Oklahoma Players On National Stage At 2012 NFL Draft

The 2012 NFL draft will kick off Thursday evening in New York and a handful of former football stars that spent their college days in Oklahoma are expected to be selected in the early rounds.

The Indianapolis Colts have the first pick this year followed by the Washington Redskins. The Colts have announced that they will select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck while Washington traded with St. Louis to secure the second pick and head coach Mike Shanahan says he's 99.9% sure his team will select Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner Robert Griffin III.

The rest of the order is as follows, barring any trades that is: Minnesota will pick third followed by Cleveland and Tampa Bay. The second five choices go to the Rams, Jacksonville, Miami, Carolina and Buffalo.

After the first couple of picks, what actually occurs as far as who is picked and where they go is anyone's guess especially with the new rookie wage scale that replaces high paying salaries for top picks with a compensation plan. Meaning, there could be more trades than ever before

At the top of the order is former Oklahoma State standout wide receiver Justin Blackmon. The Biletnikoff Award winner is projected to go as early as the sixth spot.

Blackmon's quarterback, Brandon Weeden is also projected to be selected either late in the first round or early in the second.

On the other hand, the Sooners are not expected to have a player selected in the first round of this year's draft-- in fact, it's been two years since OU players went in the opening round when Sam Bradford was the overall No. 1 pick followed by Gerald McCoy at No. 3.

Former OU wide receiver Ryan Broyles along with defensive end Ronnell Lewis and offensive tackle Donald Stephenson are all projected as second round picks.

The first round of the draft begins Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. Rounds 2-3 will start Friday at 6 p.m. followed by Founds 4-7 beginning Saturday at 11 a.m.

OU Sooners Eligible For Draft:
Frank Alexander-DE
Ryan Broyles-WR
Jamell Fleming-DB
Stephen Good- OL
James Hanna-TE
Jarvis Jones-OL
Ronnell Lewis-DE
Travis Lewis-LB
Dejuan Miller-WR
Sam Proctor-DB
Trent Ratterree-TE
Donald Stephenson-OL
Jimmy Stevens-K
James Winchester-DS

Oklahoma State Cowboys Eligible For Draft
Levy Adcock-OT
Justin Blackmon-WR
Jamie Blatnick-DE
Josh Cooper-WR
Grant Garner-C
Richetti Jones-DE
Markelle Martin-FS
Johnny Thomas-FS
Brandon Weeden-WB