NFL Roster Moves Settle Down, 22 Oklahoma State Players NFL Employed

STILLWATER – The “turk” made his rounds last week and left several former Oklahoma State players off of final NFL rosters. Players like cornerback Rodarius Williams, wide receiver James Washington, and kicker Tanner Brown were released or waived and not picked back up. However, 21 former Oklahoma State players will begin the NFL season next week on active rosters or practice squads. 

Earlier this week, former OSU receiver and NFL veteran Chris Lacy was let go by the Raiders. He was waived from injured reserve with a financial settlement. That brought the OSU number down from 22- to-21.

You could go higher as several Cowboys that finished elsewhere have made rosters. Tanner McCalister finished at Ohio State and he is on the Browns practice squad. Jarrick Bernard-Converse finished at LSU and he is on injured-reserve for the New York Jets. Jelani Woods is back with the Colts on the active roster after finishing college at Virginia. I still count Tyreek Hill on the OSU list even though he was at West Alabama.

NFL/Indianapolis Colts

Sills as a Colt.

Some of the highlights on players making it include Josh Sills, who was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles after making the team as a rookie in 2022. The versatile offensive lineman was quickly scooped up by the Indianapolis Colts and put on their active roster. That is huge and shows that the Colts were really high on Sills. That represents a great opportunity for Sills and he is still close to home in the upper midwest. 

In Dallas, Devin Harper had a monster preseason and he made the team and is prominent on the linebacker depth chart for the Cowboys. Harper, last season, fluctuated going back and forth from the active roster to the practice squad. That doesn’t appear to be the case for the upcoming season. 

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Devin Harper had a strong preseason for Dallas.

Both of the Oklahoma State players that were drafted this past April made the active rosters as defensive lineman Tyler Lacy (4th round) to Jacksonville and Jason Taylor II (7th round to the L.A. Rams) made their teams. Lacy is getting credit for being a versatile player that can see action inside and out on the defensive line. Taylor II fills a needed role with safety depth on the Rams.

The only rookie free agents from this past draft cycle that made it was deep snapper Matt Henbrough, who is on injured reserve with the Arizona Cardinals. 

There are three NFL teams with a pair of former Oklahoma State players on their active roster. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers have both running back Jaylen Warren and heading into his sixth season quarterback Mason Rudolph.

The Baltimore Ravens have both running back Justice Hill and receiver Tylan Wallace. Hill had a very productive preseason and Wallace had two touchdown catches in August. 

The MIami Dolphins have both veterans in speedster Tyreek Hill and defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.

Here is a list of all the former Oklahoma State players that appear on NFL teams currently: