Alabama Football: 2020 NFL Draft could be historic for Crimson Tide

Alabama football piled up three more first rounders in 2019 to add to its tally under Nick Saban, but it’s the 2020 NFL Draft that could be historic.

Under Nick Saban, Alabama Football has cranked out first rounders at a rate that exceeds any other school in the country. They added to that total on Thursday night with three more players being selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, bringing the total up to 29 during Nick Saban’s tenure in Tuscaloosa.

The three first rounders on Thursday night gave Saban the record for most first round picks for a coach in college football history. His 34 surpassed previous record-holder Joe Paterno’s 33.

Quinnen Williams, Jonah Williams, and Josh Jacobs added to the Alabama-to-NFL pipeline on day one, and several other Crimson Tide players heard their names called on the second and third day, adding to the ridiculous array of talent Alabama has sent to the NFL.

Alabama has never exceeded four first round draft picks in a single year in the history of the program. Under Saban, it has reached that mark on four different occasions: 2011, 2012, 2017, and 2018.

The record for most players from the same school selected in the first round of the NFL Draft belongs to Miami, which had six players selected in the 2004 draft. Ohio State has come the closest in recent seasons, with five former Buckeyes being picked in the 2016 draft.

That record could fall in 2020, with an unprecedented amount of Alabama players being in the mix for the first round.

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The Tide’s loaded 2017 recruiting class will become draft eligible for the first time, with several undoubtedly going to test the draft waters after one more season in Tuscaloosa.

The obvious members of that class that are at the forefront of 2020 draft discussions are: Tua Tagovailoa, Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy and Dylan Moses.

Tagoaviloa, Jeudy, and Moses look like locks barring something unforeseen between now and this time next year, with each likely leading their respective position groups. Tagovailoa is the odds-on-favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick, and has scouts drooling enough that tanking efforts to land the top pick are already underway.

Harris could very well be the top running back in the 2020 class as well, but with the NFL devaluing the position more and more it would be foolish to look at him as a first round lock. He could be the first running back off the board and still end up in the second round.

There’s plenty of others who will be in contention in round one, though.

WR Henry Ruggs III ran a blazing 4.25 40-yard-dash at Alabama’s junior pro day, a number he thinks he can actually top. Ruggs has good size and is lightning quick; he will undoubtedly be a prospect the NFL is very intrigued by. If Jeudy and Ruggs both get picked in the first round, they would become just the fourth pair of receivers to be picked in the first round from the same school in the same draft.

Alabama has a pair of elite tackles, Jedrick Wills and Alex Leatherwood, who could forego their senior seasons and push for first round consideration. Both players were highly regarded coming out of high school, and both have already made their marks in college. With Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, Stanford’s Walker Little, and Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, the 2020 class is shaping up to be loaded at tackle, but both Wills and Leatherwood are certainly talented enough to be in the mix.

On the other side of the ball, a healthy and productive season from Terrell Lewis could lead to him being in the discussion for a top 5-10 pick. Lewis is a freak athlete who will test off the charts at the combine. His injury past could concern some, but barring another devastating injury, he’ll almost certainly be a first round pick next year with his massive upside.

The safety class in 2020 could be very good as well with LSU’s Grant Delpit and Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, but it’s no secret that NFL teams are intrigued with Xavier McKinney. McKinney has great size and instincts, and was rock-solid for the Crimson Tide last season. He developed throughout the year, turning in his best game in an MVP performance in the Orange Bowl.

Along with a mass of talented underclassmen, seniors like Raekwon Davis, Anfernee Jennings and Trevon Diggs could be in the first round mix. Davis and Jennings returned for their senior seasons to try and improve on day two grades. Davis was long thought to be a first round lock throughout the 2018 season, but he failed to produce at the level many expected. Some increased depth on the defensive line this year should hopefully keep him fresher and allow him to flourish.

Diggs was once considered a first round prospect, but a broken foot cost him the second half of the 2018 season. He was a lock-down corner for the Crimson Tide pre-injury, and a healthy 2019 could put him alongside Florida’s C.J. Henderson and LSU’s Kristian Fulton in consideration for the draft’s top cornerback spot.

Adding those players up, you get 12 members of the 2019 Crimson Tide who could legitimately be selected in the first round next year. Obviously, not all of those players will hear their names called, and a couple of the underclassmen could surprisingly choose to return for another season at the Capstone, but that’s a lot of talent vying for first round consideration.

It will both good and bad for the program. Sending a record number of players into the first round will only boost Alabama’s recruiting efforts, but it could be a big blow for the 2020 Crimson Tide as a record number of underclassmen declare for the draft.

Alabama has the talent to climb back to the top of the college football mountain next season, and then that talent could turn its attention toward threatening Miami’s record for most first rounders in the 2020 NFL Draft.