Oklahoma football: Sooners have been big players in NFL Draft history

The National Football League has held an annual draft of college players since 1936. A total of 393 Oklahoma football players have been drafted in the 84 years the NFL Draft has been held.

That number ranks as the fourth most by any school in the history of the draft. That amounts to an average of nearly six Sooners drafted every year, and that number has doubled over the last 20 years, or since the turn of the century, as Oklahoma has become an even bigger player in the annual NFL Draft.

The 85th edition of the draft unfolds Thursday night, and the Sooners should be prominent again, with the strong possibility that a pair of Sooners will be selected in the first round. Both wide-receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Kenneth Murray are projected by most NFL Draft analysts to come off the board in the opening round, and quarterback Jalen Hurts is likely to go in the second round.

Here are some fun and informative Oklahoma football facts to help get you ready for the 2020 NFL Draft:

There are reported to be close to 26,000 players in NFL history. Notre Dame has produced close to 500 of that total and ranks No. 1 among all college teams, according to a research study conducted a year ago by Grand Canyon University and reported on by USA Today.

Southern California is next on that list, followed by Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska/Michigan. The number of former Oklahoma Sooners who have played in the NFL is closer to 335, which ranks eighth all-time, according to the Grand Canyon study.

The NCAA reported earlier this year that Alabama has the most active players on NFL rosters. A total of 56 Alabama alumni were on 2019 NFL rosters. Oklahoma is seventh on that list with 31.

The NCAA is reporting that 5,095 players have been selected in the NFL Draft since 2000. Just over 300 teams have had players selected in the NFL Draft this century, and eight different schools have reached triple digits, headed by Ohio State with 131. The Sooners are just below triple digits, at 97, and rank ninth on the list.

Ohio State and Alabama lead all schools in the number of NFL first-round selections since 2000. The Buckeyes and Crimson Tide have had 31 players taken in the first round. Oklahoma ranks ninth in that category, as well, with 16 first-round picks since 2000.

Where the Sooners stand above all the rest, however, since the calendar turned over to the year 2000 is in the most important draft pick of all — the No. 1 overall pick. Oklahoma has had three of those (five in NFL Draft history) in the past two decades, including back-to-back No. 1 selections in 2017 (Baker Mayfield) and 2018 (Kyler Murray). Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in 2010. All three were quarterbacks.

Oklahoma also leads all schools with at least four players drafted every year for the past 12.

Will OU do it again in 2020? We’ll have the answer to that by Saturday.