Lane Johnson will be first of four Sooners likely to go among top 150 in NFL Draft

Fifty-three Oklahoma Sooners have been selected in the National Football League draft over the past decade, including 10 in the opening round. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford was the No, 1 player overall to be taken in the 2010 draft, in which the names of four Sooners were called in the opening round, including three of the first four players selected overall.

The Sooners are likely to have one player taken in the first-round Thursday night when the 2013 NFL draft gets under way at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Former OU offensive lineman Lane Johnson is projected by most draft experts to fall among the top five players taken, which means he could become the property of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles or the Detroit Lions, the five teams that own the first five picks in this year's draft.

The best guess is that Johnson would go to the Eagles, Lions or even the sixth team selecting in the opening round, the Minnesota Vikings. By 8 p.m. CT Thursday night, we should know the answer.

Over the past decade, Oklahoma has averaged five draft selections every year, with a high of 10 in 2005, headed up by first-round selections Jammal Brown, an offensive tackle, and wide-receiver Mark Clayton. The most Sooners to be selected in a single draft year is 13 in 1988, Barry Switzer's final season as head coach at Oklahoma. Eleven Sooners were selected in 1979.

The Sooners are expected to have at least four players selected in the 2013 draft and a good chance for several more. Besides Johnson, chances are extremely high that quarterback Landry Jones, wide-receiver Kenny Stills, free safety Tony Jefferson will go somewhere in the first five rounds. The NFL draft will run three days and encompasses seven rounds of 32 selections each.

It all gets underway Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT, with live TV coverage on ESPN.