Oklahoma football has a rich history of sending talent to the NFL. Who are the top Sooner prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft?
It’s been 25 years since Oklahoma football failed to send a player to the NFL via the NFL Draft. Over the course of that time, no college football program has seen the level of success that the Sooners have had in the NFL’s annual selection meeting, sending at least four players every year since 2007.
Included in that run was a 2010 NFL Draft class that saw four first rounders selected from the Oklahoma football program. Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, and Trent Williams accounted for three of the Top 5 picks with Jermaine Gresham being selected 21st overall by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bradford leads a string of quarterbacks that Oklahoma football have turned into first overall NFL Draft selections. Under the tutelage of Lincoln Riley, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were the first overall selections in back to back NFL Draft classes.
Although Oklahoma football couldn’t make it a hat-trick of number one picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Sooner still had an extremely strong class just over two months ago.
CeeDee Lamb was the third wide receiver off the board with the 17th overall selection by the Dallas Cowboys. Just six selections later, heavy hitting linebacker Kenneth Murray was picked by the Los Angeles Chargers, giving Oklahoma football multiple first round picks in back to back years.
The 2020 NFL Draft class was completed by the Philadelphia Eagles selecting Jalen Hurts in the second round, and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore joined former Sooners teammate Lamb in Dallas as a third round selection.
So what does the 2021 NFL Draft hold for Oklahoma football?
A repeat of the success of recent years seems stretching. All good things have to come to an end as they say. However, there are a number of strong potential NFL Draft prospects for the Sooners in 2021.
As in recent years, the best prospects to come out of the Oklahoma football program will be on the offensive side of the ball.
Before I move onto those top prospects, it’s worth highlighting some defensive players who could hear their names called in Cleveland at the 2021 NFL Draft.
Ronnie Perkins had six sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss in 2019, good enough for second on the team behind Jalen Redmond and Murray respectively. Perkins would be almost certainly one of the top prospects for next year but red flags will be raised for NFL teams by his suspension for a failed drug test. Missing game time in 2020 due to the suspension will almost certainly impact his draft stock.
With Perkins absent, fellow defensive lineman LaRon Stokes will need to have a productive start to the season. After logging 4.5 tackles for loss and a half sack against TCU, an uptick in production could see his stock rise.
Other notable defensive 2021 NFL Draft prospects include cornerback Tre Brown and former five star recruit Caleb Kelly who is expected to replace the production at linebacker lost with Murray’s departure.
All have the potential to hear their name called in Cleveland next year. The following three players are the best Oklahoma football prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft.