NFL rosters are about to get trimmed to 53, and that puts four former Oklahoma players squarely in the danger zone as the deadline hits Sunday.
Some Sooners are already safe. Baker Mayfield, CeeDee Lamb and rookie R Mason Thomas have locked down their spots.
Others have already seen their roster dreams end. But Deion Burks, Trace Ford, Sterling Shepard and Robert Spears-Jennings are still hanging on, waiting to see whether they survive the final wave of cuts.
Burks’ path looks especially shaky in Indianapolis. The seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft landed with the Colts, but his preseason production hasn’t turned heads - he had four catches for 19 yards in his most recent outing.
Indianapolis also added veteran receiver Keenan Allen, which may have closed off Burks’ best route to the roster. He’s competing with two other players for what could be the final receiver spot, and the lack of a special teams role makes his case even tougher.
Ford at least got a public vote of confidence from Giants head coach John Harbaugh after New York’s last preseason game against the Dolphins. Ford was singled out for his play in a performance Harbaugh said featured plenty of standouts.
“I thought a lot of guys stood out. To single out one or two guys, you probably have to single out 10 or 15 guys.
It was a lot of guys flying around, you know. Trace Ford had a great game.
Numerous guys had really good games,” Harbaugh said.
That doesn’t make Ford a lock by any stretch, but it does give him a little more life heading into cutdown day. The most likely outcome still appears to be a return to the practice squad as a second-year player.
Shepard’s situation in Houston has also become more complicated. He signed with the Texans just last week after Jayden Higgins’ season-ending injury created a need at wide receiver, but the room got tighter again after the team traded for Kayshon Boutte. Shepard, now 33 and entering his 10th NFL season, spent the last two years in Tampa Bay catching passes from Baker Mayfield, though his production there was limited.
Spears-Jennings has probably been the most encouraging of the group on the field this preseason, but roster math may work against him. If the Steelers keep four quarterbacks, that could squeeze out another spot elsewhere, and Spears-Jennings looks like the player most at risk. Even if he misses the 53, he’d still be a strong candidate for the practice squad and could get called up during the season.
The Steelers play the Bills at 6 p.m. CT Thursday on NFL Network.
The Giants face the Jets at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday.
The Texans meet the Panthers at 6 p.m. CT Friday.
The Titans play the Bears at 5 p.m. CT Saturday on NFL Network.
In Other News...
Sooners May Have Landed A Backfield Difference Maker After All
Jonathan Hatton Jr.s recruiting path had more twists than Oklahoma usually wants to see with a highly touted backfield target, but the Sooners appear to have ended up right where they wanted. The four-star running back first committed to Oklahoma in October 2023, backed off that pledge in December 2024, then landed at Texas A&M in March 2025 before flipping back to the Sooners in November 2025, just ahead of signing day. For a program looking to keep adding difference-makers on offense, that kind of late win matters.
Brent Venables recently shared a story from Hattons recruiting process and made clear why the staff stayed engaged through all the movement. Venables praised Hattons physical tools and his mentality, and the coaching staff views him as a potential key offensive piece once he gets to Norman. After a recruitment that seemed to drift away and then back again, Oklahoma now gets to see whether the fit can finally stick where it started. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Is Closing In On A Recruiting Win Nobody Expected
A surprise recruiting push is starting to take shape for Oklahoma, and it centers on Jay Schell, a 2028 four-star linebacker from Rabun Gap-Nacoochee High School in Georgia. Schell has drawn offers from Georgia, Clemson and several other major programs, but recruiting experts are now projecting the Sooners as the likely landing spot for one of the classs most closely watched defenders.
For Brent Venables and his staff, that would be a notable early win in a class that currently has just one commitment. The competition is still real, especially with Clemson and Georgia involved, and Schell has not narrowed things down publicly or made a decision, but Oklahoma appears to be gaining real traction as it looks to add more pieces to its 2028 group soon. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Freshman Back Is Giving Sooners A New Reason To Watch This Battle
Jonathan Hatton Jr. is starting to look like more than just another freshman name in Oklahomas preseason running back mix. The early returns from practice have centered on how quickly he is picking up protections and learning to read defensive fronts, two of the less glamorous but most important parts of earning trust from a coaching staff. In a backfield where playing time is open to competition, that kind of progress matters just as much as what a runner does with the ball in his hands.
John Mateer has noticed the work Hatton is putting in, especially the way he handles blocking assignments. For a young back trying to carve out a role, that reliability can separate him from the pack, particularly with some uncertainty hanging over the health of other runners in the group. The battle is still ongoing, but Hatton has already given the Sooners another reason to keep a close eye on this position. [Read more 🡒]