All Sooners

Oklahoma RB Eric Gray Picked by NY Giants

The Sooners' explosive running back went Saturday in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

John E. Hoover

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All Eric Gray wanted was a chance.

He got one at Tennessee. He got a big one at Oklahoma. And now he’s made the most of both of those opportunities with the NFL.

Gray was selected Saturday with the 37th pick of the fifth round of the NFL Draft, No. 172 overall.

Gray's selection gives OU four players taken so far in this year's draft. It's the 16th year in a row for that, dating back to the 2008 draft, which leads all of college football.

After a successful pre-draft process, a good combine and a strong pro day, Gray has his next chance.

The 5-foot-9, 207-pound Gray came to Oklahoma in 2021 as a transfer from Tennessee. He was a major contributor in Knoxville with 1,311 rushing yards, 369 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns.

But after a slow start to his OU tenure (412 yards rushing, 229 receiving, four TDs) in 2021, Gray exploded in 2022.

He rushed for 1,366 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, and also catching a career-high 33 passes for 229 yards.

Gray’s total of 1,366 is the ninth-best single-season total in school history. He finished with 1,595 all-purpose yards, which ranks as the 20th-best season in OU annals — right between Billy Vessels (1,599) and Steve Owens (1,558).

The Giants will like his experience. Per PFF, Gray played 1,632 total snaps in his four collegiate seasons.

According to Pro Football Focus, Gray posted a phenomenal 90.6 grade in 2022 after grading out at 76.4 in 2021 and 77.8 as a sophomore at Tennessee in 2020.

He also posted an 83.2 grade as a receiver in 2022 after grading out at 79.2 in 2021 and 81.3 in 2020, and led all Big 12 Conference runners with 44 carries of at least 10 yards.

Gray said at his pro day in late March that he would continue to incorporate a variety of styles in his own game.

“I watched a lot of guys, going all the way back to Gale Sayers,” Gray said. “I’ve watched him play. I’ve watched Walter Payton and how tough he runs. Emmitt Smith and the way he can bounce off tackles. Barry Sanders and his speed and elusiveness.

“Coming out of Tennessee, I got a lot of Alvin Kamara comparisons. Looking at his game, you look at how he can manipulate a defense coming out of the backfield. So I try to steal something from everyone’s game and put it into mine.”

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John E. Hoover
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.

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