It isn’t where you started but what you do when you get the opportunity. Not every player that is selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft is a highly touted recruit coming out of high school. While we can be infatuated with the numbers and recruiting rankings, they don’t mean everything. Player development and their own drive are the keys.
While the NFL draft is just a week away, ESPN looked at where former No. 1 overall picks were ranked as recruits (subscription required). Three of those picks were former Oklahoma Sooners quarterbacks. It started with Sam Bradford in the 2010 NFL draft.
Sam Bradford (Three-Star)
Bradford was just a three-star prospect when he came out of high school. He would become the Heisman Trophy winner in 2008 and would find his way to the podium as the top selection. What plagued him in college would follow him through his nine-year career in the NFL.
Despite rehabbing a shoulder injury, he was drafted first overall and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Talent was never a question. When healthy, Bradford showed flashes of why he was so highly touted coming out of college. But he could never shake the injury bug, starting all 16 games in a season just twice in his nine-year career.
Baker Mayfield (Three-Star Walk-On)
Mayfield never received any major offers but decided to head to Texas Tech to learn from Kliff Kingsbury. After just one season, he left for Norman, Oklahoma. He would be coached by Kingsbury’s former backup in Lincoln Riley. Despite being a walk-on, Mayfield did what he always did in proving doubters wrong.
He ultimately walked on at Texas Tech, where he proved detractors wrong, making several starts and earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. Mayfield transferred to Oklahoma and blossomed there, leading the Sooners to three straight conference titles, setting several school and conference records and departing college with over 14,000 yards passing. As history has shown, Mayfield has proved skeptics wrong and made it clear he was one of the top prospects in class.
Kyler Murray (Five-Star)
Murray was a completely different story than that of Bradford and Mayfield. He was a five-star prospect and the No. 1 overall dual-threat quarterback of the 2015 recruiting class. After transferring to Oklahoma from Texas A&M, Murray would win the Heisman Trophy and prove he was worth the hype as he was taken by the Arizona Cardinals in the draft.
A high-level two-sport athlete, Murray was named an Under Armour All-American in both football and baseball, finishing the 2015 cycle as the top-rated quarterback in his recruiting class. He signed with Texas A&M and contributed as a freshman, but transferred the next year to Oklahoma, where he initially sat behind Mayfield and then demonstrated why he was so highly ranked coming out of high school, earning the Heisman Trophy in 2018. Murray was also a first-round pick in the 2018 MLB draft, but has gone on to have success under center with the Arizona Cardinals.