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Do you agree with our early grade for the Broncos’ 2022 draft class?
As the 2023 NFL draft looms on the horizon, Broncos Wire is taking a look back at the Denver Broncos’ 2022 draft class. Who made a difference? Who do the Broncos need to see more from going forward?
Broncos DB Delarrin Turner-Yell ($4,379) and DL Mike Purcell ($11,139) were fined for penalties against the Panthers last week.
Two Denver Broncos defenders have been fined by the NFL for penalties committed during a 23-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 12.
Broncos rookie safety Delarrin Turner-Yell was fined $4,379 for a facemask penalty, according to a report from KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. Turner-Yell did not record any defensive stats in the game, but he did recover a fumbled punt on special teams.
Elsewhere on defense, Denver nose tackle Mike Purcell was fined $11,139 for an unnecessary roughness penalty, according to Klis. Shortly after that penalty, Purcell was spotted yelling at Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson on the sideline. Purcell finished the game with two tackles.
Penalties have become an alarming trend for Denver. Through 11 games this season, the Broncos have been penalized an NFL-high 96 times for 740 yards lost, which is also a league-high total.
Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett is leading an undisciplined squad that has been frequently penalized by officials and hit in their wallets by the NFL this season.
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Oklahoma takes on No. 20 Kansas on Saturday and we are looking at 5 defenders to watch.
Oklahoma is desperate for a win to regain any semblance of confidence that they’ve lost over the three-game losing streak.
A tough loss to Kansas State turned into a lopsided shellacking at the hands of TCU in Fort Worth, which ultimately culminated in last week’s 49-0 drubbing thanks to the Texas Longhorns.
In every one of those losses, the Sooners gave up 40 or more points.
On Saturday, the No. 20 Kansas Jayhawks team will stroll into the Palace on the Prairie fresh off their first loss of the season to No. 13 TCU. Kansas comes in with a dynamic offensive team averaging just a touch under 40 points per game.
They are a balanced offensive club averaging 226.3 passing yards per game and 215.2 rushing yards per game. For the majority of the season, the Jayhawks have been led by junior quarterback Jalon Daniels but after suffering an injury against TCU, Daniels looks doubtful for the game on Saturday according to ESPN.
Regardless, Oklahoma will have their hands full Saturday with backup QB Jason Bean, whom they faced last year. Their defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed of late so Daniels or not, this game should pose a significant threat to Oklahoma.
How do they go home Saturday night in their new UNITY uniforms winners? They’ll need better performances from these five defenders.
With big turnover this offseason, the Sooners have a lot to prove and are among Big 12 teams considered overrated in CBS Sports 2022 preview.
Oklahoma is less than a week away from the start of its 2022 campaign. While there’s been heaps of optimism and positivity coming from the camp in Norman all summer, elsewhere, people aren’t as sold on Oklahoma’s potential this season.
Some of the writers at CBS Sports shared their thoughts on the Big 12 heading into 2022. The conference’s flagship programs, Oklahoma and Texas, were deemed two of its most overrated teams. Shehan Jeyarajah had this to say about the Sooners.
The Sooners have been the model of consistency over the past six years, but they’re entering a new era. More than 40% of the roster is new, according to Venables. Gone are the top two quarterbacks, leading two rushers, four of the top five receivers, and the top three sack leaders from last season. There’s plenty of new talent to replace the losses, but they haven’t played together. The coaching staff is new, and the scheme and philosophy are new. This isn’t a turnkey operation, and we won’t see the best of Oklahoma until November. – Shehan Jeyarajah (also Barrett Sallee), CBS Sports
There’s validity in the belief Oklahoma will not look like last year. The thing about that particular idea is Oklahoma, especially offensively, didn’t look good at all for multiple stretches last year.
Spencer Rattler struggled. The offensive line struggled. The switch to Caleb Williams in the middle of the season infused new life for a while. But the team still struggled with some of the same larger issues that plagued it when Rattler was under center.
The offensive talent that was lost, outside of running back Kennedy Brooks, isn’t that big of a deal, considering they now have an entirely new offensive system, and the offensive line has a new blocking scheme as well. The Sooners are bringing back three starters along the offensive line, their best wide receiver Marvin Mims, and Theo Wease is returning from missing most of 2021.
Adding to that is new starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who’s had success in Jeff Lebby’s offense, which resulted in freshman All-American honors in 2019.
Defensively, the losses the Sooners suffered may be more significant, at least right now. Nik Bonitto, Isaiah Thomas, Perrion Winfrey, Brian Asamoah and the safety duo of Pat Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell, had the experience and production combination that can’t easily be replaced. Potentially more important, most of those guys were leaders in the program as well as leaders for the defense. They lost six starters on a defense that needs to be better in 2022 than last year.
DaShaun White, David Ugwoegbu, Woodi Washington, Key Lawrence and Jalen Redmond will have to take big steps forward in production and leadership to help maximize Oklahoma defensively.
All in all, the belief that Oklahoma may be overrated may be a slight exaggeration. Its games with Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma State will tell us a lot about who the Sooners are. If they go 0-3 or 1-2, it’s safe to say they were overrated, but winning two of those or sweeping that trio of teams would likely be enough to get back to the Big 12 championship game. An appearance and win there would pull them from the overrated category in a heartbeat.
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Speaking with the media Tuesday, Brent Venables mentioned that Billy Bowman had been one of Oklahoma’s best players in fall camp.
For a true freshman on a team with several veteran defensive backs, Billy Bowman played a lot in 2021. It was an up-and-down first season in Norman, but he showed a lot of promise. There were enough flashes from his performance in 2021 to be excited about what he could do in year two.
After playing multiple positions for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] made it a point to stick [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] at safety in the spring and leave him there. Focusing on just safety, as opposed to trying to learn safety, cornerback, and slot corner, Bowman, is finding solid footing in fall camp.
“I’m not really intrigued to know a whole lot more about him, other than I respect how he goes; he shows up every day,” Venables shared with the media after practice on Tuesday via OUInsider. “He’s super mature. He wants to be excellent. Very quiet, humble, one of our best workers, one of the most consistent guys on our team. Right now [he’s] maybe playing better than anybody on defense if I was to single one person out. And only the biggest thing is he just hadn’t had a bunch of dips. He’s had plenty of mistakes, like all of them, but he has shown up every day with the right mindset to improve, to get better, the same thing in the meeting room. He’s just very mature. And he’s hungry, and he’s prideful, but he’s got great humility and toughness to him.”
[autotag]Patrick Fields[/autotag] is at Stanford. [autotag]Delarrin Turner-Yell[/autotag] is with the Denver Broncos, leaving a lot of snaps to be had at safety. Key Lawrence is likely to be the starter at strong safety after a strong end to the 2021 season, but Billy Bowman could very well start at free safety.
He’s got the natural athleticism and speed to play the free safety position, and if he continues to catch the eye of head coach Brent Venables, Bowman is set to play a lot in 2022.
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After a tremendous finish to the 2021 season, Oklahoma safety Key Lawrence is primed for a big 2022 and was placed on the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch list.
Key Lawrence had a bit of a slow start to his career for the Oklahoma Sooners, but when he began to see the field regularly due to injuries, the Sooners couldn’t take him off the field. He spent time at cornerback and safety and was an important piece to the Sooners secondary down the stretch.
With [autotag]Delarrin Turner-Yell[/autotag] off to the NFL and [autotag]Patrick Fields[/autotag] to Stanford, Lawrence figures to be in for a key role in Brent Venables’ defense. With a starter’s complement of snaps, the sky’s the limit for the Tennessee product.
In anticipation of what will likely be a big season for Lawrence, he’s been named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy 2022 watch list.
Named after former NFL Hall of Fame star Ronnie Lott, The Lott Trophy annually goes to the Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year, a player who has had the biggest impact on his team both on and off the field. IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity, all characteristics exhibited by Lott during his illustrious playing career.
Lawrence is one of 42 players the voting panel will be keeping their eye on heading into 2022 and one of 14 defensive backs.
Other nominees for the award include [autotag]Will Anderson Jr[/autotag]. of Alabama. Anderson finished fifth in the Heisman voting in 2021. Lawrence joins [autotag]Felix Anudike-Uzomah[/autotag] as the only players from the Big 12 to be considered on the preseason watch list.
In 2021, Lawrence registered 47 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and three forced fumbles while playing just the 10th-most snaps on the team last season.
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Three out of four Athlon Sports analysts believe the Oklahoma Sooners to be the favorites in the Big 12 in 2022.
After a spring that left many observers feeling positive about the Sooners, Oklahoma has emerged once again as the favorites to win the Big 12. Not really a surprise considering they’ve won the conference more than anyone since its inception. Even after they depart for the SEC, it will take decades for anyone to match the 14 conference titles Oklahoma has won since 1996.
Oklahoma has as many conference titles as the other eight teams to win the Big 12. Remove Texas A&M, Colorado, and Nebraska who left in the last round of realignment and the Sooners have four more conference championships than the nine remaining members of the Big 12 combined.
Three out of four analysts over at Athlon Sports picked the Oklahoma Sooners as the favorites to win the Big 12. Here’s what Allen Kenney had to say about the Sooners. Allen Kenney, Ben Weinrib, and Mark Ross feel good about the Oklahoma Sooners’ chances of winning the conference in 2022.
The confidence they have in a team that lost a ton this offseason comes from their confidence in Brent Venables as a football coach and Dillon Gabriel at quarterback. Here’s a snippet of what Weinrib had to say about the Sooners.
Brent Venables was about as strong of a hire as the Sooners could have hoped for, as he’s intimately familiar with the program. And for all that the team lost through the transfer portal, they did bring in potentially the best quarterback in the conference in Dillon Gabriel. – Weinrib, Athlon Sports
In addition to their new quarterback and their new head coach reinvigorating a program that was “close” but seemingly drifting further from national title contention, the schedule plays out in the Sooners’ favor in 2022.
OU also has a favorable schedule in ’22 that will bring Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma State to Norman. It all points to a spot in the conference championship game for the Sooners, at minimum. – Kenney, Athlon Sports
The lone dissenting opinion comes from Steve Lassan who thinks the Baylor Bears should be the favorites.
I could make a case for a couple of teams here, but at the end of spring practice, I’d go Baylor over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State for the top spot. Texas and Kansas State are intriguing wild-card teams that could push for a trip to the conference title game if things break right. The Bears aren’t without concerns, however. Coach Dave Aranda’s team lost defensive standouts Terrel Bernard (LB) and Jalen Pitre (DB), while the offense lost its top three statistical receivers and running back Abram Smith. Also, Baylor had a plus-12 turnover margin and won four games by one score last season. Those numbers tend to hint at regression the next year. However, Oklahoma is in transition under its new staff, and Oklahoma State loses quite a bit of talent on defense and has a few gaps to fill up front and at the skill spots on offense. Texas doesn’t lack for talent, but can coach Steve Sarkisian find the right answers along the offensive line and on defense? This is a wide-open conference, and with uncertainty running high, I’ll trust Aranda to push the right buttons once again this year. – Lassan, Athlon Sports
While Oklahoma may be considered the favorites by many to win the Big 12, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas will have their say in the conference title race as well. As Lassan points out, Baylor may experience some regression, but they’re still a good team and may have an upgraded quarterback situation going from Gerry Bohanon to Blake Shapen.
Oklahoma experienced a lot of turnover from a defense that wasn’t as good as it should have been in 2022. Namely, the losses of [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag], [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag], [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag], [autotag]Brian Asamoah[/autotag], and [autotag]Delarrin Turner-Yell[/autotag], who will be playing on Sundays this fall. Throw in the transfer of [autotag]Pat Fields[/autotag] to Stanford and that’s a ton of experience and production out the door.
That’s not to say the Sooners can’t improve upon a defense that finished 76th in yards per game and 60th in points per game in 2022. If the potential is matched with production, the Sooners’ defense will be as good as any in the Big 12 this season.
Marcus Stripling, Ethan Downs, and Reggie Grimes will be tough to stop off the edge. Jalen Redmond will be a force in the middle. The Sooners still have a strong secondary with [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] and [autotag]D.J. Graham[/autotag], [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag], and [autotag]Justin Broiles[/autotag] coming back. Throw in a scheme that won’t sit back and let quarterbacks get comfortable, and the Sooners’ defense should be able to answer all the questions in Venables’ first year in Norman.
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Delarrin Turner-Yell is set to earn about $4 million over the next four years with the Broncos.
The Denver Broncos are signing rookie safety Delarrin Turner-Yell to a four-year contract, x. Turner-Yell is now set to earn $4,052,080 over the next four years, according to OverTheCap.com, an average of $1,013,020 per season.
Denver picked Turner-Yell in the fifth round of the NFL draft out of Oklahoma in April. In four seasons (36 games) with the Sooners, the defensive back totaled 190 tackles (including 10 tackles for losses), six pass breakups, four interceptions, one forced fumble and a half sack.
Turner-Yell will get an opportunity to compete for a rotational safety role this summer but his main contributions as a rookie will likely come on special teams.
The Broncos already have Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson at safety and Caden Sterns seems poised to get more playing time this fall, so Turner-Yell probably won’t be higher than fourth on the team’s safety depth chart in 2022.
If he plays well on special teams and takes advantage of his limited snaps on defense this season, Turner-Yell will likely earn a larger role in 2023.
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Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike will wear No. 96, previously work by Shelby Harris in Denver.
Ahead of rookie minicamp this weekend, the Denver Broncos announced jersey numbers for their 2022 NFL draft class. Here’s the list, courtesy of the team’s official website:
OLB Nik Bonitto: No. 42
TE Greg Dulcich: No. 80
CB Damarri Mathis: No. 27
DE Eyioma Uwazurike: No. 96
S Delarrin Turner-Yell: No. 32
WR Montrell Washington: No. 12
C Luke Wattenberg: No. 60
DE Matt Henningsen: No. 91
CB Faion Hicks: No. 29
Uwazurike choosing to wear No. 96 is fitting given that he will be among the candidates to replace Shelby Harris, who wore No. 96 with the Broncos from 2017-2021. Harris was traded to the Seattle Seahawks as part of the trade for quarterback Russell Wilson earlier this offseason.
Denver is expected to sign 13 more undrafted rookie free agents, but the team will have to make some corresponding moves to make room for the UDFAs on the 90-man offseason roster. Those 13 signings will likely become official soon, followed by number announcements for those additional rookies.
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Taking a look at what USA TODAY Sports NFL Wire sites had to say about each of the Oklahoma Sooners 2022 NFL draft picks.
The Oklahoma Sooners had a great draft weekend with seven players selected in the 2022 NFL draft. Though they didn’t have a first round pick, the seven selections are the most they’ve had since the 2019 NFL draft when eight Sooners were selected.
Nik Bonitto was the first player selected at No. 64 by the Denver Broncos. Joining him in the Mile High City is safety Delarrin Turner-Yell, who was taken in the fifth round at pick No. 152.
Brian Asamoah was the second-highest selection for the Sooners this year, coming off the board two picks after Bonitto at No. 64 to the Vikings.
The Cleveland Browns were also in the business of adding Oklahoma Sooners to the roster. They drafted three players in Perrion Winfrey, Isaiah Thomas, and Michael Woods. Winfrey was one of the biggest surprises, lasting until the fourth round. In the build-up to the draft, it was felt he was a second-round prospect.
Marquis Hayes, who was a steal for the Arizona Cardinals joins forces with Marquise Brown and Kyler Murray. Brown was sent to the Cardinals after a draft-night trade in the first round.
USATODAY Sports provides coverage for all 32 NFL teams in addition to the number of college sites like this one. Let’s look at what they had to say about the Oklahoma Sooners’ seven draft selections.
