Porter Moser Says Oklahoma May Have His Best Roster on Paper

Porter Moser is not shy about saying this may be the best roster he has had at Oklahoma on paper. He is also not pretending that means much until it shows up on the floor.

With the season opener against East Texas A&M sitting right there on Monday night, Moser’s message landed somewhere between optimism and caution. He likes the names. He likes the retention. He likes the idea of continuity after years of roster churn. He just has not seen the full version of this team enough to start making bigger claims.

“I feel that on paper. I haven’t seen it yet,” Moser said.

That is the right way to put it. Oklahoma does return useful pieces, and the staff clearly feels better about the overall talent level after the offseason. But the evaluation process has been messy. Injuries and absences have made it hard to get a clean look at the group as a whole, which is not ideal when the real games are about to start.

Moser noted that Dayton Forsythe and Tyler Hendricks have been in concussion protocol, while Derrion Reid missed the summer and Khani Rooths missed a big chunk of the offseason. That is a lot of interrupted development for a team that needs early chemistry. Moser does expect Forsythe to be available for the opener, even though he missed the program’s most recent scrimmage. Still, available and fully up to speed are not always the same thing in November.

The more encouraging part of Moser’s tone came when he talked about retention.

“Best retention we’ve had in the transfer portal era,” he said.

For a program that has lived in the churn of one-year pieces and constant re-teaching, that is a big deal. Oklahoma has spent too many recent seasons introducing itself to itself. If Moser finally has more holdover continuity, the Sooners have a better chance of defending with some identity and playing with less hesitation on offense.

That is where names like Xzayvier Brown, Derrion Reid, and Forsythe matter beyond the box score. Moser pointed to those returners as potential sources of leadership and continuity after several years of significant turnover. Brown gives them a known guard presence. Forsythe, if healthy, adds another familiar piece. Reid is especially interesting because Moser made a point to praise his growth and confidence as he has gotten more comfortable in the system. When a forward starts trusting what he is seeing instead of thinking through every possession, the whole lineup usually benefits.

There is still a waiting-room layer around this roster too. Tae Davis is back on paper after the draft process and portal detour, but the broken foot and eligibility timeline mean Oklahoma cannot treat him like an opening-night building block.

That fits the broader theme of Moser’s comments. The Sooners may have more talent and more continuity than they have had in a while, but availability is still shaping the early picture.

That makes Monday’s opener less about making a statement and more about getting a first real look. East Texas A&M is the kind of first game a team should handle, but it also becomes useful when a coaching staff needs to see who is actually ready. Who defends with urgency? Who can handle minutes cleanly? Who looks like they belong in the rotation before SEC play starts asking harder questions?

Moser’s confidence is understandable. On paper, this roster has more to work with than some of the groups he has had to force through the season. Returning production helps. Portal retention helps. A little more familiarity in the locker room helps. The only thing missing is the part that decides whether any of that matters: consistent availability and proof on the floor.

That is where Oklahoma stands heading into Monday. The coach likes the roster. He likes the continuity. He is just not going to pretend the evaluation is complete after an offseason full of missed time.

Fair enough.

The paper has looked better before around here. The season still only cares what it looks like once the ball goes up.