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.
This time, we will be focusing on another former Alabama football star, Trent Richardson.
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Trent Richardson is the 8th player of Nick Saban’s 29 First Round draft picks at Alabama.#29andCounting #BamaFactor pic.twitter.com/zaD35o7a9n
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) April 1, 2020
In his first year in Tuscaloosa in 2009, Richardson was able to make a big impact on offense for Alabama as he had 145 carries for 751 yards rushing, 8 touchdowns. He also had 16 receptions for 126 yards receiving as he helped Alabama win their first national title since 1992.
In 2010, Richardson struggled with an injury early on, but was able to return and record 700 yards rushing, and 6 touchdowns. He also had 266 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns. He also had 634 yards off of kick returns and 1 TD.
As a junior in 2011, not only did he win his second national title, he also finished with 1,679 rushing yards, and 21 rushing touchdowns. His 21 rushing touchdowns was also an SEC running back record. Not only that, but he also recorded 338 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns.
Richardson was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns where he played for a year before being traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 2013. He was also a part of the Oakland Raiders and the Baltimore Ravens although he never played a game for the two teams.
In his NFL Career, he had 2,032 rushing yards and 17 TDs. He also had 912 receiving and 2 TDs.
