NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah projects Oklahoma's Ronnie Perkins in first round

Perkins has been forecast by a few mock drafts to land in the first round of the NFL Draft

John E. Hoover | Feb 16, 2021

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah projects Oklahoma's Ronnie Perkins in first round /

Most NFL mock drafts don’t have an Oklahoma player going in the first round.

But NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, who compiles one of the most high-profile and respected mock drafts in a flooded market, disagrees.

Jeremiah’s latest mock draft has Sooners defensive end Ronnie Perkins going No. 23 overall to the New York Jets.

“Perkins is a very productive edge rusher,” Jeremiah writes, “who plays with physicality and tremendous effort.”

Perkins, a 6-foot-3, 247-pound defensive end from St. Louis, was a essentially a three-year starter for the Sooners.

He started seven games and played in all 14 as he earned Freshman All-American accolades in 2018, then was named second team All-Big 12 in 2019 as he started 13 games. Last season he sat the first five games serving an NCAA suspension, then earned second-team All-Big 12 again.

In three seasons at OU, Perkins had 98 total tackles, including 32 tackles for loss and 16.5 quarterback sacks.

Other mock drafts have Perkins going in the first round. Pro Football Network has projected Perkins in the first round (to Cleveland or Baltimore), and Fansided’s With the First Pick also shows Perkins as a first-rounder (to Cleveland or Tennessee). NJ.com has Perkins going No. 19 overall to Philadelphia.

Published Feb 16, 2021

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.