Tag: Jermaine Gresham

84 days till the Cardinals’ season opener against the Bills

While there is promise for No. 84 Elijah Higgins, the last pretty impactful No. 84 was Jermaine Gresham.

Arriving at another Sunday, we are a week closer to the start of regular-season Sunday football. In 12 weeks, or 84 days, the Arizona Cardinals will kick off their season on the road against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

The Cardinals’ current No. 84 is tight end Elijah Higgins, drafted in the sixth round last year by the Miami Dolphins but claimed off waivers by Arizona after he was unable to make the Dolphins’ roster.

After many weeks being inactive, he ended up playing in 11 games, starting two, and catching 14 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. With his play down the stretch, if it weren’t for tight end Trey McBride’s breakout season, fans would be very excited about the prospect of the next breakout tight end.

He has the promise of being an impact player.

Who was the last impactful No. 84?

That was probably tight end Jermaine Gresham, who played four seasons for Arizona from 2015-2019. While he didn’t live up to the first-round status he had and his 50-plus receptions while he played for the Cincinnati Bengals, he did catch more than 30 passes in 2016 and 2017. That’s pretty good considering the Cardinals and tight ends.

We will be back on Monday with the next installment of our season countdown.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Trent Williams Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded offensive tackle; Ever

Trent Williams continues to add to his Hall of Fame career this time getting a distinct honor from Pro Football Focus.

Since being drafted No. 4 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, [autotag]Trent Williams[/autotag] has been one of the best offensive linemen in all of football. Williams had a stellar career at Oklahoma from 2006-2009.

He was named to two All-Big 12 teams and was a consensus All-American in 2009. Since getting into the NFL, he’s been selected to 11 Pro Bowls, earned three first-team All-Pro selection and was also named to the second-team once. All three of his first-team selections have come in the last three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers..

He’s had a stellar career and has earned the designation of highest-graded offensive tackle in Pro Football Focus history.

PFF was founded back in 2006 and really took off around 2014. So, it’s not every offensive tackle in NFL history, but it is still quite an accomplishment for the former Sooner.

Now, he has his sights set on winning a Super Bowl. He’s competed in one before, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. He and his 9ers teammates get a chance to redeem themselves against the Chiefs this Sunday.

I’m sure his quarterback is happy to have him blocking his blind side. Williams decade-plus run of success at the NFL level is just another reason why Oklahoma is Offensive Line University.

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Oklahoma TE Austin Stogner named to Mackey Award watch list

Oklahoma’s Austin Stogner was named to the Mackey Award watch list.

Watch list season is upon us as several different lists come out just about every day. One that came out Friday is the [autotag]Mackey Award[/autotag] watch list which goes to the nation’s best tight end.

[autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag], who returns to the Oklahoma Sooners after one year playing for the [autotag]South Carolina Gamecocks[/autotag], made the list. Stogner has had an up-and-down career, but is hoping to experience a similar breakout as Brayden Willis did a year ago.

In his first year getting a lot of action in 2020, he had more than 400 yards and three touchdowns. The future looked bright before an injury at the end of that season almost ended his football career.

In 2021, he never looked the same. He looked like he had lost some of that burst and separation ability. He then transferred and had a little more than 200 yards and only one touchdown.

Now he’s back and has to be the leader in a very young room. Stogner, now three seasons removed from his injury, hopes to show the flashes he had in 2020. This is an offense that uses the tight end a lot. We saw it just a year ago with [autotag]Willis[/autotag].

Prior to 2022, Willis hadn’t eclipsed 200 yards in a season. He had just six total touchdowns in four seasons. In his final season, he had more than 500 yards and seven touchdowns. He arguably was the most important player to the offense a year ago because of what he did in the passing game and as a run blocker.

Stogner has the ability to do what Willis did a year ago, and if he can return to his athletic form, could surpass the breakout year from Oklahoma former tight end.

Oklahoma is a school that has done pretty well at tight end historically. [autotag]Mark Andrews[/autotag] is the only Sooner to take home the award. But there’s a strong argument to be made that [autotag]Jermaine Gresham[/autotag] should have won in 2008. It still baffles me he was first-team All-Big 12, and the guy that won the award was selected to the second.

But that’s a conversation for a different day. For Stogner, he just needs to be that safety blanket and go-to guy in the red zone. Something he is definitely capable of being and something [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and the Sooners need.

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Sooners land commitment from talented tight end Davon Mitchell

Oklahoma picks up a commitment from talented tight end Davon Mitchell. Mitchell is reclassifying to join the 2024 class.

A massive recruiting domino has fallen for the Oklahoma Sooners. Five-star tight end Davon Mitchell committed to the Oklahoma Sooners at a ceremony at Los Alamitos High School on Saturday afternoon.

Mitchell chose Oklahoma over Alabama and Miami after a competitive recruitment, with the Sooners and Hurricanes being the primary combatants in the late stages.

Mitchell’s recruitment with Oklahoma started last summer when Joe Jon Finley offered the talented prospect while he was still at Allen High School. Mitchell transferred out like his former quarterback, future teammate and close friend Michael Hawkins. The idea of playing with Hawkins in college has always been a motivating factor for both. While Mitchell was a class behind Hawkins, the premiere tight end prospect now gets to realize his dream of playing with his close friend. Mitchell announced he’s reclassifying to graduate this year, which would make him part of the Sooners’ 2024 recruiting class.

Hawkins committed in April and has been doing his part to entice the dynamic tight end to hop on board. Mitchell visited Oklahoma for the [autotag]ChampU BBQ[/autotag], where [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] introduced Mitchell to future hall of famer Jason Witten.

Miami and Alabama pushed hard and did their best to make it a three-team race. However, the relationships with the OU staff and other prospects made it too hard to pass up on the Crimson and Cream.

Mitchell offers Oklahoma a tight-end talent that could be as dynamic as Jermaine Gresham was for Oklahoma. He can run, has a great frame and length, and can work with his hand in the ground as a blocker. He can line up as an in-line tight end or split out wide to take advantage of smaller defenders. Mitchell is tough to bring down with the ball in his hands and uses his size to run through would-be tacklers.

As it stands, Mitchell was the No. 16 player in 247Sports’ composite rankings for 2025. He’s a five-star player and was the No. 1 player in California for 2025. He also is the second-ranked tight end nationally. He’ll likely land in the high four-star range with a chance at five-star status after he slots into OU’s 2024 class

This recruiting win is easily the biggest of Joe Jon Finley’s career. The job isn’t finished, though, as developing Mitchell and helping him realize his high ceiling is next.

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Former Oklahoma TE Jermaine Gresham makes the Athletic’s All-EA Sports NCAA Football Team

Former Oklahoma TE Jermaine Gresham makes the Athletic’s All-EA Sports NCAA Football Team.

It’s been almost a decade since you had the friends over, turned on your gaming console, put in the newest NCAA football game, and battled it out to the early morning hours the following day.

The college football game was a mainstay at many households across the country, with NCAA Football 14 with former Michigan QB Denard Robinson donning the cover of the final game… or so we thought.

That was until nearly two years ago when EA Sports announced the game would finally be returning after NIL was passed, which allowed athletes to get paid for their name, image, and likeness.

But gamers have to wait at least one more year before the new game releases.

So, to get us in the mood, The Athletic released its All-EA Sports NCAA Football Team (subscription required), and a former Sooner made the squad.

TE Jermaine Gresham had an impressive career at the University of Oklahoma from 2006-2009. He would ultimately miss the 2009 season due to an injury, but before that, he totaled more than 1,600 yards and more than 25 touchdowns during his career.

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Gresham’s best season was undoubtedly the 2008 season, when the Sooners’ offense set multiple offensive records.

That season Gresham was a first-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection. He had the most TDs (14) and receiving yards (950) by a TE.

Those numbers lead him to garner a 99 overall rating in the 2009 edition of the video game, putting him as The Athletic’s choice for the TE position.

Some honorable mentions were Miami’s Greg Olsen and Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert.

Both of those would have been good selections, but the gamers out there know Gresham was the clear choice. He was a cheat code to play with due to his incredible catching ability, route running, speed, and how easily he broke tackles.

There’s no doubt about it, Gresham and that Oklahoma offense led to a lot of arguments and probably a lot of broken controllers as well.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Oklahoma football all-time roster: Offensive starters and backups

See which legends made the cut in our all-time Oklahoma Sooners football roster, starting with the offensive starters and backups.

When you have as illustrious a history as the Oklahoma Sooners with their seven national championships, the longest winning streak in college football history, seven Heisman Trophy winners, and 50 conference championships, picking an all-time team can be a difficult task.

Oklahoma has some legendary figures in the world of college football. It’s a program that’s had incredible success dating back to Bennie Owen in the program’s early days. For more than 100 years, the Oklahoma Sooners have created a program that’s synonymous with winning.

Here’s our crack at Oklahoma’s All-Time offense.

For more coverage on the Oklahoma Sooners, visit Sooners Wire.

Former Oklahoma DE Amani Bledsoe signs with Cincinnati Bengals

Former Oklahoma DE Amani Bledsoe is back on an NFL roster after signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, the team announced on Monday. 

Former Oklahoma DE Amani Bledsoe is back on an NFL roster after signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, the team announced on Monday.

Bledsoe signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent out of college. He spent one full season on their practice squad before being waived on July 26.

Less than a month later, he’s back on an NFL roster, joining former Sooners Joe Mixon, Samaje Perine, Jermaine Gresham, Jordan Evans and Rodney Anderson in Cincinnati.

Bledsoe tallied 58 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 8 deflections and 4 sacks while at OU from 2016-18.

247Sports rated him as a four-star prospect out of high school. He was also the No. 8 strong-side defensive end in his class, and the No. 2 player out of Kansas.

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A recent history of the NFL’s 21st pick, where the Eagles are currently slotted to draft

A recent history of the NFL’s 21st pick, which the Eagles currently have

The Philadelphia Have 10 picks in the 2020 NFL and their first-round selection will come at pick No. 21 as it currently stands.

NFL teams have had enormous success with mid to late first-round picks and with the Eagles slotted to pick later in the round, Howie Roseman and company have a chance to land a bonafide star.

The recent history of players selected at No. 21 overall bolds well for the Eagles who’ll need to land a dynamic playmaker with their first-round pick.

Here are the players selected with the 21st overall pick since the 1998 NFL Draft.

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21st Overall

2019 Darnell Savage DB Maryland (Packers)
2018 Billy Price C Ohio State (Bengals)
2017 Jarrad Davis LB Florida (Lions)
2016 Will Fuller WR Notre Dame (Texans)
2015 Cedric Ogbuehi LT Texas A&M (Bengals)
2014 Ha Ha Clinton Dix S Alabama (Packers)
2013 Tyler Eifert TE Notre Dame (Bengals)
2012 Chandler Jones DE Syracuse (Patriots)
2011 Phil Taylor DT Baylor (Browns)
2010 Jermaine Gresham TE Oklahoma (Bengals)
2009 Alex Mack C California (Browns)
2008 Sam Baker OT USC (Falcons)
2007 Reggie Nelson S Florida (Jaguars)
2006 Laurence Maroney RB Minnesota (Patriots)
2005 Matt Jones WR Arkansas (Jaguars)
2004 Vince Wilfork DT Miami New England
2003 Jeff Faine C Notre Dame (Browns)
2002 Daniel Graham TE Colorado (Patriots)
2001 Nate Clements CB Ohio State (Bills)
2000 Sylvester Morris WR Jackson State (Chiefs)
1999 L.J. Shelton T Eastern Michigan Cardinals
1998 Randy Moss WR Marshall (Vikings)

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Randy Moss is the only player on the list to have a Hall of Fame career, but there have been some quality players selected at pick No. 21.

Chandler Jones had an All-Pro season for the Cardinals this season, while Alex Mack was one of the NFL’s top centers for years in Cleveland.

The Eagles second-round pick this season will be pick No. 53, the same pick that landed them Miles Sanders in 2019. LeSean McCoy was also the 53rd pick when he was selected, so it’ll be imperative for the Eagles to select a skilled player with this one.