Since Nick Saban’s arrival to Tuscaloosa in 2007, Alabama has not only become a team that has created a dynasty winning national championships, but it also has become a program that sends players to the NFL every year.
With the 2020 NFL Draft happening in less than a month, it’s the perfect time to start a new series in which we will go over all of the Tide’s 29 first-round draft picks. The first player we went over was Andre Smith, who finished his career at Alabama with 15 awards and honors and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as the No. 6 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. The second player we went over was former Alabama star linebacker Rolando McClain who would not only win many incredible awards while at Alabama, but was drafted by Oakland Raiders as the No. 8 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. The 3rd Alabama player drafted in the first round for the Tide was Kareem Jackson who would go on to be drafted by the Houston Texans as the No. 20 overall pick in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The 4th player to become drafted under Nick Saban was Marcell Dareus. Number 5 was Julio Jones who has spent his entire career in Atlanta after being the 6th overall pick in the 2011 Draft by the Falcons. The 6th first round draft pick under Nick Saban was James Carpenter who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the 25th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. At number 7 we have former Alabama running back Mark Ingram who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints with the 28th overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. The 8th player drafted by the Tide was Trent Richardson who was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Mark Barron was the 9th player drafted for Alabama in the NFL Draft. He was was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 7th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. The 10th player drafted for the Tide was Dre Kirkpatrick who was drafted as the No. 17 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. At No. 11, we have Dont’a Hightower who was drafted as the No. 25 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Dee Milliner was the 12th Alabama player drafted in the NFL. He was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. The 13th Alabama football player drafted in the first round was Chance Warmack who was selected in the first round as the 10th overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2013 NFL Draft. DJ Fluker was the 14th player drafted as the No. 11 overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. The 15th first round pick for Alabama under Nick Saban was CJ Mosley who was drafted as the 17th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens of the 2014 NFL Draft. Ha Ha Clinton- Dix was the 16th Alabama player drafted as the 21st overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Amari Cooper was drafted by the Oakland Raiders as the No. 4 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft and was the 17th first round pick under Nick Saban. The 18th first round pick under Nick Saban was Ryan Kelly who was the 18th overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft where has played at since 2016. Marlon Humphrey was the 19th first round pick under Nick Saban. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens as the 16th pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. Jonathan Allen was the 20th first round pick under Nick Saban who was selected Allen as the 17th overall of the 2017 NFL Draft where he has played since 2017. OJ Howard was the 21st first round pick under Saban who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 19th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. The 22nd first round pick under Nick Saban was Reuben Foster who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers as the 31st overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. Minkah Fitzpatrick was the 23rd player under Saban who was drafted in the first round by the Miami Dolphins as the 11th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Daron Payne was the 24th player drafted in the first round as the 13th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Rashaan Evans was the 25th first round pick under Nick Saban. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the 22nd overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. The 26th first round pick was Calvin Ridley who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons as the 26th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Quinnen Williams was the 27th first round pick who was drafted by the New York Jets with the third overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The 28th first round pick was Jonah Williams who drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
This time, we will be focusing on another former Alabama football star, Josh Jacobs.
1️⃣ MORE DAY!
Josh Jacobs comes in as the 29th player on the list of Nick Saban’s 29 First Round draft picks at Alabama. @iAM_JoshJacobs #FirstRoundU #29andCounting pic.twitter.com/BSJOIuP2C2
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) April 22, 2020
At Alabama, Jacobs rushed for 1,491 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also had 48 receptions for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Jacobs was drafted by the Oakland Raiders as the 24th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.
For the Raiders, his rookie year was nothing short of impressive, and it’s a big reason why he was named the PFWA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. This past season, he rushed for 1,150 yards and 7 TDs. But his stats don’t show all. He’s made huge plays consistently, and helped revamp a team who has been struggling for quite a while.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]