NFL Draft: Notable All-Time Oklahoma Sooner NFL Draft Numbers
By Chip Rouse
The last Oklahoma Sooner player to be taken as a first-round selection in the NFL Draft was four years ago, and that was three years after the time before that in which an OU player was selected in the opening round of the NFL’s annual draft lottery of first-year players.
Since the first NFL Draft in 1936, 377 Oklahoma Sooners have been selected, with 43 of those going in the first round.
In 2010, four Oklahoma players were selected in the opening round, including the No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Sam Bradford (along with No. 3, DT Gerald McCoy; No. 4, OL Trent Williams, and No. 21, TE Jermaine Gresham), which represents an OU school record.
Three Oklahoma Sooners have been selected No. 1 overall in the history of the NFL Draft: Bradford in 2010, Billy Sims in 1980 and the late, great Lee Roy Selmon in 1976. Brian Bosworth also was a No. 1 pick, taken with the first pick in the 1987 Supplemental Draft.
The Supplemental Draft was put in pace for players who, for various reasons affecting their draft eligibility, did not participate in the main draft held every spring.
Only USC and Notre Dame (each with five No. 1 draft picks) have more No. 1 picks in the NFL Draft than Oklahoma.
Here are some more NFL Draft numbers pertaining to the Oklahoma Sooners that you will find of interest:
0 – The Houston Texans are the only team in the National Football League that has not drafted a player from the University of Oklahoma.
1 – The first football player from the University of Oklahoma taken in the inaugural NFL Draft in 1936 was tackle J.W. “Dub” Wheeler. Wheeler was an All-American in 1935 and was selected in the second round by the Green Bay Packers with the 16th overall pick.
7 – Number of OU quarterbacks taken in the history of the NFL Draft.
13 – Oklahoma players taken in the 1988 NFL Draft. That is the most Sooner players selected in a single draft year. There were two OU players taken in the first round that year (DB Rickey Dixon at No. 5 and TE Keith Jackson at No. 13).
16 – Current active streak of consecutive years with at least one Sooner player drafted (1996-2016).
38 – Number of Sooner players selected by the NFL Cardinals (including the Chicago Cardinals, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Cardinals), the most of any NFL team.
49 – Number of offensive tackles and defensive backs (49 of each) from Oklahoma selected in the 81 NFL Drafts. That is the most from OU at any one position.
79 – Number of NFL Draft years, out of 81 total, in which at least one Oklahoma football player was selected. Notre Dame is the next closest, with a player selected in 78 draft years.
134 – Number of OU players coached by Bob Stoops who have entered the NFL. Seventy-nine of those players were NFL Draft selections.
377 – OU’s 377 all-time draft picks is the most among current Big 12 members and ranks fourth nationally.