Alabama Football: Good news and not so good news from Pro Day

Alabama football conducted the first of two scheduled NFL Pro Days on Tuesday. Eighteen former Crimson Tide players participated.

Eighteen former Alabama football players took part in NFL Pro Day on Tuesday. Two well known former Crimson Tide players did not participate because of recent surgeries. Deionte Thompson is recovering from a wrist surgery while Quinnen Williams had finger surgery. Thompson intends to participate on the second Alabama football Pro Day, scheduled for Apr. 2. Williams did enough work at the NFL Combine to solidify his high Draft status.

The former Tide players who worked on Tuesday were Jonah Williams, Irv Smith Jr., Damien Harris, Josh Jacobs, Mack Wilson, Ross Piersbacher, Isaiah Buggs, Christian Miller, Saivion Smith, Lester Cotton, Josh Casher, Jamey Mosley, Johnny Dwight, Hale Hentges, Derek Kief, Ronnie Clark, Austin Jones and former Crimson Tide walk-on, D. J. Lewis.

The biggest buzz of the day came from New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick wearing an Alabama football, pullover jacket. Twitter was of course hit with “Belichick to Alabama as an Analyst” tweets.

The Patriot’s head man was checking out talent and getting a chance to talk with his old friend, Nick Saban. There were eight NFL General Managers in attendance. Mike Mayock was the most notable, if for no other reason because the Oakland Raiders have a fist full of picks. Oakland has four of the first 35 picks in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Alabama Pro Day results did not appear to trigger major revaluations of any of the Tide’s top Draft prospects. Josh Jacobs and Mack Wilson ran 4.6-something forties. Both players needed something in the 4.5 range to improve their Draft status. But neither is likely to get down-graded on just their forty times.

Deionte Thompson not yet being able to work for NFL scouts is an issue. He may still perform adequately on Apr. 2, or in individual workouts for teams. But his chances of being a first-round pick have gone down since the CFB Playoff games. Until he impresses with some better than average workouts, Deionte is at risk to slip into the second or third round.

Mock Draft predictions are all over the place and with over a month to go to the actual Draft, much can change. Most Mocks still have Kyler Murray going No. 1. Quinnen Williams is a strong top-five pick. Jonah Williams and Josh Jacobs are projected in the first round. Irv Smith Jr. is projected as a possible first round and sure second round pick. Mack Wilson is in a similar, maybe first, or at least second-round situation.

Damien Harris is currently projected as a solid second-round selection. Deionte Thompson is being projected anywhere from a late first-round pick to a third round selection.

Anywhere from the third round to the fifth is being projected for other former Tiders; Christian Miller, Isaiah Buggs, Ross Piersbacher and Saivion Smith. If the range of Mocks is accurate, it would mean 11 former Alabama football players will be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Alabama football, team record for one NFL Draft, is twelve former Tide players selected.

You can never know, Tide fans, one of the former Alabama players not currently listed in any Mock Draft could end up being an NFL surprise. Undrafted free agents make NFL rosters every season. Last season, Robert Foster, Tony Brown and Levi Wallace were undrafted. All three not only made NFL rosters, but they all also started in NFL games last season.