The Oklahoma Sooners aren’t expected to have a lot of activity in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft later this month in Las Vegas by ESPN’s Todd McShay and Steve Muench.
Of the 12 Oklahoma Sooners that declared for the 2022 NFL draft, only 3 landed in ESPN’s 6-tiers of the top 106 players (ESPN+). [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag] landed at 51, [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag] at 56 and [autotag]Brian Asamoah[/autotag] was No. 106. Winfrey and Bonitto are both in tier five while Asamoah is in tier six.
There’s a lot to unpack from this list. The top tier was left completely empty.
Personally, I think Bonitto is a little low and would definitely put him above Winfrey. No one in FBS had a better pass rush win-rate% than Bonitto did this season, but this is an extremely loaded class of edge rushers, so I can see how a smaller one like Bonitto could slip through the cracks.
I don’t think anyone embodied “Speed D” as much as Brian Asamoah. The speedy linebacker can absolutely fly, but like Bonitto, is undersized. That speed could be very tempting to some teams in the later rounds.
It’s just strange to see what was a [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] coached team have all defensive players for its best draft prospects in a draft class. Who’s the best offensive player in this draft class for the Sooners? [autotag]Kennedy Brooks[/autotag]? McShay and Muench didn’t seem to be high on many for this season as there are only three on the entire list. All of whom are in the bottom three tiers.
There are a few notable Sooners who did not land on the list at all; Kennedy Brooks, Delarrin Turner-Yell, and Gabe Brkic.
Kennedy Brooks will make whichever team that takes him on day two or three of the draft very happy. He’s my favorite sleeper pick in this draft.
[autotag]Delarrin Turner-Yell[/autotag] is an interesting one. It was very noticable when Turner-Yell missed time last season. His presence in the defensive backfield just seemed to make the defense significantly better. That, however, is the problem with him: his health. Can he stay healthy for a full season and is he worth drafting over some of the other day two or three safeties in this class?
I don’t know what to expect from [autotag]Gabe Brkic[/autotag]. He did declare, but kickers aren’t drafted very often to begin with, and Brkic had a rough end to his season. He’s not even considered to be the best kicker in the draft class; that would be Cade York of LSU. I love Brkic, but he probably goes undrafted.
The bottom line here: Don’t expect to hear any Sooners’ names to be called in the first round of the draft. Don’t get me wrong, I do expect some of these guys to do good things in the NFL, but this definitely isn’t a sexy draft class for the Sooners.
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