Jenkins May Be Top NFL Draft Pick from Big 12, Needs a Good Showing at OSU April 1

STILLWATER – Pokes Report just found out that the Pro Day on the Oklahoma State campus for the Cowboys looking to get into the NFL and with the hopes of hearing their name called in the NFL Draft from April 29-May 1 will be on Thursday, April 1. Yes, that’s April Fool’s Day. There is no fooling that will be a monster day for the likes of offensive tackle Teven Jenkins, wide receiver Tylan Wallace, corner Rodarius Williams, running back Chuba Hubbard, and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga. All of those players and more are working out either in training facilities like the one in Frisco, Texas were Tylan Wallace and Rodarius Williams are. Some players are working out in Stillwater at the Cowboys facility.

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Rob Glass oversees Pro Day at Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State assistant athletic director for athletic performance Rob Glass oversees Pro Day and this year the virtual NFL Combine Day that Pro Day will be. Glass is still finding out how it will be conducted and how the video and results will be distributed in the face of COVID-19. I’m fairly certain that the media will not be there and the attendance of NFL coaches, scouts, and administration will be limited or non existent.  

The NFL and the schools organizing the sessions will try to introduce a level of “consistency in testing and drills” and also ensure that video material is accessible for all teams in order to create as level a playing field as is possible under these unique circumstances. That implies that it will be closed to all but those putting it on and those working out.

That hasn’t stopped the parade of mock drafts from starting. Early on it looked good for Oklahoma State as some of the earliest mock drafts were universal with the Pokes Teven Jenkins at the top of the draft from the Big 12. Most had him going to Chicago with the No. 20 selection or to Pittsburgh with the No. 24 pick. Jenkins has slid down some of those and my guess was his absence from even attending the practices and interviews at the Senior Bowl could have hurt him. 

The mock drafts look good for University of Tulsa linebacker and All-American Zaven Collins. Collins is a tremendous player that played his high school football at Hominy being coached by former Oklahoma State Cowboy safety Scott Harmon, now the head coach at Ponca City. Collins is seen as a first-round pick and as high as No. 18 going to Miami.

Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Tylan Wallace at the Senior Bowl.

For Oklahoma State the next prospect in succession behind Jenkins is wide receiver Tylan Wallace. Wallace showed up well in two days of work at the Senior Bowl before sitting out the third day with a nagging injury. Wallace reportedly met with all 32 teams in Mobile. His agent is Kelli Masters, who is also the agent for Dallas Cowboys tight end and former Oklahoma State player Blake Jarwin.

Pokes Report has collected some of the latest mock drafts and we started with the recognized longtime leader in the business in Mel Kiper of ESPN. You can find Kiper’s draft material and that of Todd McShay at https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft/news.

Here is a look at Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft from ESPN.com.

Here is a look at Todd McShay’s latest mock draft from ESPN.com and this is a little more complex as McShay has inserted trades he thinks could be made. The problem is he has very few Big 12 and local interests in his first round.

We move over to the NFL Network and NFL.com now and their top NFL Draft expert are Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. You can find their material at  https://www.nfl.com/news/series/mock-draft-article-only-news. Both have NFL front office and player personnel experience. Neither are real high on the Big 12. We start with Jeremiah.

Both Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks were at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Here is Brooks first round mock draft.

Chad Reuter of NFL.com goes deeper while still early in the process as he puts out a three-round mock draft.

Now, for some even more grim commentary on the Big 12 for this NFL Draft here are the player ratings by Scouts Inc., which does this for ESPN and Todd McShay is a part of this. 

The ratings are:

Here are the ratings and rankings for the first 100 players from Scouts Inc. that are from the Big 12 or region and the one additional player ranked from Oklahoma State.

Bottom line this could be another slow year for the Big 12 in the NFL Draft and another year the conference takes a beating because of it.