Oklahoma Players Who Raised Their Stock the Most at NFL Combine

Over the last week, nearly a dozen players from Oklahoma’s 2025 team attempted to impress professional scouts ahead of April’s NFL Draft.

Ten Sooners — wide receiver Deion Burks, tight end Jaren Kanak, offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu, defensive ends Marvin Jones Jr. and R Mason Thomas, defensive tackles Gracen Halton and Damonic Williams, linebackers Kendal Daniels and Owen Heinecke and safety Robert Spears-Jennings — participated in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

The annual event gives outgoing college players a chance to display their strengths to NFL scouts, coaches and executives before the draft, which will be held in Pittsburgh from April 23-25 this year.

Here are former OU players who improved their draft stock at the combine:

WR Deion Burks

Burks, a speedster on Oklahoma’s receiving corps over the last two seasons, had a stellar performance at the combine.

The wideout from Inkster, MI, logged an athleticism score of 93, which ranked second among wide receivers at the NFL Combine.

Burks recorded 26 reps on the bench press, tied for the most among wideouts with Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson. He also led wide receivers with a 42.50” vertical jump.

In the 40-yard dash, Burks registered a time of 4.3 seconds, trailing only former teammate Brenen Thompson and LSU’s Zavion Thomas.

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Burks also placed fifth in the broad jump at 10’11”.

In his second and final season at Oklahoma, Burks caught 57 passes for 620 yards and four touchdowns. He arrived at OU in 2024 after starting his college career at Purdue, but an injury forced him to miss eight games during his first season in Norman.

Burks is ranked as the No. 94 prospect on Pro Football Focus’s (PFF) NFL Draft Big Board.

TE Jaren Kanak

With only one year of offensive tape, Kanak had much to prove in Indianapolis.

The converted linebacker showed his speed to NFL scouts, running the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds. That time ranked fourth among tight ends at the combine and was just 0.01 seconds behind Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers and SMU’s RJ Maryland, who both logged times of 4.51.

Kanak also logged a respectable, 36” vertical jump, and he leapt 9’11” in the broad jump.

After three seasons on OU’s defense, Kanak was one of John Mateer’s most reliable targets in 2025. He finished the season with 533 yards on 44 catches.

Per PFF, Kanak is the No. 272 prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft class.

DL Gracen Halton

After a superb final college football season, Halton put on a show at the combine.

Halton led all defensive tackles with a 36.50” vertical jump. That mark was more than two inches ahead of the second-place finisher, Texas A&M’s Albert Regis, who leapt up to 34”.

The defensive tackle also ranked third in his position group in the broad jump (9’6”) and tied for third in the 40-yard dash (4.82).

Halton registered 33 total tackles and seven tackles for loss as a senior in 2025, both of which were career highs. He also compiled 3.5 sacks, two pass breakups, a defensive touchdown and a forced fumble.

Halton ranks as the No. 70 prospect in PFF’s Big Board.