Three Former Oklahoma Players Named to ESPN's 'Top 25 CFB Players of the 21st Century'

Oklahoma fans remember the year 2000. Not only was that year the turn of the century, but it was also the last time an Oklahoma football team hoisted up a National Championship trophy. In those previous 24 years, countless All-American players on both sides of the field have made an impact on their respective college campuses. Since 2000, the Sooners' football program hasn't slowed down when it comes to individual accolades and has produced 46 All-Americans and four Heisman trophy winners in that time span.

Coming up with a list that recognizes all the great players since then can be daunting, but that is exactly what ESPN staff writer Bill Connelly did on Monday. Connelly previously put together a few different college football player rankings by position group such as quarterbacks of the 2000s, running backs of the past 60 years, receivers of the past 50 years, and defenders of the 2000s. His most recent ranking does its best to highlight the top 25 overall players of the 21st century and you can find three former Sooners in the ranking.

Oklahoma fans won't have to read long to find a familiar name, because Heisman trophy-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield sits in the No. 2 spot, just behind the game-changing defensive tackle from Nebraska Ndamukong Suh.

"In three seasons at Oklahoma, after a brief cameo as a true freshman walk-on starter at Texas Tech, Mayfield put together just about the best combination of high-volume passing and high-level success you'll ever see. He averaged nearly 4,100 passing yards per season, he led three straight Big 12 title runs, he went 3-0 against Oklahoma State and 2-1 against Texas, and he led road wins at Tennessee and Ohio State."

- Bill Connelly, ESPN

For Mayfield to receive continued praise and admiration after his "true underdog" story goes to show how much respect he has gotten from all angles and not just from his teammates or peers. The media has finally come around to Baker even though he still may get some criticism from specific morning sports shows. Colin Cowherd, I'm looking at you.

Regardless of how anyone felt about the Austin native's antics or pizzazz, Mayfield truly put his Oklahoma teams' on his back and possessed intangibles that many quarterbacks don't have, such as sprinting downfield to block an Oklahoma State defensive back to free Joe Mixon in the open field. Mayfield achieved almost every award under the sun, especially in 2017 including the Davey Obrien Award. Also, as Connelly mentions, if it weren't for a struggling defense in the 2017 Rose Bowl game against Georgia, Mayfield may have brought home another National title to Oklahoma.

Safety Roy Williams came in at No. 17 and opposing offenses always knew where No. 38 was on the field. Williams manned the secondary of an elite Oklahoma defense that won it all in 2000 and took home a bunch of hardware in his junior season including the 2001 Bronco Nagurski Award, Jim Thorpe Award, and was a 2001 unanimous All-American.

"How good was Roy Williams? In 2001, he topped Ed Reed to win the Nagurski, Thorpe and Tatum awards. That's almost all that needs to be said. Few players are more revered than Reed, and in 2001, voting media either considered Williams and Reed equals or gave Williams the edge."

- Bill Connelly, ESPN

Most notably, Williams earned the nickname "Superman" after flying in the air to force a fumble from Texas quarterback Chris Simms. Linebacker Teddy Lehman then grabbed the ball in the air and walked into the endzone. As a result, the forced fumble wrapped up a 14-3 win for Oklahoma over the Longhorns and the play etched Williams in Red River Rivalry and college football lore.

Kyler Murray was the third Oklahoma Sooner standout in the article and the 5'10" speedster quarterback came in right after Williams at No. 18.

"If Cam Newton was the best one-year wonder, Murray was second best. "

- Bill Connelly, ESPN

Murray would only play just one full season as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma, but made a huge splash in his short time, winning the 2018 Heisman Trophy and the 2018 Davey O'Brien Award. Murray's incredible athleticism and elusive quickness made him a nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators to gameplan around. Although the Sooners lost to Texas that season, Murray led Oklahoma to another College Football Playoff appearance.

It's hard to argue that those three Sooner legends shouldn't be on the list, but there could be room for one Oklahoma player in the top 25. Adrian Peterson. "All day" or "AP" broke onto the scene from his East Texas hometown of Palestine and was a highly regarded running back heading into his freshman season. Peterson left no doubt of his five-star recruiting ranking and set the freshman rushing record of 1,925 yards while also being named a unanimous 2004 First Team All-American. The running back was also snubbed of a Heisman Trophy that season, as USC quarterback Matt Leinart won the honor.

If it weren't for a injury-plagued junior season, Peterson would undoubtedly be on this list and very well could've been the highest rated running back with USC's Reggie Bush.

Regardless, it's good to see that people haven't completely forgotten how dominant of a program Oklahoma has had especially since 2000, because sometimes it seems that way as they move on into the SEC this upcoming season.