Sad news: Oklahoma anticipated to have fewer picks in 2024,Despite having a lengthy history in the NFL Draft

Among collegiate teams participating in the National Football League draft, or the official name of the Annual Player Selection Meeting, Oklahoma football has been among the most active ones.

This Thursday through Saturday in downtown Detroit, the home of the NFL Detroit Lions, is when the 2024 NFL draft will take place. For sixteen years running, Oklahoma has had at least four Sooners taken in the draft. This year may be the last to change that, as just two or three OU players are anticipated to be selected in the seven rounds of the draft.

Tyler Guyton, an offensive tackle, is the best player in Oklahoma among all of the players. He might leave within the first round, but most likely not beyond the second. Walter Rouse, an offensive guard who transferred from Stanford to OU prior to the 2017 season, also has a high chance of being chosen, albeit possibly late in the draft.

After that, the chances for the OU draft are kind of up in the air. Though they will probably have to enter the league as free agents, wide receiver Drake Stoops, offensive linemen Andrew Raym and McKade Mettauer, defensive linemen Jonah Laulu, Isaiah Coe, and Marcus Stripling, and defensive back Reggie Pearson Jr. are all hoping to be selected among the roughly 220 picks.

414 Oklahoma Sooners have been taken in the NFL draft since it began in 1936. That comes in fourth place among all universities, after Ohio State (485), USC (523) and Notre Dame (525). Being in the presence of college football’s all-time greats is pretty good.

Of the 414 Oklahomans selected for the NFL, 48 were chosen in the first round, five of them at No. 1 overall (QBs Sam Bradford in 2009, Baker Mayfield in 2018, and Kyler Murray in 2019; DE Lee Roy Selmon in 1976, RB Billy Sims in 1980). In the 1987 supplemental draft, linebacker Brian Bosworth was chosen as the first overall pick.

In back-to-back years, Mayfield and Murray—both NFL starting quarterbacks—were selected first overall.

In the 87-year history of the NFL draft, the Sooners have had at least one player picked in 28 straight selections (since 1995). In just two of those years (1962 and 1995), no Oklahoman player has been selected.

The most number of Oklahoma players selected in any NFL Draft since the Sooners’ inception dates back to 1988, when thirteen players were chosen. Furthermore, in 2010, the top four draft choices included three Sooners: No. No. 3 DT Gerald McCoy, No. 4 OT Trent Williams, and No. 3 Sam Bradford. At No. 21, TE Jermaine Gresham was also selected in the first round.