Former Sooners star just pulled the curtain back for his new NFL team, showing what kind of rare athlete they are really getting
The Oklahoma Sooners are in a position that you don’t see often in college football, where they just keep continuing to develop elite defenders.
The Oklahoma Sooners have developed elite athletes into amazing players. Not every athlete has the same path, and a alot of those who have recently gone through OU have done things a bit differently.
Former Sooners defensive tackle Gracen Halton just got drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He could end up being one of the biggest steals of the entire draft. However, playing defensive tackle has not always been his primary focus. Halton specialized in several positions in high school.
“I played running back”, Halton said to reporters. “If you watch my senior highlights, you will see some running back film, some receiver film, and a little bit of everything. My height and weight? Coming out of my senior year, I was about 6’2, 250. I was lowering that shoulder.”
Halton had an elite 2025 at the DT position for OU, and was a massive reason they had the best defensive line in football. Thinking about Halton playing running back and running over a high school kid has to be frightening. Now, with the 49ers, he should find himself as one of their best interior pass rushers as a rookie.
The San Francisco 49ers saved their draft class by drafting Halton
We all heard the discussions about consensus big boards and all of that NFL Draft jargon. That mainly started because of the 49ers drafting Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling to kick off the second round. This felt like a massive reach at the time, and so many other picks in their draft class were similar. Their class is starting to look like a real bummer.
However, Halton could be a great football player; his get-off on the line is something you don’t often see from players of his size and age. Halton could be an elite pass rusher and has the tools to be great in the run game. However, there is still a lot of development that needs ot be done. Halton could end up saving this draft class.
