Oklahoma football: It’s big week for Sooner NFL Draft prospects
By Chip Rouse
This week marks the 87th year of the NFL Draft. At least one Oklahoma football player has been selected in all but two of the 86 previous years the draft has been held.
And the Sooners should be well represented against this year. As many as seven former Sooners are expected to hear their names called in one of the seven rounds that constitute the three-day draft process, which kicks off with the opening round on Thursday.
A total of 402 Oklahoma players have been selected all-time in the NFL Draft, which began in 1936. That is the fourth most of any school in college football in the history of the draft.
At least four Sooners have been selected in the NFL Draft every season since 2008.
The projection this year is as few as five and as high as nine Oklahoma players could be selected in one of the seven rounds of the draft.
Historically, because of Oklahoma long-standing reputation as an offensive powerhouse, the percentage of offensive players going in the draft has been higher and defensive prospects. That is not going to be the case this time around, however, as the three highest-rated Oklahoma prospects entering the 2022 draft this week are defensive players. That says a lot coming from a defensive unit that has been widely criticized for underperformance and inconsistency in recent seasons.
LB/edge rusher Nik Bonitto, LB Brian Asamoah and DT Perrion Winfrey are all projected to go in the early rounds, most likely in rounds two or three. Another OU defensive player, DT Isaiah Thomas, could be selected in the middle rounds.
Offensive lineman Marquis Hayes and Tyrese Robinson are also good bets to be selected in the draft. RB Kennedy Brooks is also hopeful of having his name called at some point over the three days.
WR Michael Woods, who played just one season for OU after transferring from Arkansas, and S Delarrin Turner-Yell have also declared for the draft, but their draft chances are a bit further out.
It appears that it is going to be another good draft year for Oklahoma, but we’ll have to wait and see what actually happens and where everyone ultimately falls in the selection process.
The most Sooners selected in any one NFL Draft year was 13 in 1988, Barry Switzer’s final season as head coach after 16 seasons. DB Ricky Dixon was the first OU player selected that year, going No. 5 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. TE Keith Jackson was the 13th player taken in that year’s draft, selected in the opening round by the Philadelphia Eagles.