Unpacking Future Packers: No. 62, Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton

Up next in the Unpacking Future Packers draft preview series is Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton.

The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL draft.

The Green Bay Packers haven’t drafted an offensive lineman in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2011, when they selected Derek Sherrod with the 32nd overall pick. 

A player that could tempt Brian Gutekunst to end that streak is Tyler Guyton. The Oklahoma offensive tackle checks in at No. 62 in the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown.

A TCU transfer, Guyton started 14 games during his two seasons as a Sooner. In 2022, Guyton started four games at right tackle and one game at left tackle. This past season, Guyton started nine games at right tackle. 

Standing at nearly 6-8 and checking in at 322 pounds with movement skills like a tight end, Guyton looks and moves like he was built in a lab. The only start he made during his time at TCU was at H-back and he caught one receiving touchdown. 

“Guyton’s greatest strength is his movement skills at his 6-8, 322 frame,” Devin Jackson, a college sports reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, said. “Still a work in progress on the finer details of playing the tackle position, Guyton’s quick feet and agile pass sets allow him to be in position to stay in front of pass rushers.”

The Sooner offensive tackle is a mountain with tree branches for arms and he utilizes that length to get into the chests of pass rushers. Guyton has athletic feet. He uses wide strides and his massive frame to protect the corner. He has strong hands and activates them to stun pass rushers. According to Pro Football Focus, Guyton gave up zero sacks and 12 pressures this past season.

“He offers active hands, smooth footwork, and the ability to mirror pass rushers with ease,” Jackson said. “His initial hand strikes are not the cleanest as he learns to become more accurate in hitting his desired hand placement, but he’s an easy mover out of his stance and often beats edge rushers to the spot.”

Guyton has easy movement skills and fires out of his stance to quickly get on top of defenders. He has elite short-area quickness and can quickly reach the second level to cut off linebackers. 

“Run blocking is his biggest area of growth right now,” Jackson said. “He gets to the spots he needs to but his thin lower half doesn’t allow him to drive defenders off the ball with torque. He’s a suitable backside blocker and can turn out defenders in single blocks but his hands need to get stronger and more violent in that department.”

Fit with the Packers

Guyton is not the sum of all his parts. He’s still fairly new to the position, after playing on the defensive side of the ball in high school and he only has 14 starts to his name. With Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom already in place, if he were to land in Green Bay he’d be given time to hone his craft while serving as the team’s swing tackle. 

“Drafting Guyton is betting on the traits and upside he possesses,” Jackson said. “Being taught and coached by one of the better college offensive line coaches in Bill Bedenbaugh, Guyton has the tools, the athleticism, and unique frame to be a cornerstone right tackle for the foreseeable future. As his grip strength and run blocking improves, the sky’s the limit for how quickly he can grow into one of the better pass protectors in the NFL.”

With his frame and athleticism, Guyton has all the tools to develop into a premier offensive tackle. 

The Packers have a history of developing Day 3 offensive linemen into star-caliber players. Now, imagine what they could do with a player that possesses Guyton’s tools. If the Sooner offensive tackle is still on the board when the Packers are on the clock, Gutekunst could be enticed to select Guyton, with the vision of Guyton being a key piece of the Jordan Love Era. 

Oklahoma Sooners outlast Cincinnati 74-71 in overtime, secure win No. 20

Oklahoma Sooners outlast Cincinnati Bearcats 74-71.

Tuesday night was a messy affair in the Lloyd Noble Center, but the Oklahoma Sooners came out on top when the dust cleared. After a rough start, they clawed their way to a hard-earned 20th win.

Oklahoma hosted Cincinnati for what will go down as Oklahoma’s final Big 12 home game. While the game ended with a 74-71 win in overtime, it was not without its own challenges.

Before the game, it was announced that starter [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag] would not be playing after injuring his shoulder during practice.

So before the game started, Oklahoma was down a starter as they got set to face a desperate Cincinnati team. The Bearcats, coached by Wes Miller, came out like the more hungry team as they played with more energy than the Sooners in the opening 20 minutes.

After falling behind 14-3 early, Oklahoma methodically worked its way back into the game. As he’s done many times this year, Rivaldo Soares paced the Sooners early with 10 points and was the only Sooner in double figures as OU put up a paltry 27 points at halftime.

The Sooners shot 40 percent from the field in the half, but the big story was the performance of sophomore Milos Uzan.

On a day when the Sooners needed him to up his contributions without McCollum in the lineup, Uzan was held scoreless in the first half. He also had two turnovers and sat a significant amount thanks to two fouls.

The Sooners entered the break down 28-27 and were fortunate to remain in the game after their poor start.

The second half was even worse offensively for the Sooners, as they shot 32% from the field. However, they shot a surprising 50% from long distance, and they cashed in on 21 of 23 free throws in the final 20 minutes.

A back-and-forth affair came down to the waning moments of the game.

While down two with 17.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Porter Moser drew up a crispy inbounds play to free Le’Tre Darthard in the corner for an open 3-pointer to give OU a one-point lead. Oklahoma fouled Darthard’s former Utah Valley teammate Aziz Bandaogo with mere seconds left, and Bandaogo hit one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Oklahoma found its defense in the extra period. Sam Godwin and Otega Oweh came through with clutch buckets, while Darthard went 3 of 4 from the free throw line to close things out. The Bearcats’ last attempt to tie the game clanged off the rim and Darthard secured teh rebound to seal the win for the Sooners on Senior Night.

Soares, Darthard, Godwin, and Maks Klanjscek were honored Tuesday night before the game.

Oklahoma found a way despite being without Javian McCollum and arguably the worst performance of his young career from Milos Uzan. Uzan shot 1 of 10 for 2 points and fouled out in the second half.

Le’Tre Darthard finished as the team leader in points with 18, while Soares and Jalon Moore dropped 16 a piece. Jizzle James, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Edgerrin James, had 16 to lead the Bearcats.

It wasn’t pretty and deserved zero style points, but Oklahoma found a way.

The Sooners were a 10 seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology update before the game, and this win should solidify their case as an NCAA tournament team.

If Tuesday’s win wasn’t enough, Oklahoma will have another chance to pad their resume as they travel to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. They’ll have a chance for revenge in the final regular season iteration of the Red River Rivalry in the BIg 12 before both schools depart for the SEC.

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10 players whose 2024 NFL Draft stock is rising (Rome Odunze!) and 5 who are falling after the combine

Rome Odunze solidified his spot as a top 10 pick. Quinyon Mitchell could be the first CB drafted. Kam Kinchens, on the other hand…

The horizon of the 2024 NFL Draft got a little bit clearer last week. Not incredibly so, but we’ve got a little more insight on how this year’s rookie selection process will unfold.

That’s thanks to four days of workouts at the scouting combine. The annual event saw its typical share of star players skipping drills, but the players who took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium gave scouts and analysts across the league a better idea of what they’ll bring to the pros.

Some prospects shined. Others fizzled. And pretty much every one will get a re-do when it comes to their colleges’ respective Pro Days in March and April. That makes it tough to glean too much information from 40-yard dash times and vertical jumps.

We do know, however, which players are trending upward and who are sliding down draft boards after the Indianapolis event. Here are 15 players who stood out — some for the right reasons and others less so.

Oklahoma falls to No. 1 Houston 87-85 on last second jump shot by Jamal Shead

Oklahoma comes up short 87-85 in upset bid of No.1 Houston.

Oklahoma emptied the tank on Saturday evening before a packed-out Lloyd Noble Center as they took on the nation’s number one team, the Houston Cougars.

Though the Sooners failed to knock off yet another highly-ranked Big 12 foe on Saturday evening, there’s certainly no shame in the effort they put on the court.

Jamal Shead, one of the nation’s best players, sent the Sooner faithful home in disappointed after hitting a mid-range jump shot as the seconds ticked down to give the Cougars and former Oklahoma head coach [autotag]Kelvin Sampson[/autotag] the 87-85 win.

In what many figured would be a defensive, grind-it-out affair, the Sooners and Cougars exploded offensively from the opening tip throughout the contest.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with threes raining from each side in a free-flowing game. OU was 7 of 13 from beyond the arc and 10 of 10 from the free throw line in the game’s first 20 minutes. Overall in the first half, they shot 14 of 28 from the field, while Houston shot 67% percent in the first half.

Rivaldo Soares led the way with 10 points on 3 of 3 shooting and 3 of 3 from the charity stripe. Sam Godwin added eight of his team-leading 17 points.

Houston adjusted at the break before racing out to a 56-47 lead before pushing it out to 63-51with over 13 minutes left.

The Sooners responded to fight back into the game with clutch shooting and timely stops. With the Sooners down 85-82, Sam Godwin was fouled. He made the first of two free throws, but the rebound was saved by point guard Milos Uzan. After a timeout, the Sooners scored off the ensuing inbound pass on a nifty drive to the cup by [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag].

On the Cougars’ final possession, Oklahoma got the initial stop, but Shead collected his own rebound from the scrum and hit the buzzer beater to end the Sooners’ upset bit.

The Sooners had five players finish in double figures while shooting over 50% from the field and 40% from three.

Houston will head to Orlando to take on UCF Wednesday evening.

The Sooners will host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for their final Big 12 home game before heading on the road to face Texas in Austin on the final day of the regular season.

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Sooners DB target Maliek Hawkins drops top 5, plans to commit early April

Sooners cornerback target and four-star prospect, Maliek Hawkins, announces commitment timeline, releases top 5..

Flowers are blooming, the sun is out, and the temperatures are starting to heat up across the country. Spring football is on the horizon for Oklahoma football, and the Sooners are getting more clarity about their recruiting targets off the field.

One of those targets,  2025 DB [autotag]Maliek Hawkins[/autotag], has narrowed down his recruitment and is planning to announce his decision in early April. Hawkins announced on his social media pages on Saturday afternoon.

Hawkins, the younger brother of Oklahoma freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., has narrowed his schools to Mississippi State, Arkansas, Texas State, Texas, and the Sooners.

Mississippi State is now led by Jeff Lebby, who has strong ties to the Hawkins family. via Lebby recruited Michael during his tenure as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. It’s unlikely that the Bulldogs will be the choice. The same goes for Arkansas and Texas State. Leaving the Sooners and Longhorns set to duke it out again for another Texas-based recruit.

This feels like Oklahoma’s recruitment to lose. The ties to Oklahoma are strong. Maliek’s father Mike played for Brent Venables in the early 2000s and his older brother Michael joined the Sooners this spring.

The Sooners have also been pushing for the younger Hawkins brother for years. The Sooners have long been the favorite in his recruitment with predictions dating back to last March.

The Sooners have to close are the clear frontrunners, but have to continue to recruit the athletic and tenacious four-star cornerback.

As it stands, the Sooners are No. 5 in the country in team recruiting in the class of 2025. A Hawkins commitment would also give them their first secondary commitment of the cycle.

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Oklahoma Sooners offer four-star DL prospect and Auburn commit Malik Autry

Oklahoma has offered fast-rising 2025 four-star DL prospect Malik Autry.

Oklahoma just had one of its all-time best defensive line recruiting hauls with their 2024 class. It was headlined by five-star defensive tackle David Stone but there were multiple four-star defensive linemen in the Sooners’ haul.

Oklahoma needed every single signee as the Sooners were set to be pretty thin along their defensive line after the 2024 season. They now turn their recruiting efforts to 2025, where the Sooners already have one commitment from three-star nose tackle Ka’Mori Moore.

Moore committed last summer, and Oklahoma is in pursuit of adding more.

Their most recent offer is to four-star prospect Malik Autry. Autry is a large human being who most certainly fits the mold of the 1-technique type of nose tackle that the vast majority of SEC teams seem to have. He is the no. 89 overall prospect in the Top247 and is seeing his recruitment take off. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him rise into the top 60 nationally when it’s all said and done.

Autry stands tall at six-foot-five and clocks in at 320 pounds. He hails from Alabama and is currently committed to the Auburn Tigers. He was offered by Todd Bates, who is from Alabama himself. Bates has long been considered an excellent recruiter for his ability to connect with the gentlemen he recruits. Can he help loosen the bond between Auburn and help give Oklahoma a fighting chance?

Malik Autry’s Recruiting Profile

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Co-defensive coordinator Todd Bates, Oklahoma working on new contract per report

Oklahoma defensive tackles coach and Co-DC Todd Bates is set to receive a raise and new three year deal per report.

It’s been one heck of a start to 2024 for co-defensive coordinator and defensive tackles coach Todd Bates.

He received a pay bump earlier this offseason and appears headed for another raise according to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports.

According to Zenitz, Bates is set to push his salary up to $900,000 per year as he finalizes a three-year contract extension with the Sooners. The extension rewards Bates for his contributions and comes on the heels of an offseason, where, according to the report, Bates was being pursued by other programs this offseason. Instead, the well-respected defensive line coach will stay in Norman to continue the work of rebuilding the Sooners defensive line.

Bates has been a monumental add for his development of the Oklahoma defensive line in larger part because of his prowess on the recruiting trail.

Bates was the primary recruiter for the Sooners in their pursuit of five-star defensive tackle David Stone. Stone was the first five-star defensive tackle the Sooners have landed in over a decade. He has also helped transform the Oklahoma defensive line that led the NCAA in tackles for loss or for no gain last season.

For Bates, his journey is just getting started. He has yet to see a complete cycle of his recruits manifest on the field. He’s revitalized the interior defensive line at Oklahoma.

Still, this year represents a significant step in competition as his unproven unit will have their first season in the SEC. They will be face some of the best offensive linemen in the country on a weekly basis.

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Sooners are latest school to offer 2025 CB Graceson Littleton

Recruiting profile for 2025 three-star CB Graceson Littleton.

Recruiting Florida is nothing new for Oklahoma. It has been recruiting the Sunshine State regularly for a while. It has been successful in bringing in multiple contributors and starters from the state. In recent years, Florida has treated the Sooners well.

One area of Florida that has been very generous to the Sooners is the Tampa area. Oklahoma landed commits from that area in its last two recruiting classes. Is it potentially looking for a third commit in as many classes? Its latest scholarship offer went to Graceson Littleton. Littleton is a 2025 cornerback prospect at Wharton High School in Tampa.

247Sports has him listed as a three-star on its rankings. He’s not rated on any of the other sites. He has excellent foot speed and is listed at 6 feet.

Graceson Littleton’s Recruiting Profile

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Sooners earn prediction for talented in-state 2026 CB Evenson Malaska

Oklahoma predicted to land commitment for 2026 CB Evenson Malaska.

Cornerback has been a revitalized position since [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was hired. Oklahoma has changed the caliber of athletes and the type of cornerbacks they have recruited.

Venables’ hire of [autotag]Jay Valai[/autotag] to take over as the cornerbacks’ coach has paid off in spades. The depth and talent in the room have been elevated tremendously in just a couple of years. This upcoming year may be the biggest test yet as this proves to be year three in this defense. Not only do the Sooners have talent, but they also have depth and multiple guys with real game experience.

Their 2025 recruiting efforts have not been fruitful at cornerback, but they expect that to change soon.

In the 2026 class, things have barely materialized in terms of their prospect board, but one name has popped out enough that Josh McCuiston of Sooners Scoop has placed an On3 prediction favoring the Sooners to land 2026 prospect Evenson Malaska out of Bethany, Oklahoma.

Malaska has ties to the Sooners. Malaska’s brother, Jocelyn, transferred to Oklahoma this winter after beginning his college career with the Utah Utes.

The older Malaska cited his relationship with Jay Valai as essential in transferring back to his home state to play for the home team. Valai’s influence and connection have moved on through the bloodline and resonated with Evenson.

Evenson camped with Oklahoma last summer and received his first college offer after showing out. He played his freshman season with 2023 Oklahoma signee Taylor Heim, too. So Oklahoma has a plethora of influences that are pulling the athletic sophomore defender to Norman.

Things have yet to progress enough to a commitment, but it’s hard to imagine that Oklahoma won’t be a leading contender for Malaska’s services until he commits.

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Rough 7th inning dooms Sooners in midweek clash against Dallas Baptist; Sooners lose 11-7

Oklahoma looses midweek matchup against Dallas Baptist 11-7.

Oklahoma was back in action on the diamond Tuesday evening as they made another trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This weekend, the Sooners took two of three games in Arlington. They beat a top 10-ranked Tennessee team on Saturday night and followed that up with a walk-off 7-6 win against their old Big 12 foes, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, on Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday, they traveled to Dallas to take on the preseason Conference USA team to beat, the Dallas Baptist Patriots.

Nick Wilson started for the Patriots, while redshirt senior Grant Stevens started the contest on the mound for the Sooners. After four seasons at the University of the Pacific, Stevens transferred to OU.

A walk by centerfielder John Spikerman and a wild pitch immediately moved him into scoring position to start the game. Bryce Madron knocked him in with an opposite-field single, and the Sooners were off and running.

Dallas Baptist was not impressed and responded with two runs of their own by way of a Miguel Santos two-run home run. Jackson Nicklaus immediately led the top half of the second off with his first home run of the season—one of two homers on the night.

Things would remain tied until the bottom of the fourth when DBU broke through with three runs on four hits to make the score 5-2. The inning would prove to be Stevens’ last. In his first start as a Sooner, Stevens pitched four innings and gave up five earned runs on seven hits and two walks, while recording five strikeouts.

Will Carsten would take over the fifth for Oklahoma, and the Patriots tacked on another run to make the score 6-2. The Sooners would finally respond with a few runs in the top of the sixth. After Michael Snyder reached third on a triple, he scored on a wild pitch to the deficit to three runs. The Sooners then loaded the bases on a walk, single, and a hit by pitch, but John Spikerman struck out on a 3-2 count.

DBU left fielder Ethan Mann hit a solo home run to push the Patriots’ lead to 7-4.

In the Sooners half of the inning, Easton Carmichael singled to right field with one out in the top of the 7th. After a Rocco Garza-Gongora groundout moved Carmichael to second, Michael Snyder hit a towering home run to bring the Sooners within one run. Jackson Nicklaus hit his second homer of the night two pitches later to tie the game at seven.

From there, things went downhill as Jace Miner recorded two outs and allowing just one walk in the bottom of the seventh. However, Skip Johnson pulled Miner in favor of Jacob Gholston, who couldn’t find the strike zone. A wild pitch advanced the runner from first to second, and then Gholston walked the batter.

Johnson would replace Gholston with righty Dylan Crooks, who gave up an infield single to load the bases. DBU’s Nathan Humphreys drove a 1-0 fastball from Crooks deep into the Dallas night for a grand slam to put DBU up for good, 11-7.

The Sooners couldn’t mount a comeback, as DBU remained undefeated at 4-0, and the Sooners fell to 2-2.

Bryce Madron led the way with three hits in five at-bats, while Michael Snyder’s three RBIs led the way for the Sooners. Humphreys’ five runs batted in led the way for the Patriots.

Oklahoma will head back to Norman for their first home series of the season as they host Wright State for a four-game series this weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

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