Oklahoma football: 11 former Sooners in this season's NFL playoffs

Eleven different former Oklahoma players will be participants in the opening weekend of the 2023 NFL playoffs.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, seeking back-to-back NFL titles, are hosting the Miami Dolphins in what is forecast as a sub-zero wild-card game on Saturday night. The Chiefs have four former Sooners on their roster: TE Blake Bell, C Creed Humphrey, OL Wanya Morris and LS James Winchester.

Morris, a rookie this season, is the youngest member of the KC group but will be out of action for the Chiefs game with Miami with an injury. Winchester is the longest serving of the three other former Sooners expected to see action in the game. This is his ninth season with the Chiefs. Bell, a.k.a. "The Belldozer," although mainly utilized as a blocking tight end, has five catches this season and a touchdown.

The Dallas Cowboys are matched up against the Green Bay Packers on NFL Wild Card weekend. Two former Sooners will see action in that game on Sunday. WR CeeDee Lamb is one of the best receivers in the NFL. The former OU All-American set several Dallas records this season on his way to 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns. Neville Gallimore is a reserve who sees a lot of action on the Cowboys' defensive line.

A pair of former Oklahoma quarterbacks will line up on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage when Baker Mayfield's Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in the finale of the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs.

Hurts is one of two former OU players on the Philadelphia roster. Lane Johnson is a starting offensive lineman who has built a Hall of Fame career in 11 seasons with the Eagles. Hurts, a Heisman runner-up in his one season at Oklahoma, is in his fourth NFL season. He completed 65 percent of his passes this season for 3,858 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also gained 760 rushing yards.

Mayfield is with his fourth NFL team, but he has revitalized his pro career this season, leading the Buccaneers to a divisional championship. The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner passed for 4,4044 yards this season and 28 touchdowns as the Tampa Bay starting quarterback.

A former Sooner, OL Jordan Phiilips, is also playing this weekend in the playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers in what is expected to be blizzard-like conditions on Sunday. Phillips is in his ninth NFL career and second stint with the Bills.