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Oklahoma football: Two Sooners on ESPN’s 2018 list of Best 50 college players

ByChip Rouse|
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Rodney Anderson #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs the ball down field for a 41 yard touchdown in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game agains the Georgia Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Rodney Anderson #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs the ball down field for a 41 yard touchdown in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game agains the Georgia Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

ESPN’s annual ranking of the 50 best Players in College Football, includes two Oklahoma football players.

Quarterback Kyler Murray is ranked No. 38 and running back Rodney Anderson is No. 44 in ESPN’s 2018 ranking of the best 50 players. Both are redshirt juniors.

The ranking of the 50 best players entering the 2018 college season is heavily dominated by players from the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten and includes five players each from Alabama and Clemson, the top two teams in the 2018 preseason Coaches Poll.

Only four players total from the Big 12 made the list: two Sooners and quarterback Will Grier (No. 3) and wide receiver David Stills (No, 18), both from West Virginia.

Oklahoma Sooners Football
Oklahoma Sooners Football

Oklahoma Sooners Football

Ed Oliver, a defensive tackle from Houston, out of the American Athletic Conference is rated the No. 1 player in the country, according to the ESPN rankings.

Murray, a five-star recruit and the Gatorade National Player of the Year out of high school in 2014, is expected to be the starting quarterback for the Sooners in 2018, replacing three-year starter and Heisman Trophy-winner Baker Mayfield. Murray began his college career at Texas A&M and transferred to OU after his freshman season.

Although he has another year of eligibility remaining after this one, Murray is expected to turn his focus to professional baseball after this college season, having signed a contract with the Oakland A’s after being selected No. 9 overall in the recent 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.

Anderson, who missed the previous two seasons because of injuries, did not become a starter until the seventh game last season. After that point, the 6-foot, 1-inch, 220-pound running back led the country in yards from scrimmage, according to ESPN. Anderson rushed for more than 110 yards in six of his final eight games last season, capped off with 203 rushing yards and two touchdowns in OU’s College Football Playoff loss to Georgia.

Anderson is the ninth running back in the ESPN Top 50 rankings. Murray is number 13 of 13 quarterbacks in the rankings.

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