HEADLINES

Shawn Oakman

Shawn Oakman Joins The Spring League

April 8th, 2019 at 9:35am CST by Zachary Links

On Monday,The Spring League announced the signing of former Baylor defensive lineman Shawn Oakman. Oakman, who went undrafted in 2016 due to sexual assault charges, will suit up for the Austin Generals in his bid to make the NFL ranks. 

Oakman’s physical tools once positioned him as one of the top prospects in the country. In 2014, Oakman registered 25.5 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, and four forced fumbles. His 2015 campaign wasn’t as impressive (4.5 sacks, 14.5 TFL, two forced fumbles), but he was truly undone by a troubling incident that took place just weeks before the draft.

Recently, however, Oakman was acquitted of the charges against him. With The Spring League, he’ll have an opportunity to prove he’s on the right track and demonstrate that he still possesses explosive size, speed, and power.

Shawn Oakman Indicted For Sexual Assault

July 20th, 2016 at 1:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Once considered to be a top NFL prospect, Shawn Oakman now has larger matters on his plate than a career in football. The former Baylor star has been indicted on sexual assault charges by a Waco, Texas grand jury, as Rissa Shaw of KCEN writes. Shawn Oakman (vertical)

Oakman was arrested in April for allegedly raping a female Baylor student. The incident happened just a couple of weeks before the NFL Draft, leading all 32 teams to steer clear of the defensive end. Oakman maintains that his contact with the accuser was consensual.

Even before the alleged assault, Oakman’s draft stock wasn’t terribly high. Oakman turned heads in 2014 when he led Baylor with 11 sacks (a school record) and recorded 19.5 tackles for loss in 13 games. However, he only racked up 4.5 sacks in 2015 as a senior and started his year off with a suspension. When the news broke, Oakman went from being a late Day 2/Day 3 prospect to off-the-board for most teams. It also didn’t help that a police report from 2013 emerged in which an ex-girlfriend alleged that she was physically abused during an argument.

The muscle-bound 6-foot-8, 287-pound defensive end was named a third-team All-American in 2015, despite his so-so season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Draft Rumors: Aguayo, Oakman, Jets

April 25th, 2016 at 6:19pm CST by Zachary Links

Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo could wind up as a Day 2 pick thanks to the recent rule changes to extra points and kickoffs, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Aguayo, who opted to go pro a year early, left FSU as the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. There has not been a kicker taken in the first three rounds since Mike Nugent in 2005 (second round choice of the Jets), but Aguayo could change that.

Here are the latest NFL draft rumors:

  • Earlier this month, Baylor’s Shawn Oakman was arrested on sexual assault charges. As it turns out, that might not have been his first ugly incident while at BU. On Monday, Alex Dunlap of SiriusXM (on Twitter) unearthed an police report from 2013 in which his ex-girlfriend alleges that she was physically abused during an argument regarding comments on her Instagram page. The news raises questions about the apparent inaction Baylor football program and further sinks the stock of Oakman. At this time, it would be surprising to see Oakman drafted at all.
  • Despite suffering a torn ACL, former West Virginia safety Karl Joseph is still expected to land in the first round, a source tells Mike Florio of PFT. Joseph, who was pegged as a sure-fire first rounder prior to the injury, would likely have to sit out the first six games of the 2015 season. In Pro Football Rumors’ first 2016 mock draft (prior to the trades at No. 1 and No. 2), our Rob DiRe had Joseph coming off the board at No. 21.
  • Army punter Alex Tardieu is drawing interest from the Giants, Jets, and Falcons, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • Michigan Tech defensive lineman Tanner Agen is drawing interest from the Chiefs, Packers, and 49ers, Wilson tweets.
  • The Broncos, Browns, Raiders, Jets, and Panthers are evaluating Texas State offensive tackle Adrian Bellard as a Day 3 draft target, Wilson tweets.

Extra Points: Clark, Oakman, Dolphins, Randle

April 23rd, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Texas Tech offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark had 10 visits and 12 private workouts for teams in recent weeks, and has two more workouts this week with teams that pick in the back half of the first round, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. While Rapoport sounds bullish on Clark’s draft stock, I think the former Red Raider is more likely to come off the board late in the second round than late in the first.

Here are a few more Saturday odds and ends from across the NFL:

Shawn Oakman Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges

April 13th, 2016 at 4:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Baylor’s Shawn Oakman was arrested on sexual assault charges stemming from an incident on April 3rd, as Tommy Witherspoon of The Waco Tribune writes. The woman went to the hospital after the alleged early Sunday morning assault and was examined by a sexual assault nurse examiner, according to court records. Oakman, meanwhile, maintains that their contact was consensual. Shawn Oakman (vertical)

Oakman turned heads in 2014 when he led Baylor with 11 sacks (a school record) and recorded 19.5 tackles for loss in 13 games. However, he only racked up 4.5 sacks in 2015 as a senior and started his year off with a suspension, so his stock was already trending downward for April’s draft. This week’s arrest could knock him down to the last rounds of the draft if the allegations are accurate.

The muscle-bound 6-foot-8, 287-pound defensive end named a third-team All-America defensive end in 2015, despite his so-so season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Paul, 49ers, Texans, Playoffs

April 9th, 2016 at 4:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here’s the latest from around the league.

  • Niles Paul relayed some information from a recent medical visit, noting Dr. Robert Anderson told the Washington tight end his ankle injury that caused him to miss the entire 2015 season was “the worst he’d ever seen,” via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Although Paul said he’s only scheduled to see Andrews one more time, Jay Gruden said the backup tight end could be held out until training camp to be safe. The statuses of Paul and Derek Carrier, the latter of whom could miss regular-season time due to a knee injury suffered late last season, likely led Washington to sign Vernon Davis. Paul signed a three-year, $6MM deal to stay in Washington last March but has recovered. There is $666K worth of dead money left on the deal, making the sixth-year veteran easy to move on from in the event he can’t sufficiently recover.
  • The 49ers plan to work out Myles Jack this weekend, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The UCLA linebacker visited the Jaguars, Falcons and Ravens this week. San Francisco plans to observe a Mackensie Alexander workout today as well.
  • Former Colts and Patriots receiver Austin Collie told the CFL team he played for last season, the British Columbia Lions, he intends to retire, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Jay Drew reports. The 30-year-old receiver joined the Western Canada-stationed franchise last year and caught 43 passes for 439 yards. He finished with 1,908 yards and 16 touchdowns in five NFL seasons from 2009-13. The concussion-plagued receiver plans to work with a Provo, Utah-based company that focuses on concussion research and rehabilitation.
  • Authorities searched defensive end prospect Shawn Oakman‘s home in connection with a sexual assault investigation, USA Today’s A.J. Perez reports. A projected middle-round pick after setting Baylor’s single-season sack record as a junior in 2014, Oakman is cooperating with the investigation. This allegation could further damage Oakman’s stock after his senior season began with a suspension and didn’t end with the kind of numbers — at least from a sack standpoint, with Oakman only collecting 4.5 in 2015 — that his prior campaign produced.
  • The NFL hasn’t contacted the NFLPA regarding a potential expansion of the playoffs, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. “Until there’s a written proposal from the league that’s when we know they’re at least serious about it and then we can start bargaining over that working-condition change,” NFLPA boss Eric Winston told Florio. “That’s a working-condition change that has to be bargained. It’s not something that the owners can unilaterally implement.” The NFL expanded its playoff brackets twice in a 12-year span, moving from four to five teams per conference in 1978 and five to six in 1990, but has thus far held on off moving to the anticipated seven-team fields.
  • Rice wideout Dennis Parks, Houston offensive tackle Damien Parris and defensive lineman Melvin Holland, and Midwestern State defensive back Marqui Christian attended the Texans‘ local prospect showcase today (Twitter links via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle).

Extra Points: Dolphins, Murray, Oakman, Raiola

December 16th, 2014 at 10:27pm CST by Zachary Links

James Walker of ESPN.com previewed the Dolphins‘ 2015 offensive free agents, a group that includes tight end Charles Clay, guard Daryn Colledge, center Samson Satele, and running backs Knowshon Moreno and Daniel Thomas. It’s an interesting group, Walker writes, because most of these players were contributors or expected contributors until injuries shortened the season. Clay appeared to be in store for a big payday this offseason, but that no longer appears to be the case. More from around the NFL..

  • Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News wonders how DeMarco Murray‘s left hand injury might factor into his contract situation. The Cowboys star running back is set to hit the open market this offseason.
  • Baylor defensive lineman Shawn Oakman is strongly considering entering the 2015 draft, multiple sources tell Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports. Oakman led Baylor with ten sacks and recorded 18.5 tackles for loss in 12 games this season. Oakman might be playing his final game in a Baylor uniform on January 1st against Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl.
  • Lions center Dominic Raiola is not ready for retirement just yet, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The pending free agent says tha the still has more in the tank, even after 14 seasons. A second-round pick out of Nebraska in 2001, Raiola has played the last two seasons on prove-it deals, and the Lions will have to decide whether to bring him back for a 15th year this off-season.
  • A league source told Terry McCormick of 247Sports.com that veteran left tackle Michael Roos, who has spent his entire career with the Titans since being drafted in 2005, is open to the possibility of returning to the club and manning the right tackle spot. The 32-year-old saw some time on the right side in his first two seasons.