Alabama Football: NFL Drafts contribute to thin Tide rosters

In recent seasons Alabama football has lost more underclassmen to the NFL Draft than it has seniors, making the Crimson Tide roster young and less experienced.

There is no one reason why the 2019 Alabama football roster is younger and less experienced than past seasons. Recruiting misses in the 2017 and 2018 classes is a factor. Also, for the past two seasons, injuries have severely limited the Crimson Tide’s depth.

There is a third reason. It is NFL Draft early entry by Alabama football underclassmen. In the 2019 NFL Draft, four seniors were drafted. Five juniors and one redshirt sophomore were also drafted. Another junior declared early but was not drafted. The ratio was different in the 2018 NFL Draft with six seniors drafted compared to five juniors.

Make no mistake, guys are 100 percent entitled to make a business decision to forego remaining college football eligibility. Most other college programs would love to have the early entry attrition problem experienced by the Crimson Tide.

But it does increase roster turnover and as a result some roster weaknesses. Imagine having Quinnen Williams or Josh Jacobs on this season’s Crimson Tide.

Some credible, 2020, mock NFL Drafts show up to seven Crimson Tide players going in the first round next April. Five of them are juniors – Tua Tagovailoa, Dylan Moses, Xavier McKinney, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. There are others who could decide to leave early, with good chances to be drafted in the first two rounds and almost all assured to be drafted – Najee Harris, Devonta Smith, Alex Leatherwood, Jedrick Wills, LaBryan Ray and Brian Robinson.

In total that makes 11 Crimson Tide juniors who could opt for early entry. In terms of rebuilding the 2020 roster, six important seniors will also be gone – Raekwon Davis, Trevon Diggs, Shyheim Carter, Terrell Lewis, Anfernee Jennings and Jared Mayden.

In the context of such attrition, it is easy to understand when Alabama football fans worry about the loss of former 5-Stars Eyabi Anoma and Antonio Alfano. Have much rebuilding can a national championship-aspiring program stand, season after season?

Nick Saban warned when the college game chose to broaden transfer rules, the result would be a ‘free agency’ that would change the game. It has. Alabama football will likely benefit with transfers coming in nearly as much as it will be harmed by transfers going out.

The elite programs will adjust better than most with fewer recruiting misses and better player development. But the current environment makes it harder for all, including the Alabama Crimson Tide.