Russell Okung Scouting Report

It only took a few games into Russell Okung's career at Oklahoma State before he stepped into a starting role. Four years later and he has not given it up. In 2006 Okung came off the bench early in the year, but ended up starting the last eight games of the season at right tackle. By 2007, Okung was dominating. The Cowboys ranked eighth in the nation in rushing that season and only gave up five sacks against Big 12 opponents. Okung ended that season shutting down Greg Middleton--who led the nation in sacks in 2007--in the Insight Bowl. That success at the end of 2007 quickly turned Okung into one of the nation's top offensive lineman, and he has been on the national radar ever since. Once again in 2008 the OSU offensive line rarely gave up sacks and paved the way for a decent running game. The success in 2009 has continued. The running game is a little worse this year due to an injury to Kendall Hunter, but that is not the line's fault. Okung should be one of the first offensive tackles taken in the draft and that makes him a candidate to be the first overall selection. Obviously it will depend on the team that ends up with the first pick, but if Okung can beat out in-state rival Trent Williams and other tackles like Ciron Black out of LSU, he very well could be the first overall selection. 2/15 Update: Right now Okung is the best offensive tackle in this class. Williams and Iowa's Bryan Bulaga are closing in, but the honor of being the first offensive tackle chosen is still his to lose. While it looks unlikely that Okung will be the first overall pick to St. Louis (since defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy are such hot commodities), but he could still move up to the top with more good workouts, and perhaps some bad workouts by others. 3/24 Update: Okung solidified his spot atop the list of offensive tackles at the NFL Combine by showing a surprising amount of quickness and athleticism to go along with his overbearing strength. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the draft. Offensive tackles have more positional value than defensive tackles and that could move Okung over Suh and McCoy on some draft boards. Do not be surprised if a team like Detroit, who could use some help on both lines, opt to go for Okung instead of Suh or McCoy.