NEWS:Billy Bowman 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Oklahoma Sooners SAF……Read more
Oklahoma Sooners safety Billy Bowman is a dynamic coverage player on the back end. His ball production has come in several different ways, be it undercutting out breaking patterns, reacting to overthrows in the intermediate areas of the field, reacting in short order to tipped passes over the middle, or otherwise.
He’s not a complete player, and teams must reconcile some poor tackling habits and uninspiring fits against the run when he’s playing as a sub-package player on the second level. Still, his coverage impact is undeniable, and a team with players around him that keep Bowman layered in the deeper portions could find themselves a starting safety.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Excellent ball skills and angles in the secondary to attack the ball from deep responsibilities
- Illustrates high post and nickel versatility with alignment assignments and role
- Offers a very likable edge as a defender and a confident play demeanor as a coverage player
Negatives
- Tackling is a major issue, with a career missed tackle rate more than 25 percent
- Lack of length can show up when playing the football from the hip of receivers at the catch point
- Can have a passive demeanor in the alley, is too often content to cut tackle and drop low
Background
Bowman is from Denton, TX, and played high school football for Ryan HS. There, he was a consensus 4-star recruit who initially played on both sides of the football as a wide receiver and cornerback. Bowman was selected to the 2021 Under Armour All-America Game and named a Second Team HS All-American by MaxPreps for his play.
Bowman’s recruitment saw him choose Oklahoma over Texas, LSU, Georgia, and other powerhouse programs. Throughout his career, he started 41 of 47 games played across four seasons, including seven of 11 games as a true freshman. Bowman was named First Team All-Big 12 in 2023 and elected to return for his final season of eligibility in 2024. He accepted an invitation to participate in the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Bowman is an experienced talent with a great deal of exposure to various roles while playing in Brent Venables’ defense at Oklahoma. A ball-hawking defender with a nose for the football, Bowman has great vision, feel for route dispersion, and always seems to be in the right place at the right time in coverage. He’s logged 11 interceptions in the last three seasons and showcases good hands — a testament to his background as a high school wide receiver.
Bowman’s low center of gravity allows his hips to stay fluid in transitions. He’s not the most explosive talent and isn’t necessarily an old-school single-high free safety with his range, but his instincts do the heavy lifting, often putting him in position to drive a throw. He illustrates good angles out of his break to attempt to cut off throws before they reach the target.
Bowman is also impactful when rolling down into intermediate areas with coverage rotation that puts him into hook assignments, and he’s a capable middle-of-the-field robber to cut routes across the middle.
The coverage matrix can include nickel assignments, and Bowman has illustrated the ability to get physical with tight ends in the middle of the field. More powerful tight ends can bump him off the spot at the top of the route and challenge him to recoil and make the tackle at the catch point. This shouldn’t be considered a disqualifier for Bowman in more man-heavy schemes, but his impact comes from eyes in the backfield, and in a more man-heavy scheme, he’d be better served staying out of the nickel and in the post.
There are some effective play negotiating blocks in the slot that offer some appeal as a nickel defender fitting the run, but Bowman’s tackling looms as the big point of emphasis for him moving forward. Living low in the core isn’t ideal, given his lack of length and wrap-up tackling consistency.
Bowman’s profile and instincts make him an option here intermittently but likely lean too far into his weaknesses to be a primary role at the NFL level — where the tight ends are more dynamic and powerful, and the backs are even more challenging to square and wrap up in the D-gap.
Surprisingly, Bowman was largely underutilized as a pressure player despite his presence playing low. He’s credited with single-digit blitz/pass rush opportunities in the last two seasons combined and was instead relied upon as a coverage multi-tool to shift coverage around his teammates. He appears to have the alignment diversity, aggressiveness, and instincts to be more impactful here moving forward if a team is comfortable trying to let him be a defender who moves around within their back seven.
In addition to all of his defensive assignments, Bowman has logged nearly 400 snaps of special teams play in his career, giving him a further roster role to fulfill if he’s initially a third safety for his next team.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Bowman projects best as a deep coverage player at the NFL level. He offers the vision and instincts on the back end to play in the high post or as a deep-half player.
Playing deep zones will mitigate his run fit and tackling inconsistencies. There, he can project as an NFL starter with an emphasis on his coverage abilities.
Grade: 74.00/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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