Lane Johnson is likely OU's best shot for the first round
Published: 1/10/2013 7:11 AM
Last Modified: 1/10/2013 7:11 AM
Landry Jones might be a first round draft pick. Tony Jefferson won't be. Neither will Kenny Stills.
But Lane Johnson, the least glamorous of Oklahoma's NFL hopefuls? He's sitting pretty, at least according to Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com.
Brugler released his mock first round Wednesday, with Johnson going to Chicago at No. 20 overall.
Not bad for a junior college quarterback, for a guy who was a tight end and a defensive end for the Sooners before they figured out a place for him.
"He's been a great young man," OU coach Bob Stoops said of Johnson during the run-up to the Cotton Bowl. "He's very responsible. He's worked very hard. It took us a little while to find the best spot for him but it's really, I believe, paid off for him."
Johnson was a CBSSports.com third-team All-American his senior season. He capped it with a strong effort in the Cotton Bowl, when he kept Texas A&M All-American defensive end Damontre Moore off Landry Jones. Moore made one big play, but it came in the run game, when he beat guard Bronson Irwin and dropped Brennan Clay for a four-yard loss.
Scouts in attendance surely took notice.
"The guy is close to 305 or 310, and he's still running a 4.7 40," Jones marveled back in December. "He's extremely athletic. And he's made huge leaps on his technique playing that position this year alone. He has set himself up to make a lot of money in the future."
You had the feeling it was coming in mid-December, when Johnson noticed this assessment of him by Brett Davis of USA Today: "Johnson is a big offensive tackle who lacks the athleticism to start in the NFL. He is probably a mid-to-late round pick."
"I'm about to make this idiot eat his words," Johnson tweeted.
He'll continue trying to do that at the Jan. 26 Senior Bowl, the NFL combine-disguised-as-allstar game.
Back in Norman, meanwhile, the Sooners have a new battle for the left tackle position. Will it be Thompson? Or does Daryl Williams move from the right to left side?
Another question: Can either protect Blake Bell as securely as Johnson did Jones?
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
