Oklahoma football: Creed Humphrey joins Tre Brown declaring for NFL
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football All-America center Creed Humphrey became the second Sooner in the past week to declare for the NFL Draft.
Shortly after Oklahoma’s Big 12 Championship win over Iowa State, Brown announced he was opting out of the Sooners’ Cotton Bowl game against No. 7 Florida to prepare for the 2021 draft.
Brown made the game-winning interception that sealed OU’s win and the team’s sixth consecutive Big 12 crown.
Humphrey, a team captain and anchor of a veteran and very solid Oklahoma offensive line, announced on Thursday that he would forgo his final season of eligibility and immediately begin preparing to go to the NFL. Humphrey was a two-time All-American selection while at Oklahoma.
A home-grown talent from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Humphrey was named the All-Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year this season, and as a freshman in 2018 anchored college football’s best offensive line and winner of the Joe Moore Award.
While players leaving early to enter the NFL Draft is not an unusual event, especially for players from top teams like Oklahoma and as talented as Humphrey, several other Sooners who could follow suit have indicated that they would be back in 2021.
It is still up in the air what defensive end Ronnie Perkins and running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who had a career rushing game in the Cotton Bowl win over Florida, rushing for 185 yards, will decide about leaving for the NFL.
Defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto both implied in the postgame social media posts on Wednesday that they planned to return next season. You can also add senior defensive back Tre Norwood, who returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown against Florida to those who will be back next season.
On the final day of 2020, freshman quarterback Chandler Morris announced that he was going to transfer. This probably isn’t a huge surprise, recognizing that the Sooners have Caleb Williams, the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class coming in to join incumbent Spencer Rattler, who himself was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the national 2019 class.
Morris is the second Oklahoma quarterback within the last month to announce his plans to transfer. Redshirt sophomore Tanner Mordecai, who was the primary backup to Rattler this season, is also transferring and plans to enroll at SMU.