Oklahoma football: 5 most underrated players in Oklahoma Sooners history

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo was a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for the Sooners.

Linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is entering his third season as a linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers. The former Oklahoma standout was a fifth-round pick by Los Angeles in the 2018 NFL Draft. While he may be just another guy on Gus Bradley’s loaded Chargers defense, he was one of the biggest reasons Oklahoma made the College Football Playoff back in 2017.

Okoronkwo was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year during his senior season in Norman. He had 75 tackles, 17 went for a loss of yardage and eight were sacks of the quarterback. This built off a strong junior season where Okoronkwo had 71 tackles, 12 that went for a loss of yardage and nine of then went for sacks.

In four years with the Sooners, Okoronkwo had 162 total tackles, 33 went for a loss of yardage and 20 went for sacks. He earned All-American status in a few publications during his senior season playing for the Sooners. Another cool part of his college career was his versatility, as he played defensive end initially, switched to linebacker and then back to defensive end in 2017.

For much of Oklahoma’s recent history, the Sooners have been an incredibly offensive-dominated team. It was all about scoring more points than the other team, no matter how many they gave up. However, players like Okoronkwo gave Oklahoma some much-needed bite on the other side of the ball. His versatility, production and overall tenacity should always be commended in Norman.