Alabama Football 2019 Mock Draft: Where will the Crimson Tide go?
Quinnen Williams, DT
Three scenarios:
Round 1 Pick 2, San Francisco 49ers
Round 1 Pick 3, New York Jets
Round 1 Pick 4, Oakland Raiders
Quinnen Williams is Alabama’s top draft prospect this year, and he’s one of the top overall prospects, period. The consensus is that Williams is the No. 2 overall player in this class, behind only Ohio State’s Nick Bosa. There’s an argument to be made, though, for Williams as the No. 1 player.
Williams had a dominant redshirt sophomore season in Tuscaloosa, stepping in at nose tackle for Da’Ron Payne, who was a first round pick in his own right last season. Williams was a relative unknown coming into the year, but he was an immediate impact player for Alabama, and was arguably the best player in the country overall.
He lived in opposing backfields, putting up gaudy numbers and winning the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top interior lineman. He was also a unanimous All-American, and some even tossed him Heisman votes. He was that good.
While I think he should be in consideration for the first overall pick, it would be a major upset at this point if the Cardinals pick anyone other than Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray. That would mean that Williams is likely to go between No. 2 and No. 4, with no real possibility of slipping out of the Top-5.
The 49ers have done their due diligence on Williams, and they’ll likely be deciding between him and Bosa. The general consensus is that they will lean toward Bosa because of the greater need off the edge and the fact that they’ve selected a lot of defensive tackles in recent years, but Williams’ talent is tough to pass on; he’s one of the only sure things at the top of the draft board.
The Jets covet an edge rusher more than an interior lineman, but they could choose to go best player available, which would mean selecting Williams, and then grabbing a project pass-rusher in later rounds.
If the Jets go pass rusher, it’s tough to imagine the Raiders letting Williams get past them. Their biggest need is also an edge, with Oakland finishing last season dead-last in sacks by a considerable margin. They are armed with three first round picks and an early second round pick, though, so they could target an edge later instead of reaching if both Bosa and Kentucky’s Josh Allen are off the board.
Plus, Williams showed he was adept at rushing the passer from the interior last season. He managed 8.5 sacks in 2018, and constantly harassed opposing quarterbacks. Comparing him to Aaron Donald would be unfair, but he has the ceiling to make a Donald-like impact in the NFL, and he should be an immediate starter as a rookie.