Ranking the 25 greatest players in Oklahoma football history

Oklahoma’s football program has a rich tradition of success that dates back more than a century.

Narrowing down the top 25 greatest players is no easy task for any program, but especially not one like Oklahoma. As the decades have flown by, the Sooners have produced more unanimous All-Americans (35) and more consensus All-Americans (81) than any other program in the modern era.

Thousands of elite players have found their way to Norman over the last 100+ years. Hundreds have contributed to OU’s 7 national championship teams. Dozens are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Seven have won the Hesiman Trophy.

There are so many players who are worthy of mention, but only 25 can make the cut. Here’s a breakdown of the 25 greatest players in Oklahoma football history:

No. 25: Tommie Harris, DL (2001-03)

More than 20 years later, Oklahoma is still looking for a defensive player like Harris. He was an elite defensive lineman from Day 1, earning All-Big 12 honors as a true freshman. Harris had 3 All-Big 12 campaigns and 2 All-America during his time in Norman. He also became the program’s third Lombardi Award winner in 2003. He was a crucial part of Oklahoma’s 2003 squad that played for a national championship. 

No. 24: Kyler Murray, QB (2017-18)

Kyler Murray only had 1 season in Norman, but it sure was special. He followed up Baker Mayfield’s legendary career, which begs the question: is it really so bad to follow in the footsteps of one of the greats? Murray didn’t skip a beat, as he led Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff and won the Heisman Trophy — just as Mayfield had done the year before. Murray did it with more on-the-field flair, rushing for 1,001 yards. His performance in the second half of the 2018 Red River Showdown is lost to history, but OU fans will remember the heroic comeback he nearly completed. In addition to his rushing total, Murray also threw for 4,361 yards — more than any other OU quarterback ever except for Mayfield, Sam Bradford and Landry Jones. And of course, like Mayfield, Murray went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. 

No. 23: Trent Williams, OL (2006-09)

This list is perhaps a bit light on offensive line play, but Trent Williams certainly makes the cut. Williams was a 2-time All-Big 12 offensive lineman and was a consensus All-American in 2009. He was a crucial member, starting 13 games at right tackle, of Oklahoma’s 2008 team that reached the national championship game. He was then selected No. 4 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft and has made 11 NFL Pro Bowl rosters as of this writing. 

No. 22: Ryan Broyles, WR (2008-11)

Ryan Broyles perhaps isn’t the most talented Oklahoma receiver of all-time, but he is the most decorated. Broyles is the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 4,586 in his career. The next-closest Sooner is nearly 1,000 yards behind him. Broyles was one of the lone bright spots of an otherwise nationally-irrelevant Oklahoma program from 2009-11. 

No. 21: Kurt Burris, OL (1951-54)

Even on a list with very few offensive linemen, Burris makes the cut. Burris was a consensus All-American center while playing for Bud Wilkinson in the early 1950s. He’s not a name that’s known to many today, but he should be — Burris helped build what Oklahoma into what it would become. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment is finishing second in the 1954 Heisman Trophy voting, becoming the first offensive lineman to place in the top 3. 

No. 20: Rickey Dixon, DB (1984-87)

Rickey Dixon is one of the most underrated Sooners of all-time, but he cracks this list with room to spare. Dixon was OU’s first-ever Thorpe Award winner and is second all-time in program history with 17 interceptions. His 9 interceptions in 1987 are still the most ever by an OU player in a single campaign. He was a key part of Barry Switzer’s 1985 national championship-winning defense. Dixon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

No. 19: Rod Shoate, LB (1972-74)

Rod Shoate is one of the best linebackers in the history of Oklahoma football — and that’s saying something. Shoate was a 2-time All-American who earned unanimous honors in 1974 as he led Oklahoma to its 4th national championship. Shoate left Norman as the program’s all-time leading tackler (he’s now 6th in program history) with 426. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. 

No. 18: Jason White, QB (2001-04)

Although Jason White has since been overshadowed by some efficiency monsters in Norman over the past 20 years or so, White was the first great quarterback of the Bob Stoops era. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2003, the Maxwell Award in 2004 and the Davey O’Brien Award in both of those seasons. He was also a unanimous All-American and a 2-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Award winner. Injuries prevented White from having a real shot at a pro career, but he was an elite college quarterback. 

No. 17: Keith Jackson, TE (1984-87)

Keith Jackson is widely-regarded as one of the best tight ends the college game has ever seen. An inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, Jackson was a 2-time unanimous All-American in Norman and was a key part of OU’s 1985 national championship team. He helped clinch that national championship with a 71-yard touchdown catch in the Orange Bowl against Penn State. Despite playing in Barry Switzer’s wishbone offense, Jackson left college after recording 1,470 yards and 14 touchdowns over a 4-year career. 

No. 16: Tony Casillas, DL (1982-85)

Tony Casillas is one of the best interior lineman in program history. Casillas won the Lombardi Award and UPI Lineman of the Year honors in 1985 while helping the Sooners to another national championship under Barry Switzer. A Tulsa native, Casillas is 1 of 3 Oklahoma players ever to win the Lombardi Award (Lee Roy Selmon and Tommie Harris are the others). Casillas was so dominant at the collegiate level that he went on to be the No. 2 pick in the 1986 NFL Draft. 

No. 15: CeeDee Lamb, WR (2017-19)

CeeDee Lamb was much-hyped as a freshman at Oklahoma, and he more than lived up to expectations. He played for 3 legendary quarterbacks while in Norman: Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts. His best season came in 2019 with Hurts when he went for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns. Lamb turned in one of the best performances in the history of the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry that season: 10 catches for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 34-27 win over the Longhorns. He never won a Biletnikoff, but Lamb left OU as the program’s third all-time leading receiver despite sharing targets with high-volume stars such as Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews. Lamb, now several years into his NFL career, is on track to be one of the best pros Oklahoma has ever produced. 

No. 14: Jerry Tubbs, OL/LB (1954-56)

Jerry Tubbs was one of Oklahoma’s first great football players. He helped lead Bud Wilkinson’s Sooners to the 1955 and 1956 national championships while playing center and linebacker. He also played fullback earlier in his career, but eventually became known as one of the best collegiate offensive linemen of his era. Tubbs won the UPI Lineman of the Year Award in 1956, becoming the third Oklahoma player to do so. One of his signature games came on defense, however, when he recorded 3 interceptions in a 20-0 win over Texas in 1955. As a senior the next season, Tubbs was a unanimous All-American at center while also earning recognition as the nation’s best linebacker. That effort earned him a fourth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting. He went on to be a top-10 pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. 

No. 13: Greg Pruitt, RB (1970-72)

Oklahoma has produced so many elite running backs that Pruitt sometimes gets forgotten, but he shouldn’t be. Pruitt was close to college football immortality twice, finishing in the top-3 of Heisman Trophy voting in both 1971 and 1972. He’s 1 of just 4 Sooners ever to be a multi-time unanimous All-American, joining Billy Sims, Keith Jackson and Brian Bosworth with that distinction. Pruitt arrived in Norman at the perfect time, as he was able to continue the legacy of great Oklahoma running backs as the bridge between Steve Owens and Sims. 

No. 12: Teddy Lehman, LB (2000-03)

Teddy Lehman is one of the better defensive players Oklahoma has had in the last quarter century. A 2-time All-American, Lehman was a key member of OU’s historically-dominant 2003 team that went 12-0 in the regular season before faltering in the postseason. Lehman won the Butkus and Bednarik Awards and he remains the only Sooner ever to take home both of those honors in a career. 

No. 11: Steve Owens, RB (1967-69)

After Billy Vessels won Oklahoma’s first Heisman Trophy, it took 17 years for the Sooners to find their second. Running back Steve Owens broke the drought when he rushed for over 1,500 yards in 1969. Owens’ 23 rushing touchdowns that season are still the high-water mark in Oklahoma history (although Billy Sims tied him a decade later in 1979). Owens also still holds the all-time rushing touchdowns record for a career at Oklahoma with 57. 

No. 10: Billy Vessels, RB (1950-52)

Billy Vessels was Oklahoma’s first-ever Heisman Trophy winner, taking home the honor in 1952. Playing for the legendary Bud Wilkinson, Vessels has the distinguished honor of being the first-ever Heisman winner to rush for over 1,000 yards. He went for 1,072 yards and 18 touchdowns that season. Earlier in his career, Vessels was also a key member of Oklahoma’s 1950 national championship team. 

No. 9: Joe Washington, RB (1972-75)

Joe “Silver Shoes” Washington was the second Sooner ever to clear 4,000 rushing yards in a career. He left the program with the school’s all-time rushing record, although it would be broken by Billy Sims just a few years later. Washington was a crucial member of Oklahoma’s back-to-back national championships run in 1974 and 1975. In addition to his work at running back, Washington is one of the most prolific punt returners in program history. He’s fifth all-time in punt return yards (829) and tied for third in punt return touchdowns (3). Washington is a College Football Hall-of-Famer as well. 

No. 8: Roy Williams, DB (1998-2001)

There are very few Oklahoma players with a moment as memorable as Roy Williams’ “Superman” sack of Texas quarterback Chris Simms in the 2001 Red River Shootout. Williams crashed through the Texas offensive line, causing Simms to fling the ball right into the chest of Sooners linebacker Teddy Leham — securing a 14-3 win over UT. It’s a signature play that’s so iconic it almost overshadows the rest of Williams’ contributions in Norman. He was a unanimous All-American who also won the Nagurski Trophy and the Thorpe Award in 2001 — beating out Miami’s Ed Reed for both of those honors. 

No. 7: Sam Bradford, QB (2007-09)

Sam Bradford won Oklahoma’s fifth Heisman Trophy and led Oklahoma through a very prosperous 2-year period from 2007-08. The Sooners went 23-5 over those 2 seasons, a stretch that included a trip to the BCS National Championship Game at the end of the 2008 campaign. Rather than turning pro after a 50-touchdown season in 2008, Bradford chose to return to school for his third year as a starter. He was limited to just 3 games in 2009 due to injury, but still went No. 1 overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. Bradford departed college with the fourth-best single-season passer efficiency rating of all-time (180.8 in 2008).

No. 6: Tommy McDonald, RB (1954-56)

Tommy McDonald was one of the first great Oklahoma football players. The winner of the 1956 Maxwell Award, McDonald starred at running back for legendary Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson during OU’s famous 47-game win streak — which still stands today as the all-time record for a FBS program. He was a key member of OU’s 1955 and 1956 national championship teams. McDonald never played in a losing game during his entire collegiate career. 

No. 5: Brian Bosworth, LB (1984-86)

Brian Bosworth’s off-the-field antics are a large part of his legacy nationally, but Oklahoma fans of a certain age will remember how dominant he was during his time in Norman. Bosworth won 2 Butkus Awards, 2 Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year Awards, 2 unanimous All-America honors and was a key part of OU’s 1985 national championship team. Despite his myriad controversies, Bosworth is among the most decorated players in Oklahoma history. 

No. 4: Billy Sims, RB (1975-79)

Billy Sims is an easy inclusion into the top 5. A former Heisman Trophy winner, Sims can still be heard screaming “Boomer!” at the Heisman ceremony in New York each December. As a player, Sims was 2-time unanimous All-American and won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year honors twice as well. He was a freshman on the Sooners’ 1975 national championship team and went on to score 48 touchdowns for Oklahoma. As a pro, Sims was the No. 1 overall pick by the Detroit Lions in 1980 and later had his number retired by the franchise. 

No. 3: Adrian Peterson, RB (2004-06)

Adrian Peterson burst onto the scene in Norman in 2004 and was immediately recognized as one of the nation’s best running backs. Peterson was so good that he immediately displaced incumbent starter Kejuan Jones on a team that had gone 48-6 in the 4 years prior to his arrival. He finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in 2004 as a true freshman (teammate Jason White was third) and nearly became the first-ever freshman to win college football’s top individual honor. A collarbone injury ruined Peterson’s final year in Norman, but he still departed as the program’s second all-time leading rusher behind only Billy Sims. Peterson doesn’t have Sims’ hardware or Samaje Perine’s all-time rushing record, but AD’s sheer combination of physicality, talent and production make him arguably the best running back in program history. 

No. 2: Baker Mayfield, QB (2015-17)

Baker Mayfield isn’t the best or most talented player in Oklahoma history, but a case could be made that he is the most important — at least of the post-Switzer era. When Mayfield stepped on campus in Norman as a walk-on after the 2013 season, Oklahoma was coming off of one of its best bowl wins of all-time with its Sugar Bowl upset victory over Alabama. Trevor Knight was the big man on campus, but that didn’t deter Mayfield from walking on to the team. After Knight and the Sooners struggled through an 8-5 campaign in 2014, the program was arguably at its lowest point of the Bob Stoops era.

Mayfield then won the starting job in 2015, and what followed was nothing short of miraculous. Mayfield finished in the top-5 of Heisman Trophy voting in each of the next 3 years, winning the award once. He led Oklahoma to 2 College Football Playoff appearances and 3 Big 12 titles. The Sooners won more conference crowns (3) during Mayfield’s time as the starter than they had home losses (2). Mayfield went a combined 5-1 against rivals Texas and Oklahoma State. He took the sport by storm with his record-breaking play on the field as well as his press conference demeanor and his trash-talking nature. His time at OU gave the program a much-needed shot-in-the-arm — something it continues to benefit from years after his departure. 

No. 1: Lee Roy Selmon, DL (1972-75)

Before the turn of the century, Lee Roy Selmon was the undisputed greatest player in Oklahoma football history. He retains the top spot on this list even after all the all-time great players who have come through Norman over the last 2+ decades. Selmon, whose brothers Lucious and Dewey (who just missed out on appearing on this list) also starred for the Sooners, won 2 national championships under legendary coach Barry Switzer. Selmon’s individual accolades include the Outland Trophy, the Lombardi Trophy and unanimous All-America honors for his efforts in 1975. Selmon was so dominant in college that, legend has it, he was never knocked off his feet in 4 years with the Sooners. He went on to become the first-ever draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976 and was later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Spenser Davis

Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.