Oklahoma has had a number of incredible players in the 21st century. How many does ESPN think are in the Top 25 of best college football players since 2000.
The Oklahoma Sooners have had countless stars in the 21st century. At every single position, you can find multiple players who were game-changers in the iconic crimson and cream.
ESPN took on the daunting task of ranking the Top 25 college football players of the 21st century on Monday. Staff writer Bill Connelly admitted how hard it was to limit himself to just 25 players.
“There are about 26 consensus [autotag]All-American[/autotag]s per season. Twenty-four different players have won a [autotag]Heisman Trophy[/autotag] since 2000. The one thing guaranteed about college football is that no one stays too long, and there are always new stars. Are these all excuses for why it’s almost impossible to rank the 25 best college football players of the 2000s? Absolutely. But we’re going to do it anyway,” Connelly said. “It feels like everyone on this list should be in the top 10. It feels like there are about 50 more players who should be in the top 25. This is impossible!”
Despite the tight parameters, three former Sooners made the Top 25 best college football players since 2000.
Quarterback [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] checks in very early, landing at second on the list behind only Nebraska‘s Ndamukong Suh. Mayfield ran the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] in his time in Norman, and made two trips to the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag]. He was the bridge between the [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] and [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] head coaching change and carved out a legendary career after walking-on at Oklahoma, his favorite school growing up. Here’s what Connelly had to say about Mayfield.
In three seasons at Oklahoma, after a brief cameo as a true freshman walk-on starter at Texas Tech, Mayfield put together just about the best combination of high-volume passing and high-level success you’ll ever see,” Connelly said. “He averaged nearly 4,100 passing yards per season, he led three straight Big 12 title runs, he went 3-0 against Oklahoma State and 2-1 against Texas, and he led road wins at Tennessee and Ohio State. Mayfield was so good that he ended up as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft despite standing only 6 feet. The only thing lacking from his resume: a national title. But it wasn’t for lack of effort. It took the greatest game of the [autotag]CFP[/autotag] era to keep him from having a shot at it. – Connelly, ESPN
Another Oklahoma legend ranked seventeenth on Connelly’s list. Safety [autotag]Roy Williams[/autotag] was a member of OU’s most recent national championship team and patrolled the defensive backfield in Norman in the early Stoops era. Williams was a 2001 unanimous All-American, the 2001 Big 12 defensive player of the year and made the 2000 and 2001 first-team All-Big 12 squads. During his career as a Sooner, he had 35 TFLs, 9 sacks, 9 interceptions, 49 pass breakups. Connelly had high praise for the defensive back.
How good was Roy Williams? In 2001, he topped Ed Reed to win the Nagurski, Thorpe and Tatum awards,” Connelly said, “That’s almost all that needs to be said. Few players are more revered than Reed, and in 2001, voting media either considered Williams and Reed equals or gave Williams the edge. There’s also the fact that he could fly. – Connelly, ESPN
Right behind Roy Williams comes [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag] at No. 18 in the rankings. The dynamic quarterback started for just one season at Oklahoma, but he made the most of it with a conference title, a trip to the Playoff and a Heisman win.
Murray’s dual-threat ability gave defenses fits in 2018, leading to him becoming the top overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was a threat to take it the distance every time he took off to run and was nearly as deadly with his arm as well on an absolutely star-studded OU offense. Connelly mentions him among the greats of his era in his article.
If Cam Newton was the best one-year wonder, Murray was second best,” Connelly said. After backing up Baker Mayfield and weighing a professional baseball career, Murray took college football by storm in 2018. He became the second 4,000/1,000 quarterback after Deshaun Watson, combining 4,361 passing yards with 1,001 rushing yards and 54 total touchdowns. He threw for at least 300 yards 10 times, rushed for at least 90 yards five times and led OU to at least 34 points 13 times. Despite a dreadful defense, OU won another Big 12 title and reached a third straight CFP thanks to Murray, who elected to forego a baseball career to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL instead. – Connelly, ESPN
Of course, this list just represents 24 years of college football. Who would be the Sooners on this list if it were to be remade in another quarter-century? How many players coached by [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] will be considered among the best in the sport? Might [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] or another future Sooner have the legendary careers that Baker Mayfield, Roy Williams, and Kyler Murray had in Norman?
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