Stormin in Norman
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NFL Draft: Five, Possibly Six Sooners Expected to Go

By Chip Rouse

Jan 2, 2017; New Orleans , LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dede Westbrook (11) catches a pass against Auburn Tigers defensive back Stephen Roberts (14) for a touchdown in the third quarter of the 2017 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2017; New Orleans , LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dede Westbrook (11) catches a pass against Auburn Tigers defensive back Stephen Roberts (14) for a touchdown in the third quarter of the 2017 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma has supplied at least one player to the NFL Draft in 79 of the 81 years the draft has been held. That is the highest consistency of any school.

The most Oklahoma Sooners taken in any one draft was 13 in 1988.

A total of 377 Oklahoma players have been part of the NFL Draft since the first year the draft was held, in 1936. Seventy-nine Sooners have been NFL Draft selections under Bob Stoops., and since 2008, at least four Sooners have been draft selections every year. Only LSU can make that same claim.

It is highly unlikely that the name of any player from Oklahoma will be called in the opening round of the 2017 Draft, which begins tonight in Philadelphia. The one Sooner who has an outside shot of going in the first round this year is running back Joe Mixon, but most draft experts belief he will drop to the second or even the third round because of his off-the-field issues.

Wide receiver Dede Westbrook, who had one of the best seasons of any wide receiver in the country last fall, could also become a second- or third-round selection, but should definitely hear his name called on the second day of the draft.

Samaje Perine, who became the leader rusher of all-time at Oklahoma, and did so in just three seasons, will probably the fourth Sooner to be selected in the 2017 draft.

Linebacker Jordan Evans is projected as a fifth or sixth round selection. He is the one Sooner draft prospect who has probably done the most to improve his draft stock since the end of the 2016 season.

Defensive Tackle Charles Walker is almost a sure fifth, sixth or seventh-round draft selection, and I would bet that his name will be called in the late fifth or sixth round on Saturday.

Safety Ahmad Thomas also has a chance of becoming a draft selection, although I think the odds are even better that he will go undrafted and have to sign with a team as a free agent. I don’t see Thomas going anytime before the seventh round, which is going to make for a very nervous third day for the former OU safety.

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