Alabama Football: Which Tide star will be picked first in 2020 NFL Draft?

Alabama football will have one of the most talented NFL draft classes in recent memory. Which Crimson Tide star will be selected first?

Alabama football might have not made it to the College Football Playoff, but they still had a ton of the best college football players on their roster. With Raekwon Davis coming back for his senior year and the junior class, we all knew this would be one of the best NFL Draft classes of recent memory. Even with Alex Leatherwood, DeVonta Smith, and Dylan Moses returning, the class will have enough talent to make multiple NFL teams happy.

Although the Alabama class is deep, it has all sorts of top-level talent. They possibly have the best wide receiver and offensive tackle in the class, plus their star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. You also add in Henry Ruggs, the fastest man in college football last season. On defense, players like Terrell Lewis and Xavier McKinney have a great chance to steal the spotlight.

All of this first-round talent begs a simple question: which Alabama football player will be first drafted?

An option is Jerry Jeudy, possibly the most talented player on Alabama’s team this season. Jeudy would be a great fit for the New York Giants, a team in desperate need of a star receiver since they traded OBJ. It should be noted that New York’s new head coach has connections with Nick Saban at Alabama, so he should have no problem getting trusted information about Jeudy as a player.

One reason Jeudy might not be the first Tide player drafted is simply because of the depth at wide receiver this year. With such a high supply, the price for a receiver will naturally fall. If New York doesn’t take him, he could fall down the board to the latter half of the top ten selections.

A sneaky possibility is that Jedrick Wills is the first ‘Bama player drafted in 2020. Wills can play either tackle position, and there are not many offensive tackle options in this class. It only takes one top team with a need at O-line to have Wills as their OT1. In his latest Twitter mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller had the Giants taking Wills at No. 4. It’s not incredibly likely, but Jedrick Wills being drafted before Tua and Jeudy is certainly within the realm of possibility.

However, the most likely player will be Tua. Tua seems to be slated to go to the Dolphins at No. 5 in nearly every mock draft, but I actually think there is a great chance he goes before that. This is under the presumption that his hip is still on track by the time the NFL Draft comes around, but teams are likely not going to wait to pick Tua. There will be a bidding war for people wanting to trade with the Lions. Miami, the Chargers, Carolina, and plenty of other teams will be in on it. I expect Detroit to be interested, assuming Burrow and Young are the first two picks of the draft. Their best options are players who will likely slide out of the top 5, so there is a chance to take the same player and still gain assets in a trade.

It’s too early to say with absolute certainty, but I believe the first Alabama player drafted has to be one of these three guys. It’s not as clear-cut as it was last year with Quinnen Williams, making for a great NFL Draft night for Tide fans.