Malcolm Kelly had been a familiar face on the Sooner offense for three years. Now that he’s gone, there will be ample opportunity for the talent of the rest of the OU receiver corps to show its worth.

Leading the new group of receivers will be returning starter Juaquin Iglesias and rising star Manuel Johnson, who has played sparingly in the slot for the past three seasons.

Johnson caught fire late last season, catching 17 passes for 341 yards in the last five games of the year.

While Kelly dominated attention last year with some incredible catches, Iglesias was actually the team leader in receptions and receiving yards, hauling in 68 passes for 907 yards and five touchdowns.

Behind Iglesias and Johnson will be a bevy of players who have shown coaches they are more than capable of playing significant time.

“I think we’ve got about seven or eight guys that could play, and how much they play is really kind of up to them,” said wide receivers coach Jay Norvell.

Senior Quentin Chaney will also likely see plenty of playing time. Chaney shined in last year’s Fiesta Bowl, catching four balls for a game-high 129 yards while filling in for an injured Kelly.

Juniors Adron Tennell and Brandon Caleb and redshirt freshman Ryan Broyles should also be utilized by an offense that will use plenty of different formations.

Tennell tore an ACL against Texas Tech last season, and missed the remainder of the season as well as spring practices. In his place, Broyles impressed the coaching staff.

“[Broyles] just has a great knack,” said head coach Bob Stoops. “From everything I’ve seen to this point, he’s really caught the ball well.”

Stoops went on to say that Broyles possesses many of the same skills of former OU receiver Mark Clayton, who has since moved on to moderate success in the NFL.

“He’s really shown the ability to make some people miss in the seams and the holes and make some big plays, and hopefully we’ll see that as we go through the year,” Stoops said.

Though not technically a receiver, junior tight end Jermaine Gresham could be one of Sam Bradford’s most dangerous weapons. Gresham racked up 518 yards last year while catching 11 touchdowns — the most on the team.

Gresham will be particularly dangerous in the red zone, where he has become one of sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford’s favorite targets. Bradford said he developed some chemistry with Gresham throughout last season and in the offseason.

“He’s a pretty big target out there,” Bradford said. “It’s pretty hard to miss him.”

Bradford added that the depth at receiver should allow the offense to throw different wrinkles at teams every week.

“Our wide receiver corps is really versatile,” he said. “We have a lot of guys that can play anywhere we want them, and I think that’s really going to be a benefit to us. With so many different formations and so many different areas, it’s going to be hard for defenses to key on one guy.”

These formation changes include consistently switching players between the outside and slot.

Johnson said he is fully prepared to swing between the two different positions.

“It really doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “I’ve played inside a lot since I’ve been here, and when you play inside you see a lot of stuff that other people don’t see, like over the top safeties and things. So, when I go back outside I kind of know what to expect. It’s not really a big difference; it’s just playing football.”

Last season, the Sooners ranked fifth in the nation in scoring, recording more than 42 points per game. With such a deep and talented group of receivers, this year’s team might manage to surpass that.