Jordan Brailford Is on Pace for an Historic Season at OSU

At times during the first five weeks of football, Jordan Brailford has looked like the best player on the field. But he’s always been the most disruptive.

OSU’s pleasant surprise for 2018 was really no surprise at all. Brailford’s talent and athleticism have been apparent for years. He’s just now been able to stay healthy enough to display it on the field. Brailford did appear in all 13 games, starting nine, last season, but nagging injuries limited his effectiveness and playmaking ability. He still finished second on the team with five sacks. 

“I said this a few weeks ago, knock on wood, but he is healthy, he plays fast, he is energetic,” Mike Gundy said on Monday. “I think what people don’t realize is that when you play the game at this level, and you have nagging injuries all the time, you just don’t feel that good. It’s like getting into a new exercise routine – I am going to jog twice a week, I am going to the weight room and do light weights twice a week and when you are sore and don’t feel good, you really don’t want to do it.

“Now he is healthy and I think he feels good, he is comfortable and he is practicing hard and I think we are starting to see those results and we have come up with good plans with moving him around.”

It shows. The Tulsa product is currently tied for No. 1 nationally both in sacks (7.0) and tackles for loss (10.5) through Week 5. His eight tackles (seven solo), five tackles for loss, three sacks and a pass breakup against KU earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Brailford’s knack for nullifying blockers puts the onus on new DC Jim Knowles and his staff to put the walking double-team in positions to be able to highlight his abilities. We’ve already seen him lined up at defensive end and inside and outside linebacker, and expect that versatility to continue.

“I like what they are doing,” said Gundy. “When Coach Knowles came here, we had that discussion that we would like to do some three-down stuff and I just know what it is like on the offensive side and so he has really implemented some nice plans that the players, including Brailford, can pick up on.”

To that point, Jim Knowles’ defense has done its part in getting to opposing quarterbacks. The Cowboys’ current average of 4.8 sacks per game is on an historic pace, projecting out north of 57 sacks over 12 games. The Oklahoma State record for a team total is 43 set back in 1984. Brailford is on pace to take break Leslie O’Neal’s 16-sack record from the same year.

It’s still early, but if Brailford continues to put up these video game sack numbers, NFL teams will surely come calling for the redshirt junior. Could he take the route of his predecessor Emmanuel Ogbah and leave early to play on Sundays? Time will tell.

“We have had some good ones, but he has been an exceptional pass-rusher up to this point,” Gundy said of Brailford. “He has a combination of speed and power and he has really good flexibility. Even in the NFL, those guys that are good pass-rushers that can carry a certain speed up till they need to get under the blocks. At this point, [Brailford] has shown that he can accomplish that goal and stay healthy to do it the rest of the year.”

His past injury history might stick out to NFL scouts, but if Brailford can stay on the field throughout this year, he’s has a good chance at earning all-conference (and greater) honors with another year of eligibility left. Whenever it is that he gets his shot, Brailford appears to have what it takes to be a gamer at the next level, and he could be one of the best to ever harass a quarterback at OSU.