Jim Nagy's NFL Draft experience is already helping shape the Oklahoma Sooners roster of the future with recruiting guidelines

When these hires were announced, many wondered just how they would adjust their NFL experience into high school recruiting and talent acquisition. 

I believe we're already seeing signs of just how this process is playing out.

At the NFL level, smart front offices take calculated swings on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, banking on high-level athletes with unique profiles to develop into potentially productive players in the future at a cheap cost. Cheaper talents like Bucky Irving, Christian Mahogany, Nick Herbig, and Puka Nacua are some of the most recent Day 3 hits that fit the mold I'm thinking of here. 

These players are productive talents who slip through the cracks for some reason or another, but have unique profiles that are worth taking a swing on, whether it's production or traits. Day 3 picks make up the vast majority of NFL rosters, so finding these profiles only helps improve your roster along the margins. 

That seems to be the mold that this new Oklahoma front office is trying to target, only instead of Day 3 picks, it's their three-star recruit targets.

In this new era of resource allocation, it seems like the Sooners are emphasizing priority recruits at key valuable positions (players like Bowe Bentley, Davian Groce, Jake Kreul at QB, WR, EDGE) and filling out the depth chart with three-star developmental talents at a cheaper value, much like what a team would do with their NFL Draft strategy. 

I've already discussed how the Sooners are targeting multi-sport athletes, much like how several NFL front offices do so, in their recruiting process. That part plays into their process for allocation, in my opinion. 

Jake Kreul is their top, elite target at edge rusher (theoretically their first-round pick in this model). To fill out the room behind him, they targeted Matthew Nelson, a then-unranked developmental recruit, whom they acquired for a cheaper cost than what Kreul will be (a Day 3 pick).

Nelson is a three-sport recruit who is already 6'4 with length, great burst, and a hot motor. These are the kind of traits NFL front offices target on Day 3 as worthwhile fliers. 

Another Sooners' target, wide receiver Dallas Dickerson, fits a similar mold. Oklahoma is playing for several major wide receiver recruits, but they've offered and recruited Dickerson because of his tremendous speed as a Georgia state champion track star. Again, the same type of athlete you take a flier on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. 

To me, this is how Jim Nagy's process has evolved from the NFL to a college recruiting standard. You find your building blocks early (your blue-chip talent) and improve the depth of the roster along the margins with these developmental profiles that you trust your coaches to develop. Instead of calling it first-round, Day Two, and Day Three, it's now just five-stars, four-stars, and three-stars. 

Given how well Brent Venables' staff has developed players across multiple positions, it's a worthwhile gamble to take. In the SEC, every move counts, and pursuing these elite developmental athletes can only help the Sooners stay competitive.