NFL Draft Oklahoma Notebook
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The NFL Draft starts on Thursday evening and it could be an interesting few days for former Oklahoma prospects. We wanted to take a look at some of the prospects that will be drafted over the next few days and look back at what they were coming out of high school. We also take a look at some history with Oklahoma prospects in the NFL Draft. What was the best year? Who was the best NFL player to come out of Oklahoma and recent players who have been drafted.
It seems like a lock that Oklahoma will produce at least one first round draft pick on Thursday with former Hominy standout Zaven Collins being projected by nearly everyone as a first round pick. Another player that could end up creeping into the first round is former Shawnee offensive lineman Creed Humphrey. He’s considered one of the top rated centers in this year’s draft class. Watch out for former Union cornerback Tre Brown as well who might not be going on day one of the draft, but could be selected on Friday during the second and third round.
Player Spotlight
Creed Humphrey – Offensive Lineman – Shawnee (Oklahoma)
The first of two former high school All American selections is Shawnee offensive lineman Creed Humphrey. It didn’t take long for Humphrey to become comfortable as a center and established himself as one of the best centers in the country very early on in his OU career. However, that OU career almost didn’t happen as Humphrey originally committed to Texas A&M while he was still at Shawnee. Eventually, Humphrey flipped his commitment and signed with the Sooners. It certainly worked out as Humphrey would fit right into the center position and as we mentioned, he’s be considered one of the top centers in the country. For over a year now, Humphrey has been projected as a first or second round selection. Look for Humphrey anywhere in the back half of tonight’s first round or to go in either the second or third round on Friday night. Either way, Humphrey is considered one of the top centers in this year’s draft and he won’t last until the weekend.
Tre Brown – Cornerback – Union (Oklahoma)
Former Union cornerback Tre Brown is the second All American selection in this player spotlight. Back in his high school days, Brown was always considered one of the top prospects in the state’s 2017 class, really since his freshman season. Nothing ever changed as he was always rated a top five prospect within the class and earned All American honors, as well as leading Union to a state championship during his senior campaign in 2016. Brown first made an impact for OU as a return specialist, which surprised nobody who watched him play in high school. He was a speed demon and was always one of, if not the fastest players on the field. Brown eventually earned starting roles as a cornerback and has had an exceptional career at that position and always seemed to have his biggest performances in OU’s biggest games. While he isn’t considered to be a first round selection tonight, look for him to go off the board on Friday or VERY early on Saturday.
Zaven Collins – Linebacker – Hominy (Tulsa)
The last player in this spotlight is the highest rated draft prospect in this year’s draft class from Oklahoma. And that certainly wasn’t the case when he was coming out in the 2017 class. Unlike Brown and Humphrey, who were both All Americans, Collins was a standout athlete at Class A’s Hominy and his recruitment was very limited. After being offered by Tulsa, Collins would commit to the Golden Hurricane shortly before his senior season. During that senior campaign in 2016, he was an offensive and defensive beast and led Hominy to the state championship. Collins was without a doubt one of the best players in the state but he was not considered one of the best recruits in Oklahoma’s 2017 class. Following his college career, it’s clear that he was one of the best in the class and was awarded as such after last year’s 2020 campaign, where he was named the Nagurski, Lombardi and Bednarik award winner and earned unanimous All American honors. Now Collins is all but a lock to be a first round pick in tonight’s NFL Draft.
G.O.A.T. Draft – 2010 Draft
This was an easy pick as no other draft was as successful for former Oklahoma high school athletes than the 2010 draft. You start with former Putnam City North quarterback Sam Bradford, who ended up being the first overall pick. Two picks later, former Southeast defensive lineman Gerald McCoy was drafted third overall. Later in the first round, former Ardmore tight end Jermaine Gresham was selected with the 21st overall pick. All in all, the 2010 draft produced six total draft picks that played high school ball in Oklahoma. It was obviously headlined by the three first round picks, including two of the top three picks.
Sam Bradford (Putnam City North) – Drafted By St. Louis (1st Round – 1st Overall)
Gerald McCoy (Southeast) – Drafted By Tampa Bay (1st Round – 3rd Overall)
Jermaine Gresham (Ardmore) – Drafted By Cincinnati (1st Round – 21st Overall)
Phillip Dillard (Jenks) – Drafted By New York Giants (4th Round – 115th Overall)
Dominique Franks (Union) – Drafted By Atlanta (5th Round – 135th Overall)
Deji Karim (Putnam City North) – Drafted By Jacksonville (6th Round – 180th Overall)
G.O.A.T. Draft Pick – Steve Largent – Putnam City (Tulsa)
You can make the argument for a few players here but in my opinion, you can’t deny the career that Steve Largent had in the 70’s and 80’s. Largent came out of Putnam City and played college ball at Tulsa. He was recruited by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State but Tulsa was the school that was throwing the ball around so that appealed to the wide receiver from OKC. After an All American career at Tulsa, Largent was drafted by the Houston Oilers with the 117th overall pick in the fourth round of the 1976 draft.
Houston was actually going to release Largent before he even played a down but ended up trading him to Seattle, who was an expansion team at the time and needed players. And as they always say, the rest is history. Largent played for the Seahawks for 14 seasons and finished his career with over 13,000 yards receiving and 100 touchdowns. He’s in the pro football hall of fame and was the first player in NFL history to reach 100 receiving touchdowns. When Largent retired, he held the records for career receptions, yards and touchdowns. We’ll take Largent as the best Oklahoma high school product in NFL history.
RECENT DRAFT HISTORY
(Last 10 Drafts)
2020 Draft
Kamren Curl (Muskogee) – Drafted By Washington (7th Round – 216th Overall)
2019 Draft
Josh Jacobs (McLain) – Drafted By Oakland (1st Round – 24th Overall)
Jace Sternberger (Kingfisher) – Drafted By Green Bay (3rd Round – 75th Overall)
Justice Hill (Booker T Washington) – Drafted By Baltimore (4th Round – 113th Overall)
Darwin Thompson (Jenks) – Drafted By Kansas City (6th Round – 214th Overall)
Jordan Brailford (Booker T Washington) – Drafted By Washington (7th Round – 253rd Overall)
2017 Draft
George Kittle (Norman) – Drafted By San Francisco (5th Round – 146th Overall)
Jordan Evans (Norman North) – Drafted By Cincinnati (6th Round – 193rd Overall)
2016 Draft
Sterling Shepard (Heritage Hall) – Drafted By New York Giants (2nd Round – 40th Overall)
Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie) – Drafted By Minnesota (5th Round – 160th Overall)
2015 Draft
Tyler Lockett (Booker T Washington) – Drafted By Seattle (3rd Round – 69th Overall)
2014 Draft
Aaron Colvin (Owasso) – Drafted By Jacksonville (4th Round – 114th Overall)
2013 Draft
Stacy McGee (Muskogee) – Drafted By Oakland (6th Round -205th Overall)
Michael Bowie (Sand Springs) – Drafted By Seattle (7th Round – 242nd Overall)
2012 Draft
Brandon Weeden (Edmond Santa Fe) – Drafted By Cleveland (1st Round – 22nd Overall)
Ryan Broiles (Norman) – Drafted By Detroit (2nd Round – 54th Overall)
Ronnell Lewis (Dewar) – Drafted By Detroit (4th Round – 125th Overall)