Michael Oher, 2008 NFL Draft Prospect
 | 6' 6" 325 lbs. Offensive Tackle Ole Miss Junior |
Meet one of the best offensive line prospects in college football and soon to be one of the best in the NFL. As a freshman Michael Jerome Oher was a fantastic guard, he earned First Team Freshman All-American honors from Rivals.com and The Sporting News and Third Team honors from CollegeFootballNews.com. He was also named First Team Freshman All-SEC by the SEC Coaches and The Sporting News. Oher stared the last 10 games at right guard. It’s a pretty impressive feat to even start in the SEC as a true freshman. Oher became the first freshman starter on the offensive line at Ole Miss since 1997 when Terrance Metcalf started.
Last year as a sophomore (2006) he was converted to left tackle and didn’t miss a beat. He earned second team All-SEC honors and has accumulated 22 consecutive starts over the last two seasons, and last year he started every game at left tackle. Oher plays with a mean and the 6’ 6” 325 pound former basketball star has very quick feet. His powerful blocking helped running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis become only the third 1,000-yard runner in Ole Miss History and Green-Ellis recorded four 100-yard rushing games.
Coming out of high school Oher was rated as one of the top offensive linemen in the country. He earned first team USA Today All-American honors and played in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. He was also selected by ESPN as the nation's top offensive tackle and rated as the fifth best offensive lineman in the country by Scout.com as well as first team All-American honors. As a high school senior, he was credited with 130 pancake blocks, allowing no sacks, and grading out at 90 percent. He didn't allow a sack in his two years and had 200 total pancake blocks. I mentioned he was a star basketball player, he also lettered twice in basketball and twice in track. For a 300 pound basketball player he averaged 22 points and 10 rebound and earned All-State honors. In track, he was state runner-up in discus.
This year Michael Oher was on almost everyone’s second or third team All-American list. Before he decided not to enter the 2008 NFL Draft he was included as a possible first round draft pick on many 2008 NFL Mock Drafts. Oher is only a junior and decided to come back for his senior year, wise move because with a good senior year he could be a top ten selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. Oher is a special talent not because of his proto type size, or even his mean streak, it’s his technique that has all the NFL Scouts giddy. He plays with excellent knee bend, uses proper leverage and slides his feet very well.
- Lindy's 1st Team All-American
- Phil Steele 1st Team All-SEC and 3rd Team All-American
- Athlon Sport's 2nd Team All-SEC
- The Sporting News 1st Team All-SEC
- Mel Kiper's 3rd ranked junior offensive tackle