The Oklahoma Sooners made noise on NFL Draft weekend, sending seven players to the league and giving Brent Venables’ program another major recruiting and development talking point heading into the next season. R Mason Thomas went in Round 2 to Kansas City, while Febechi Nwaiwu, Gracen Halton, Kendal Daniels, Robert Spears-Jennings, Jaren Kanak and Deion Burks all heard their names called as part of a strong weekend for OU football.
On this episode of Big Monday, Jason Watkins breaks down what Oklahoma’s seven-player draft class says about the Sooners’ roster, player development, SEC transition and the national perception of the program.
Jason also gets into one of the biggest head-scratchers of the weekend: Jaydn Ott landing with the Kansas City Chiefs, where former Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray is now coaching Andy Reid’s backs. Murray was hired by Kansas City after serving as OU’s running backs coach from 2020-25, making the Ott pairing an interesting one for Sooners fans to watch.
Plus, the SEC once again proved why it runs college football’s NFL pipeline, breaking its own record for the most players selected in a single NFL Draft. Jason discusses what that means for Oklahoma now that the Sooners are fully living in the SEC arms race.
And yes — we have to talk about the Rams. Sean McVay’s reaction to Los Angeles moving up for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson became one of the viral moments of the draft, especially with the Rams still tied to Matthew Stafford. McVay later pushed back on the idea that he was angry about the pick, saying the organization was aligned on the decision.
Finally, Jason has a bone to pick with Uncle Lou — because Big Monday would not be Big Monday without a little college football accountability.
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