NFL Draft Prospect: Curtis Lofton, ILB, Oklahoma

by Imran Tahir, 1/15/08
Curtis Lofton will follow his teammate, Junior WR Malcolm Kelly, out of Norman and into the NFL. The highly-recruited home-grown product exploded in 2007 with a whopping 157 tackles, earning consensus All-American Honors as a result. Lofton set an all-time school record with 9 double-digit tackle games this past season, including a remarkable 18 tackle performance against Missouri during his team’s first meeting with the Tigers in ‘07. Though only 6’0,” Lofton has a well-built frame at 238 lbs., and possesses outstanding sideline-to-sideline speed. What stood out to me most this past season was the ease with which Lofton shed blockers while moving up the field. Lofton’s tackling technique is fundamentally sound, and if fully motivated, the Sooner LB looks like he could be a future Pro Bowler as an ILB. The prediction here is that Lofton will be chosen in Round 2 of this year’s Draft.