Da’Ron Payne – Nose Tackle – 6’2″ 320 lbs. – 2017 Junior
Whenever the words beast or freak were used last season, Alabama football fans most often thought of defensive players: Jonathan Allen; Dalvin Tomlinson; Ryan Anderson; Reuben Foster; or Da’Ron Payne.
Payne was a 247 Composite 5-Star player coming out of high school. He has been an Alabama starter since the Arkansas game in his freshman season. ESPN named Payne to their Freshmen All-American team.
Payne made 36 tackles in 2016 but in his role, tackling is secondary to clogging the middle of the Tide’s defensive front. Forcing the opponent’s offensive line to regularly double-team him, allows Tide linebackers to make more tackles. As a run stuffer, Payne is as good as anyone in the SEC.
Just how strong is Daron Payne? The answer is we may not know. According to Matt Zenith of http://al.com during spring 2016 workouts Payne did:
"“a 365-pound power clean, a 500-pound bench press and a 600-pound squat to go along with a 4.93 in the 40-yard dash at 6-foot-2, 319 pounds. But the Tide’s standout sophomore defensive tackle told his high school coach, Bill Smith, that he could have done more in those three lifts if he had been allowed to do more weight, especially the bench press and squat.”"
If he chooses to make the move after the 2017 season, Payne is likely to be a first-round NFL draft choice.
Barring injury and being over-burdened from too many snaps, Payne’s presence has the middle of the Tide D-Line looking good for 2017. Who else can fill in at an interior defensive line slot? We’ll look at all the options and start with the best one first.