Oklahoma football: DT Neville Gallimore to join CeeDee Lamb in Dallas
By Chip Rouse
Neville Gallimore became the fourth Oklahoma football player, and the second from the defensive side, selected in the 2020 NFL Draft when the defensive tackle was taken 82nd overall by the Dallas Cowboys.
Gallimore was the second Sooner taken by the Cowboys in their first three selections in this year’s draft. Dallas took wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the first round with the 17th overall pick.
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 305-pound defensive lineman started 38 of 52 games in four years at Oklahoma, including 27 consecutively his junior and senior seasons. A 2019 First-Team All-Big 12 selection, Gallimore was credited with 148 tackles, 18.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in his Sooner career.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Gallimore ran a 4.79 40-yard dash. He is one of just three defensive lineman to post a 40-yard dash time under 4.80 since 2006.
. 82nd. Scouting Report. Defensive Tackle. Neville Gallimore. player. 123. Pick Analysis
Gallimore’s draft selection makes it two players from an Oklahoma defense that has been often criticized in recent seasons as one of the worst among teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Linebacker Kenneth Murray was a first-round selection, selected 23rd overall by the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I think a lot of guys watch us play and there’s a lot of games with a lot of dominant defensive performances with basically the same players we had the year before, and a lot of people took notice,” Lincoln Riley told Ryan Aber of The Oklahoma City Oklahoman, referencing the progress made by the OU defense in just its first season under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
Gallimore is Canadian, from Ottawa, Ontario, In 2018, his junior season at OU, he was a finalist for the Jon Cornish Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding Canadian player in NCAA Football.