Here is what an All Big 12 NFL roster might look like. After looking at the talent pool, I decided to go with a base 4-3 Cover 3 defensive scheme and a base 3 wide spread offense with a zone/power run scheme.

The Criteria

The roster must be under the current salary cap of $167M

We use the league average on rookie deals, which is 5 from 2014, 6 from 2015, and 9 from 2016.

We will include one rookie from each round of the draft (were applicable)

We will have a well rounded roster that includes role players and special teams

The Offense

Quarterbacks

QBs Andy Dalton Patrick Mahomes Brandon Weeden CIN KC TEN $15.7M $2.987M $470K TCU Texas Tech Oklahoma St

Taking the reins at QB, for now, is the Red Rifle, Andy Dalton. He earns the top spot over the oft-injured Sam Bradford. Backing him up is our 1st-round pick of this roster, from Texas Tech, Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes looks to take charge of the QB position after sitting for a year or two to learn the offense. Backing them up will be former Oklahoma St Cowboy, veteran Brandon Weeden.

3 roster spots filled, 50 left

$19.157M Spent | $147.843M Left

Running Backs

RBs DeMarcco Murray Joe Mixon Charles Sims TEN CIN TB $6.95M $990K $950K Oklahoma Oklahoma WVU Chris Carson SEA $481K Oklahoma St

The running backs have a couple of former Sooners at the top. We start with veteran DeMarco Murray, who will handle the bulk of the carries as the work horse back. Next to him as the change of pace, and third down back, is our next rookie, 2nd-round pick Joe Mixon. Behind them will be our first Mountaineer, Charles Sims. He will provide the most his contributions on special teams. We round out the running backs with our 7th-round pick of this roster, Chris Carson. Carson shows a lot of potential for a 7th-round pick, and could prove to be the 1-2 combo of the future for this roster with Mixon. There were 3 big exclusions form this group; 2 are former greats that are just too far past their time, Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles. The 3rd is the biggest exclusion of this whole roster, Darren Sproles. His $4M cap hit was just a hair too much for me to squeeze in and be under the cap, while meeting the rest of the criteria.

4 roster spots filled, 46 left

$9.371M Spent | $138.472M Left

Wide Receivers

WRs Jordy Nelson Michael Crabtree Marquise Goodwin GB OAK SF $11.55M $7M $3.25M Kansas St Texas Tech Texas Kendall Wright Tyler Lockett Shelton Gibson CHI SEA PHI $1.844M $892K $529K Baylor Kansas St WVU Dede Westbrook JAX $517K Oklahoma

Here is where the offense really opens up. We start the wide receivers with our first Wildcat of the roster, Jordy Nelson. Opposite him will be former Red Raider, Michael Crabtree. And finishing out the starting WR group will be speedster, Marquise Goodwin. You combine Nelson’s route running, Goodwin’s speed, and Crabtree’s ability to catch the ball over the middle, and you’ve got a dangerous offense. Providing support for this group will be our first Bear of the roster, veteran Kendall Wright, and our second speedster of the group, Tyler Lockett. Lockett and Goodwin lined up together in 4 wide, running 4 verticals could be dangerous. We round out the crew with 2 more rookies, 4th-round pick out of Oklahoma Dede Westbrook and 5th-round pick out of West Virginia Shelton Gibson. The biggest exclusion from this group was “double Cowboy” Dez Bryant, but his $17M cap hit was way to much to fit into this roster. We also left off a couple of 2016 draft picks, Josh Doctson and Sterling Shepard, in favor of the rookies, so that we could utilize some 2016 talent on defense.

7 roster spots filled, 39 left

$25.582M Spent | $112.89M Left

Tight Ends

TEs Jermaine Gresham Geoff Swaim Blake Bell ARI DAL MIN $3.75M $628K $615K Oklahoma Texas Oklahoma

Tight end had the smallest pool of players to chose from (in fact these are 3 of the 4 total in the league). The only starting caliber TE on the list is former 1st-round pick out of Oklahoma, Jermaine Gresham. Backing him up will be current Cowboys back up tight end, Geoff Swain, whose teammate, James Hanna, was the one eligible TE left off this roster. We round out the group with former Oklahoma Sooner quarterback, Blake Bell. He will also be used as the primary H-back in 2-back sets. Bell, now converted to TE, is currently sitting 3rd on the Vikings depth chart. A lot of money saved here, but not a lot of talent or depth.

3 roster spots filled, 36 left

$4.993M Spent | $107.897M Left

Offensive Line

OL T Trent Williams T Marcus Cannon G Lane Taylor WAS NE GB $15.138M $3.369M $4.575M Oklahoma TCU Oklahoma St G Mark Glowinski C Cody Whitehair T Le'Raven Clark SEA CHI IND $701K $960K $746K WVU Kansas St Texas Tech T Halapoulivaati Vaitai G Spencer Drango PHI CLE $596K $592K TCU Baylor

The offensive line has a great mix of young talent and stout veteran presence. We start that veteran presence with one of the best left tackles in the league, Trent Williams. Playing opposite him will be veteran Marcus Cannon. The veteran book ends will be backed up by a pair of 2016 draft picks; former Red Raider, Le’Raven Clark, and former Horned Frog, and candidate for a spot on the best name roster, Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Starting at guard will be current Packer, Lane Taylor. At the other guard spot, we have our weakest link of the bunch, former Mountaineer Mark Glowinski. And staring at center, we have 2nd-round from 2016, Cody Whitehair, who showed a lot of promise in his rookie year. Backing up the interior is another 2016 draft pick, from Baylor, Spencer Drango. The biggest exclusions from the O-line group are current Eagles RT, Lane Johnson, and current Raiders LG, Kelechi Osemele. Johnson’s almost $10M cap hit, and inability to lay off the PEDs, made him an easy cut from the roster, and Osemele’s $13.5M cap hit made him impossible to squeeze into the roster.

8 roster spots filled, 28 left

$26.677M Spent | $81.22M Left

Offensive Spending Breakdown

The offense accounted for for 51.5% of the overall team budget. Outside of the top 2 earners, Dalton and Williams, the starting WR group took up the biggest chunk of the offensive budget, accounting for almost 30% of the $85.78M. To balance it all out, we went offensive heavy in the draft, with 5 of the 7 2017 draft picks being on the offensive side of the ball.

The Defense

Defensive Line

DL Gerald McCoy Malcom Brown Brian Orakpo TB NE TEN $13.75M $2.076M $9.45M Oklahoma Texas Texas Alex Okafor Emmanuel Ogbah Jordan Willis NO CLE CIN $2M $1.502M $691K Texas Oklahoma St Kansas St Vincent Taylor David King MIA TEN $503K $690K Oklahoma St Oklahoma

After a small showing on offense, the Longhorns come out with 3 on the starting defensive line. On the outside, we have the Titan’s Brian Orakpo and Saint’s Alex Okafor. On the interior, we have the Patriots’ 2015 1st-round pick, Malcom Brown. The other starter on the defensive line is the biggest standout in the front seven, and top earner for the defense, Gerald McCoy. Providing relief will be a group of young talent, starting with 2016 2nd-round pick from Oklahoma St, Emmanuel Ogbah. Next we have our last 2 rookies of the roster, 3rd-round pick out of Kansas St, Jordan Willis, and 6th-round pick out of Oklahoma St, Vincent Taylor. The group is rounded out with current Titans DE from Oklahoma, David King. A few pass rushers didn’t make the cut, primarily for budgetary reasons; Jerry Hughes, Bruce Irvin, and Lamarr Houston.

8 roster spots filled, 20 left

$30.662M Spent | $50.558M Left

Linebackers

LBs Derrick Johnson A.J.

Klien Jordan Hicks KC NO PHI $3.5M $2.8M $796K Texas Iowa St Texas Corey Nelson Sam Acho Jeremiah George DEN CHI IND $702K $695K $615K Oklahoma Texas Iowa St Najee Goode PHI $875K WVU

The linebacking corps is sneaky good, and provides a lot of value. We start with one of the best, veteran, interior linebackers in the league, Derrick Johnson. On the outside, we have our first Cyclone of the roster, A.J Klien. Filling out the last outside backer slot is former 2015 draft pick out of Texas, Jordan Hicks. Backing up the interior, we have a couple of 2014 draft picks, our last Cyclone of the roster, Jeremiah George, and our hybrid coverage backer out of Oklahoma, Corey Nelson. Providing relief on the outside are a pair of veterans, Sam Acho and Najee Goode. The pool of players at linebacker was slim to begin with, so the only other backer that I feel had a chance to make the roster was current Giants will backer, Keenan Robinson, but Hicks’ talent and value made him an easy chose over Robinson.

7 roster spots filled, 13 left

$9.983M Spent | $40.575M Left

Cornerbacks

CBs Chris Harris Jr Xavien Howard Terence Newman DEN MIA MIN $9.867M $1.393M $3.584M Kansas Baylor Kansas St Daryl Worley Quandre Diggs Aaron Colvin CAR DET JAX $776K $644K $1.91M WVU Texas Oklahoma

We start the DBs off with one of the best corners in the league, and our only Jayhawk of the roster, Chris Harris Jr. Unfortunately his partner of the “No Fly Zone” in Denver, Aqib Talib, was just too expensive, at a $12M cap hit, to have on the roster. Instead, we tried to find value in the Dolphins 2016 2nd-round pick out of Baylor, Xavien Howard. Playing that 3rd corner spot will be veteran Wildcat, Terence Newman. The corners are wrapped up with a trio of young players, some of whome will make their biggest contributions on special teams; 2016 3rd-round pick out of West Virginia, Daryl Worley, 2015 6th-round pick out of Texas, Quandre Diggs, and 2014 4th-round pick out of Oklahoma, Aaron Colvin. The biggest exclusion from the CB pool was Adam Pacman Jones, but his overvalued $8M cap hit made him an easy cut.

6 roster spots filled, 7 left

$18.174M Spent | $22.401M Left

Safeties

Ss Earl Thomas Karl Joseph Colin Jones SEA OAK CAR $10.4M $2.701M $1.225M Texas WVU TCU Derrick Kindred CLE $665K TCU

We start the safety group out with the best FS in the league, former Longhorn Earl Thomas. Starting next to him at the SS will be the Raiders 2016 1st-round pick out of West Virginia, Karl Joseph. Backing up Thomas will be a combination of veteran CB Terence Newman, and former Horned Frog, Colins Jones. Backing up Joseph will be another 2016 draft choice, 4th-round pick out of TCU, Derrick Kindred. This safety group could prove to be one of the best in the country.

4 roster spots filled, 3 left

$14.991M Spent | $7.41M Left

Defensive Spending Breakdown

The defense accounted for only 44.3% of the overall team budget. We took advantage of a lot of rookie deals, and found a lot of value, especially at the linebacker position. The defensive line easily accounted for the biggest chunk, taking up 41.5% of the defensive budget. Hopefully that results in a powerful run stopping defense and a mean pass rush.

Specialists and Head Coach

ST and HC K Justin Tucker P Tress Way LS James Winchester BAL WAS KC $4.3M $1.5M $1.125M Texas Oklahoma Oklahoma Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Texas

This specialist group might be the best out of all the Power 5 schools (it’s also the most expensive). We start with the current best kicker in the league, former Longhorn and current opera singer, Justin Tucker. The punting battery is made up of a pair of Sooners, current Redskins’ punter Tress Way and current Chiefs’ long snapper James Winchester

Taking the headset, and calling the plays, as head coach of this roster is Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan played WR for the Longhorns, catching passes from current University of Houston head coach Major Applewhite and current broadcaster Chris Simms.

3 roster spots filled, 0 left

$6.925M Spent | $458K Left

The Starting 22

Due to the Big 12 headquarters location, I’ve named this team the Irving Steers.

Offense QB Andy Dalton RB DeMarco Murray Z Jordy Nelson X Michael Crabtree Slot Marquise Goodwin TE Jermaine Gresham LT Trent Williams LG Lane Taylor C Cody Whitehair RG Mark Glowinski RT Marcus Cannon

Defense DE Alex Okafor DT Gerald McCoy DT Malcom Brown DE Brian Orakpo Sam A.J. Klien Mike Derrick Johnson Will Jordan Hicks CB Chris Harris Jr CB Xavien Howard SS Karl Joseph FS Earl Thomas

Team Breakdown

School # of Players Baylor 3 Iowa St 2 Kansas 1 Kansas St 5 Oklahoma 12 Oklahoma St 5 TCU 5 Texas 11 Texas Tech 3 WVU 6

It is no surprise the top two schools on this list. Oklahoma comes in at the top with 12 players, with Texas just behind at 11. Third on the list with 6 players, just edging out 3 others schools, is West Virginia.

As for the NFL teams included in this roster, 3 teams tied for the most with 4 players on the roster; the Eagles, Seahawks, and Titans. A fourth of the NFL ended up with no players represented on the roster; the Giants, Rams, Falcons, Bills, Jets, Steelers, Chargers, and Texans