2011 NFL Draft: Should WR Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State Declare Early?

Coming into the 2010 season, there weren’t many preseason prognosticators around college football who were predicting great success for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The common conception was that the loss of quarterback Zac Robinson, wide receiver Dez Bryant, offensive tackle Russell Okung and cornerback Perrish Cox—all NFL Draft picks—would be just too much for the team to recover from.

Many picked Oklahoma State to finish fourth or fifth in the Big 12 South behind the usual suspects Oklahoma and Texas, as well as an improved-looking Texas A&M squad.

So far, the Cowboys have outshined their dim expectations for the season to the tune of an 8-1 record, a No. 10 ranking in the current BCS standings and a stronghold on first place in the Big 12 South Division.

Much of their success can be attributed to the emergence of budding superstar wide receiver Justin Blackmon. The redshirt sophomore has gone from relative unknown before the season began to one of the biggest names in college football this season.

The 6'1", 205-lb. receiver currently leads the nation in every major receiving category, and his numbers for the year—75 catches, 1,285 yards and 15 touchdowns—aren’t just impressive; they’re eye-poppingly sensational.

Blackmon, who had just 20 catches and two touchdowns last season, has emerged to make Oklahoma State fans forget about troubled star Dez Bryant, who was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of this past draft after sitting out the better part of the 2009 season due to suspension.

The former SuperPrep All-American has been the fuel that makes this Oklahoma State offense, which ranks third in the nation with 550 yards per game, run so efficiently.

His remarkable season could have some Big 12 fans reminiscing about former Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree, who also put on a show as redshirt sophomore before skipping town early for the riches of the NFL.

Could Blackmon do the same?

There’s a good chance that Blackmon could never have a season as great as the one he’s put together this year, so should he capitalize on all this success and forgo his remaining two years of eligibility for a shot at the NFL?

Oklahoma State fans will obviously answer that with an emphatic no, but with such a weak senior receiver class that lacks any true standout names, it definitely has to be something for Blackmon to consider at the end of the year.

If there’s no NFL lockout next season, it’s expected that a flood of junior receivers like Georgia’s A.J. Green, Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, Alabama’s Julio Jones, Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles, Pittsburgh’s Jonathan Baldwin and a host of others could skip school early for the NFL.

That will be a lot of competition for Blackmon, but his résumé is strong enough to stand up to pretty much any other receiving prospect.

While a lot of the elite junior receivers like Green and Jones are bigger targets at 6'4", Blackmon is a smaller, different type of receiver, who compares more favorably to his former teammate, Dez Bryant.

While his timed speed probably won’t break stopwatches at the combine, Blackmon has the game speed and playmaking ability to change offenses, and you can bet that scouts have taken notice of that.

There are some that will overemphasize his recent one-game suspension for a drunken driving charge as a major character concern, but if you listen to interviews with Blackmon, he sounds like a genuine and humble kid who does and says all the right things.

Remember, this is the NFL we’re talking about—they’ve had players kill people while driving drunk and still get a second chance.

Right now it looks like Justin Blackmon has the makings of a Top 20 pick in next year’s draft, but it is a long process, and we’ll have to see how everything plays out with the NFL lockout, which could throw everybody’s plans off.

The 2011 NFL Draft is still a long way away. Right now all Blackmon has to do is focus on making plays, performing at a high level and carrying his team to the Big 12 title game.  

If he does that, things will eventually fall into place.