Oklahoma Lands 11 Players on Senior Bowl Watch List

The Sooners are among 13 SEC teams who placed double-digit players on the premier showcase for college seniors transitioning to the NFL.

John E. Hoover | Aug 21, 2024

The SEC logo is pictured on the field at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium before a celebration for OU joining the Southeastern Conference in Norman, Okla., Monday, July 1, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Oklahoma Sooners

Another sign that Oklahoma might be SEC-ready this season: the Sooners have 11 players who have been selected for the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.

Safety Billy Bowman, Linebacker Danny Stutsman, center Branson Hickman, wide receivers Andrel Anthony, Deion Burks and Jalil Farooq, defensive ends Ethan Downs and Trace Ford, defensive tackle Damonic Williams and cornerbacks Kani Walker and Woodi Washington were all named to the watch list that will keep an eye on seniors this season.

The Senior Bowl is the premier showcase for college players preparing for the NFL Draft and transitioning to the NFL. The selection staff is comprised of 13 NFL scouts, and players who are selected to play in the game on Feb. 1 in Mobile, AL, will be coached all week by NFL coaching staffs.

Many schools have landed double-digit players on the Senior Bowl watch list, but no conference has as many as the SEC, with Ole Miss leading the nation with 21 players highlighted, and Georgia and Texas A&M each landing 20.

OU’s 11 preseason picks rank 13th in the SEC, but Wednesday’s Senior Bowl press release reminds players who haven’t been named yet that this list “is just a starting point.”

Published Aug 21, 2024|Modified Aug 21, 2024

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.