Tramel's ScissorTales: NFL Draft list shows decline of Big 12 football talent
The NFL Draft arrives Thursday, and the draft is many things.
A dream come true for many young football players. A true fortifier for National Football League rosters. An annual marketing success for the NFL, which is very close to dominating every single month of the American sports calendar.
The draft also is this. A stark reminder of the Big 12’s depressed status in college football.
The Big 12 once stood with the Southeastern Conference in churning out players for the NFL. That’s no longer the case and hasn’t been for more than a decade.
In the 2010 draft, the Big 12 provided the top four picks (OU’s Sam Bradford, Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, OU’s Gerald McCoy and OU’s Trent Williams), the sixth pick (OSU’s Russel Okung), the 14th pick (Texas’ Earl Thomas), the 19th pick (Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon), the 21st pick (OU’s Jermaine Greshman) and the 24th pick (OSU’s Dez Bryant).
That’s five of the top six picks and nine of the top 24 picks.
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Fast forward to 2022. The Big 12 will be happy to have one player picked in the first round.
ESPN this week released its list of the top 300 prospects for the NFL – not a mock draft, just a ranking of the top 300 players – and Iowa State tailback Breece Hall is the only player in the top 32. Hall is ranked 24th. Baylor safety Jalen Pitre is next, at 39. And Hall is no cinch to be taken in the first round.
The ESPN list is quite instructive, because it shows what kind of veteran talent was in the Big 12 last season. Not every draft-eligible, draft-worthy player turns pro. But most do.
Here are a few notable things about the ESPN list, concerning the Big 12.
► OU has seven players listed in ESPN’s top 200, plus two more in the 200-300 range:
Edge rusher Nik Bonitto is 43rd, nose guard Perrion Winfrey is 76th, defensive end Isaiah Thomas is 107th, tailback Kennedy Brooks is 169th, safety Delarrin Turner-Yell is 172nd, linebacker Brian Asamoah is 188th, fullback Jeremiah Hall is 195th, guard Marquis Hayes is 220nd and wide receiver Mike Woods is 294th.
The NFL Draft goes only 262 players deep, counting compensatory selections, so there’s no guarantee players on the back end of this list will get picked.
Still, that’s a healthy number of Sooners in the top 300. Nine. Georgia has 14 in the top 300. Alabama has 12. Ohio State has seven. OU doesn’t have the upper-level players like usual, but nine’s a lot of players.
And the Sooners finished third in the Big 12. That’s fascinating.
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► OSU had five players in the top 300: linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez at 119th, safety Tre Sterling 240th, wide receiver Tay Martin 247th, tailback Jaylen Warren 261st and safety Kolby Harvell-Peel 271st.
That’s five in the top 300 but just one in the top 239. And the Cowboys finished 12-2 and ranked seventh in The Associated Press poll.
One of those five players, Sterling, missed most of the season with an injury. The Cowboys had a remarkable season considering their talent level.
► Baylor had six players on the list: Pitre at 39th, safety J.T. Woods at 121st, tailback Abram Smith at 125th, linebacker Terrel Brandon at 196th, wide receiver Tyquan Thornton at 267th and cornerback Kalon Barnes at 295th.
And the Bears went 12-2, won the Big 12 Championship Game and finished No. 5 in the AP poll.
It’s not like Baylor and OSU beat OU because of some young phenom talent. The Bears and Cowboys each had a veteran quarterback in Gerry Bohanon and Spencer Sanders, respectively, but the Sooners came up with Caleb Williams.
► Iowa State had six players on the ESPN top 300: Hall, tight end Charlie Kolar 101st, defensive tackle Eyioma Uwazurike 124th, linebacker Mike Rose 182nd, tight end Chase Allen 205th and quarterback Brock Purdy 241st.
Nine Cyclones total have been taken in the NFL Draft since 2003. So it would be quite remarkable if six are taken this season.
And quite discouraging for Iowa State. The Cyclones were a preseason top-10 team but staggered to a 7-6 season. ISU still finished fourth in the Big 12, at 5-4, but a terribly disappointing season for Matt Campbell’s team, since this much talent rarely is assembled in Ames.
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► Texas had one player on the list: safety Josh Thompson, 256th.
Perhaps you didn’t process that information. The Longhorns had one player on the list of ESPN's top 300.
Cincinnati had seven in the top 150.
Texas has not been recruiting and/or developing talent, and that’s a story that somehow is undertold, even though we talk about it all the time. Changing coaches, forming The Longhorn Network, running off Big 12 flagship schools like Nebraska and Texas A&M. Nothing has worked for Texas.
The ‘Horns were 5-7 overall last season, 3-6 in the Big 12, in a three-way tie for seventh among the league’s 10 teams. But the talent suggests Texas was a tie-for-seventh type team.
► Kansas State had one player on the list – linebacker Kyron Johnson at 211th. The Wildcats were 8-5 overall, tied for fifth in the Big 12 at 4-5.
K-State is the anti-Texas. Embraces a culture, maximizes its potential, wins with smarts and grit.
► West Virginia had one player on the list – tailback Leddie Brown, 231st. The Mountaineers scratched out a 6-7, 4-5 season, but WVU has got to upgrade its talent.
► TCU had one player on the list – offensive tackle Obinna Eze, 230th. The Horned Frogs went 5-7, 3-6.
The Horned Frogs have played 10 years of Big 12 football. They’ve had 23 players drafted in the last 10 drafts. So TCU’s success hasn’t come with a surplus of NFL-type players.
► Texas Tech had two players on the list – wide receiver Erik Ezukanma at 245th and cornerback DaMarcus Fields at 298th.
The Red Raiders have had 12 players drafted since Mike Leach’s departure after the 2009 season, but the Red Raiders had only 13 players picked in Leach’s 10 seasons. So the talent level hasn’t been drastically different, even though the results have.
► Kansas does not have a player on the list. No surprise. KU has had seven players drafted since 2010.
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Thunder report card: Aaron Wiggins
Aaron Wiggins was a surprise contributor to the Thunder in 2021-22. The second-round draft pick, taken 55th overall, was fourth in the rookie pecking order on the squad but carved out a spot on the roster, earned a contract and made 35 starts while playing 50 games.
Our series of Thunder report cards continues with the 6-foot-6 wing from Maryland:
Readiness: A. Wiggins was billed as a more ready-for-the-NBA prospect, since he was 22½ when drafted. And Wiggins delivered. He was a Summer League standout, then Wiggins quickly made an early-season impact. After getting a chance to play in November, Wiggins flourished in December – nine games, seven starts, 59 percent shooting and 9.7 points a game.
3-point shooting: C. Wiggins made six of his first 16 3-point shots. But from mid-December on, Wiggins made just 29.5 percent of his deep shots. Fifty-three of Wiggins’ 138 3-point shots came from the corners, and he made a mediocre 34 percent from those corners. Even good shooters often struggle from deep as rookies, but Wiggins will need to improve his shooting to stay in the league.
Defensive versatility: B. Wiggins’ age and more fully-developed physicality helped him adjust to the NBA rigors. He showed some defensive chops. Able to at least hold up on the perimeter and inside. It was enough to make the Thunder wonder if he could turn into another Kenrich Williams.
Ball protection: C. Of the 18 Thunders who played in more than 10 games, Wiggins ranked 13th in turnover rate (turnovers resulted in 12.6 percent of the possessions he ended). Among other wings, that’s a worse rate than Luguentz Dort (9.8), who drove the lane far more than Wiggins, or even his likeness Williams (11.9).
Offensive efficiency: A. Wiggins was seventh on the team in free-throw rate (which gauges frequency of getting fouled, in relation to shots taken), and his true-shooting percentage of .556 was sixth on the squad. Most rookies aren’t that efficient. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for example, was a really good Clipper rookie three years ago and had a true-shooting percentage of .554. Wiggins’ .573 shooting percentage on 2-pointers was the best among any Thunder who played more than 25 games.
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NCAA passes hollow rule changes
OU is going back to a hurry-up offense, with Jeff Lebby promising an up-tempo attack. And OSU often has jumped into hurry-up mode, with success.
But if the Cowboys or Sooners are successful with the faster pace, expect some defenses to counter with what defenses have always used to slow such offenses: fake injuries.
And the rules will not be helpful to stop such subversion.
The oversight panel for NCAA football rules approved measures this week that will take effect immediately. They will have minimal impact on the game, and one, in particular, is downright silly.
Schools and conferences now can report situations in which a team may have been awarded an injury timeout suspiciously.
You’ve seen it play out on college football gridirons. An offense has momentum, is moving quickly and moving efficiently. Suddenly, a defensive player, usually a lineman, standing tall, gets a message from the sideline and goes down like he’s been shot in an Audie Murphy Western.
The medical people dutifully come out and check on their fallen warrior, probably asking what movies he’s seen lately, then they help him off the field, a substitute trots on, and a play later, here comes the injured defender back on the field, like he’s just been touched by Oral Roberts, miraculously ready to charge up San Juan Hill.
It’s bogus and it’s unethical, but it happens all the time, and the rules don’t prevent it.
Not even the new rule. The new rule says teams can present evidence of such tactics, and the conference or school involved in the complaint would be able to issue discipline if the national coordinator of officiating deems it necessary.
Not a good system. No rule in sports is worth beans if it means dealing with something on Monday that happened on Saturday. Of course, if the punishment was severe enough, maybe it would have preventive value.
Suspend the player for a game. Suspend the head coach for a game. That might scare some teams straight.
But the punishment involved does not spell out the consequences. A conference can issue discipline? That doesn’t mean anything.
A far better solution – and a solution that falls on the side of safety, which is what everyone is talking about – is that if play is stopped for an injured player, that player is prohibited from returning to the field until a change of possession.
Shouldn’t we lengthen the time used to check out injured players anyway? Is 20 seconds enough time to determine the severity of injury?
If a coach uses a fake injury to slow the game, fine. But it costs him a player for the rest of the series. Sure, coaches will find ways around it, they always do. But let’s at least put the unscrupulous coaches on the run.
Another rule change concerns targeting. Teams now will be able to appeal the first-half suspension of a player who was penalized for targeting in the second half of the previous game.
This isn’t likely to affect too many players. Replay review already gives flagged players a potential reprieve. For the new rule to be used, a player in the second half of a game would have to be penalized for targeting, the call would have to upheld via replay review, then an appeals panel would have to overturn the replay review decision.
Could happen. Probably will happen. But not likely.
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The List: Best Big 12 basketball players in the transfer portal
The transfer portal is all the rave in college athletics, and Big 12 basketball is not immune. Here are the 10 best Big 12 players who have entered the portal, according to ESPN:
1. Nijel Pack, Kansas State: The 6-foot point guard averaged 17.4 points per game and made all-Big 12.
2. Tyrese Hunter, Iowa State: The freshman whiz point guard averaged 11.0 points a game for the Cyclones and was a defensive star.
3. Terrence Shannon Jr., Texas Tech: Averaged 10.4 points a game for the Red Raiders, but the 6-foot-6 wing suffered through an injury-marred season and was in coach Mark Adams’ doghouse to some degree.
4. Courtney Ramey, Texas: The 6-foot-3 guard was a four-year starter for the Longhorns who averaged 10.0 points a game and shot 36.5 percent from 3-point range.
5. Jalen Bridges, West Virginia: The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Mountaineers but now is headed for Baylor.
6. Sean McNeill, West Virginia: The 6-foot-3 sharpshooter averaged 12.1 points but shot a disappointing 36.8 percent from 3-point range.
7. Elijah Harkless, OU: The 6-foot-3 wing was OU’s best player, tough on defense and clutch on offense. He averaged 10.0 points a game and started 40 games over two years. Now Harkless is headed for Nevada-Las Vegas.
8. Jaylon Tyson, Texas: The 6-foot-7 forward played in just eight games for the Longhorns, despite being a heralded recruit. He’s headed to Texas Tech, where he had originally committed while in high school.
9. Tre Mitchell, Texas: The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 8.7 points a game for the Longhorns, after averaging 18.8 points and 7.2 rebounds the previous year for Massachusetts.
10. Dain Dainja, Baylor: The 6-foot-9 power forward played in just three games for the Bears and has transferred to Illinois.
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Mailbag: BYU & the Big 12
Brigham Young’s soon-entry into the Big 12 remains a hot topic, both around here and back in Utah.
Marv: “I have always been eager to get you B12ers to Provo, not just to show what the Cougars could do on the field but also to see the setting. You will have to see it in the fall when the colors are turning and the weather is mild. It’s very impressive, and the campus as well. I think flat landers from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, etc. will be blown away by all of it. At the risk of being robustly redundant, we Y fans are thrilled to be in the Big 12, to see and be seen among such illustrious company. It’s fabulous, and we are grateful, perhaps in stark contrast to some other Big 12 members. Can't wait. Finally, I think Boise (State) is a must to the Big 12. I know they need upgrades to facilities, which are underway in apparent preparation, but look at their record; they are worthy giant killers. While I don't relish the competition, it will improve the Big 12 which makes everyone better (also financially) in the end. Their viewership is better than Cincy historically. Your take? Memphis seems like the most obvious joiner. Are you hearing rumblings of this among the prairie dogs?”
Tramel: First off, I can’t speak for Floridians. I don’t know where they go to get a mountain fix. The Smokies in Tennessee and North Carolina? But I can tell you Oklahomans and Texans get to Colorado enough to know what a gorgeous mountain setting is like. Not that they won’t enjoy Provo. They absolutely will.
As for further Big 12 expansion, like I’ve written, I think Boise State is a no-brainer. But I don’t see a worthy 14th school. Memphis probably is first in line but is far back of the pack. The Big 12 is more likely to sit back and gauge the landscape for a few years before thinking about further expansion.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NFL Draft 2022: Prospect list shows Big 12 football talent decline
