Oklahoma football: Sooners’ 2023 NFL Draft update
By Chip Rouse
The 2022 NFL season now officially over, attention turns to the NFL Draft and who will go where, including several former Oklahoma football players who aspire to careers at the next level.
As in practically every year, a handful of Oklahoma Sooners have a good chance of being selected in the 88th NFL Draft, also known as the NFL Player Selection Meeting, to be held April 27-29 in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Oklahoma’s current 15-year streak of having at least four Sooner players selected in the NFL Draft leads all of college Football. Alabama is the next closest with 14 consecutive seasons.
Seven former Sooners were selected in the NFL Draft a year ago, and 111 Oklahoma players have been selected in the draft since the 2000 season.
The largest Oklahoma NFL Draft class was 13 players in 1988, which included two first-round selections in defensive back Ricky Dixon and TE Keith Jackson. The Sooners have also had an 11-member draft class (1973) and three classes that totaled 10 OU draft selections (2005, 1979 and 1975).
As many as a dozen former Sooners are hopeful of being selected in one of the seven rounds that will constitute the 2023 NFL Draft, but in practical terms, only four or five will achieve that reality. The others will have to rely on free-agent signings for the opportunity to extend their careers and dreams of playing at the next level.
Next steps in the process for all 2023 NFL Draft hopefuls are the week-long scouting combine, which will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL Indianapolis Colts, from Feb. 27 through March 6. That will be followed by the numerous pro days that will be held at college campuses throughout the country and attended by NFL GMs and scouts.
The best Oklahoma prospects for the 2023 draft appear to be WR Marvin Mims, RB Eric Gray O-linemen Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris and DL Jalen Redmond.
Redmond is the likely outlier in this group, a late-rounder at best. FB/TE Brayden Willis also could slip in as a seventh-rounder, but his chances are likely as a free agent.
Another former Sooner who could have his name called over the NFL Draft weekend is punter Michael Turk, who ranked No. 3 in the nation last season, averaging 47 yards per punt.
There is always a big interest in talented offensive lineman. Harrison is likely a second- or third-round draft selection. The NFL Mock Draft Database has him in the range of 29th to 36th best player and a second-round pick.
NFL Mock Draft Database lists both Mims and Gray as potential fourth-round picks. Mims will probably come off the draft board before Gray, however. OL Morris, who along with Gray transferred to OU from Tennessee in 2021, is also projected as a fourth-round pick.
We will continue to follow this process and the various mock drafts and provide updates leading up to the actual draft weekend in late April.