferred to Oklahoma State after starting most of two seasons at West Virginia, played left guard, left tackle, and right tackle on the offensive line at Oklahoma State this season. He started six games at left guard, one at left tackle, and three at right tackle over the course of the season. Sills versatility kept the Oklahoma State offensive line and offense together in the face of massive departures including six injured players and two suspended players. His return will be a foundational piece for the offensive line going forward to the 2021 season.
https://twitter.com/josh_sills72/status/1346929439486193671
Pokes Report included Sills’ return in a story that we did on the addition of grad transfer center Danny Godlevske from Miami of Ohio. Godlevske is a 6-3, 300-pound center that is cited by several NFL scouts to Pokes Report as a definite NFL prospect at the position. NFL scouts also have their eye on Sills, but a couple we spoke to said it would help for Sills to get another year at Oklahoma State before heading to the professional ranks. Sills should be able to return back to his more comfortable position at guard next season. Using Sills and Godlevske as a foundation along with the experience several of the younger Oklahoma State offensive linemen received this seasosn should allow offensive line coach Charlie Dickey to build a good unit.
“Getting Josh back is tremendous for our offensive line and our team,” Dickey had told us before the bowl game.
When Sills raised a (dissenting) eye on Twitter at our story, I asked him if he was upset and he told me he wasn’t. He just wanted to let us know he was aware. Sills not only has the physical ability but his ability to express himself made him a natural to assume leadership on the offensive line and his passion and desire was important in a season where a lot of young players had to rise up and play before it may have been ideal. Sills helped those young linemen boost their performance and increase the production.
As it was with five different combinations of starters on the offensive line, Oklahoma State ran for an average of 194.7-yards a contest, threw for 233-yards a game, and only allowed 26 sacks during the season including the bowl game with Miami, Fla.
Sills talked early in the 2020 season about what a great decision he made in transferring to Oklahoma State when he made the decision to leave WVU.
"The big thing for me is I have my undergrad in agribusiness management, and OSU here, they have one of the top 10, top 15 ag schools in the country," said Sills. "But the other big thing that I noticed right off the bat, just from talking on the phone with coach Gundy, coach Dickey, coach (Rob) Glass, coach (Kasey) Dunn and those guys is they were people that I wanted to be around. I couldn't take a visit, it was on a dead period. They were straight up forward, there wasn't any pulled punches or anything like that. I knew that with coach Dickey's past experience and players that he had, and he developed those guys; and how many years that coach Glass had in the business that they were obviously the right people setting me up for the best possible situation for my future."
Sills makes it likely that 13 players that started at least one game during the season will return on offense for the 2021 season. As of now, there are 12 defensive players that started at least one game this past season slated to be back and there are two more that have yet to decide.
