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Oklahoma football: Ranking the all-time, top-10 Sooner QBs

By Chip Rouse

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners throws a pass against the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners throws a pass against the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS – JANUARY 4: Quarterback Jason White #18 of the Oklahoma Sooners hands the ball off during the game against the Louisiana State Tigers in the Nokia Sugar Bowl National Championship on January 4, 2004 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The LSU Tigers defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 21-14 to win the National Championship. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS – JANUARY 4: Quarterback Jason White #18 of the Oklahoma Sooners hands the ball off during the game against the Louisiana State Tigers in the Nokia Sugar Bowl National Championship on January 4, 2004 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The LSU Tigers defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 21-14 to win the National Championship. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Throughout much of the history of Oklahoma football, quarterback has not been the most important position on the field.

Sooner football has long been known as a running back factory. In the Wishbone years in the 1970s and ’80s, the quarterback keeper was part of the triple option and the OU quarterbacks during that time (Jack Mildren, Steve Davis, Thomas Lott, J.C. Watts and Jamelle Holieway) were essentially extensions of the bruising OU running game.

Under Bob Stoops (1999-2016), the role of the Oklahoma quarterback became much more pass-oriented. Part of that was because of the evolving nature of the college game, but a large part of it was because the Sooners began recruiting QBs who were outstanding throwing the football, something earlier Oklahoma teams were rarely inclined to do.

Barry Switzer was a disciple of OU alum and former Texas coach and athletic director Darrell Royal’s famous theory on passing the football:

"“Three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad.”"

In the past 18 seasons, three Sooner quarterbacks (Jason White in 2003, Sam Bradford in 2008 and Baker Mayfield in 2017) have won the Heisman Trophy, college football’s top individual prize, and a fourth (Josh Heupel in 2000) finished as the runner-up.

Quarterbacks have played an integral role in the Sooners’ long history of championship-level success, but only one has ever truly had a decent run of success at the quarterback position at the next level, in the National Football League.

Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick (the top selection of the St. Louis Rams) in the 2010 NFL Draft, despite having played in just three college games the year before he was drafted because of a shoulder injury. His injury woes have continued in the NFL, but the former OU signal caller and Heisman Trophy winner is entering his ninth year in professional football in 2018.

That got us to wondering, who are the top 10 quarterbacks in Oklahoma football history? Well, maybe not going back that far. We’ve turned back the history pages 70 years, going back to the beginning of the Bud Wilkinson coaching era

So, since the end of World War II, who are the 10 best Oklahoma Sooner quarterbacks? That’s a rhetorical question? We’ve actually done the work for you and ranked them from 1 to 10.

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