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Three 2025 NFL Draft prospects to watch from Oklahoma
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Three 2025 NFL Draft prospects to watch from Oklahoma

Who knows exactly what 2024 has in store for the Oklahoma Sooners? Few teams will be undergoing more change than Brent Venables's squad, who will be entering the SEC, a much more challenging conference than their previous home of the Big 12.

Oklahoma had an up-and-down 2023, picking up some nice wins but ultimately stumbling midseason and falling out of the College Football Playoff picture. This year, the playoff field is wider, leaving more room for error, but Oklahoma's path is tougher too, especially with star quarterback Dillon Gabriel transferring to Oregon. 

One thing that's for sure is that the Sooners will be fielding lots of talented players, ones who have NFL aspirations, and they'll have the chance to prove themselves against the best of the best in the SEC.

Here are the top three Oklahoma prospects to watch ahead of the NFL Draft, which begins on April 24, 2025:

Danny Stutsman | Linebacker

FantasyPros' Matthew Jones on Stutsman: "Brings a tough temperament"

Prospect ranking: Pro Football Focus (No. 76), Tankathon (No. 49), Pro Football Network (Honorable Mention)

Despite Oklahoma's identity as primarily an offense-first team, the best prospect on this year's team just might be a defender. Stutsman is already a first-team All-Big 12 honoree, from the 2023 season, a year after he led the conference with 124 total tackles. 

Now, in his fourth season of action, he'll look to cap off that impressive resume with a great year of play in the SEC, and potentially a high draft spot. 

Stutsman was only a three-star recruit, dragged down to a degree by the fact that his athleticism is "good enough," rather than exceptional or a true plus. Even so, he's shown some impressive power at times, and has a high-level motor that allows him to play above his physical profile. 

The 6-foot-4 and 240 pound Stutsman also does a good job reading the play quickly, allowing him to be efficient with that all-important first step and flow right towards the football.

This is going to become something of a pattern throughout this Oklahoma player review, but different grading sources are very far apart on Stutsman. Some view him as a high-end day two player, while others don't see him as a top-100 prospect at all. 

This is likely due to differing opinions on just how much his production will translate to the next level given his level of athleticism; certain scouts think he will be severely hampered, while others believe that his refined football ability will be enough to make him a strong pro. Thus, where he goes in the draft will simply depend on how highly one team values that balance.


Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Nic Anderson. Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Nic Anderson | Wide Receiver

Sports Illustrated's Jon Alfano on Anderson: "A great deep threat"

Prospect ranking: Pro Football Focus (Not Ranked), Tankathon (No. 63), Pro Football Network (No. 30)

Anderson only caught 38 passes in 2023, but managed to turn that into 798 yards and 10 touchdowns, a testament to his remarkable big-play ability. With a 6-foot-4 and 213 pound frame, it's not hard to see why; his on-ball skills make it tough to cover him with just one man.

In addition to big plays, Anderson's big build makes him a threat in the short spaces, such as around the goal line. Anderson's straight-line speed, in terms of the 40-yard dash, may not prove to be special, but he has the kind of acceleration that can make his cuts unpredictable and his routes hard for defenders to follow. 

Anderson didn't do much in his true freshman season- he rushed the ball once and never caught a pass- before breaking out in 2023 as a redshirt freshman. That might explain why different sources are so far apart on him; his last season was impressive, but the sample size isn't big. 

Without the benefit of playing Big 12 defenses, will he be able to put up the proportion of big plays needed to put up serious yardage without seeing a ton of targets? We'll get a better answer this year as he dives into SEC play with the Sooners, so expect his draft projections to be much less broad by the time spring comes around.


Oklahoma wide receiver Deion Burks. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Deion Burks | Wide Receiver

ESPN's Matt Miller on Burks: "A burner in the open field"

Prospect ranking: Pro Football Focus (No. 70), Tankathon (No. 87), Pro Football Network (Not Ranked)

The last Oklahoma prospect we'll look at will be another receiver, one who projects to be drafted somewhere around the end of Day 2. Burks, a Purdue transfer, will hope to build on something that resembled a breakout season in 2023; he caught 47 passes for 629 yards and seven scores last year, decent production but not enough to lift him too high in a solid receiver class. 

With a more pass-friendly system in Oklahoma, he'll look to step things up, even as he battles for targets with Anderson and, from the program's spring game, it looks like he's already building a rapport with new starting QB Jackson Arnold.

Burks is stepping into the slot role previously held by Drake Stoops, the team's leading receiver last year. Featuring an expected 40-yard dash time just north of 4.4 seconds and a slight 5-foot-9, 189 pound frame, Burks is a true speedster who is very tough for defensive backs to stick with. 

With the highly-touted Arnold throwing him the ball instead of Hudson Card, who had a tough year in West Lafayette last season, it's possible that Burks could solidify himself as a Day 2 pick and really secure a viable shot in the NFL. 

William Schwartz

William Schwartz has been writing about sports since middle school, when he started his own blog. Since then, he has written in every capacity from school newspapers to sports news outlets. He graduated from the University of Michigan and his goal is to provide readers with entertainment, insight, and strong analysis on all of your favorite teams and players

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