For NFL fans around the country, tonight is one of the more exciting nights an NFL fan will have until the NFL kicks off in September. The NFL Draft will take place in Kansas City and while Oklahoma doesn’t have an NFL team that we’ll sit around and wonder who they are going to pick, the focus for Oklahoma residents is, “Will someone from one of the Oklahoma schools be drafted in the first round?”
Both OU and OSU are coming off of disappointing seasons. Cynical fans would tell you, “there’s no chance anyone on either team is a 1st round draft pick.” While I don’t know how or what the GM and owners are thinking, there are a number of people who cover the NFL and the draft who feel that one person between OU and OSU will get their name called tonight. That person would be Oklahoma’s offensive linemen Anton Harrison.
Harrison was definitely a standout on an Oklahoma offensive line that opened up a number of holes during the 2022 season for the running backs. The Sooners finished the 2022 season in 10th place in rushing offense as they racked up an average of 219 rushing yards per game. The offensive line did give up 31 sack this past season which wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either (about middle of pack in Division 1).
Harrison’s size (6 foot 4, 315 pounds) is something that GMs are definitely looking for in an offensive linemen. Some of the draft experts have Harrison going as high as 15th to the New York Jets (who could definitely use some offensive line help for their new QB Aaron Rodgers). ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Harrison going 24th overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars (another team looking for O-Line help for their superstar QB) . However, not everyone is onboard with Harrison going in the 1st round as NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah has him falling out of the 1st round completely so it’s tough to say whether or not a team will take a flyer on the Sooner linemen. However, based off all the mock drafts I’ve seen (and I’ve looked at quite a few), Harrison is arguably the only chance we see a young man from OU or OSU getting his named called in Kansas City tonight.
