Alabama Football: Crimson Tide will break team NFL Draft record

Alabama football is almost assured to set a new Crimson Tide, NFL Draft record in April. The previous record was reached four times in the 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018 Drafts.

Every winter for several years Alabama football fans have anticipated the possibility of a new NFL Draft record. In some of those years, more than a new Crimson Tide team record seemed a possibility. The headline for this post boldly predicts in the 2020 Draft, the Tide will break its record of four, first round picks.

The 2020 NFL Draft is another of those years when Alabama football could break the single school, first round Draft record of six set by the Miami Hurricanes in 2004. Five or more Crimson Tide players have a strong chance of being 2020 first round selections, reaching a new team record. Some Mock Drafts have up to seven Tide players selected in the first round.

A full list of the 363 Crimson Tide players drafted going back to 1936 can be found here. For those who enjoy Crimson Tide history, a snippet – in the 1936 Draft, Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant was selected as the No. 31 pick, in what was then the fourth round. He was chosen by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Alabama quarterback, Riley Smith was the second pick, overall that year, chosen by the Boston Redskins.

So much for the history, let’s review what might happen in the 2020 Draft.

Potential Alabama Football First Round Picks

• Jerry Jeudy – Jeudy could go in the top four or as low as the middle of the first round. The Giants have the fourth pick. Four to six wide receivers could be chosen in the first round. The first one will likely be Jeudy or Cee Dee Lamb. Jeudy should be selected before Laviska Shenault and Justin Jefferson.
• Tua Tagovailoa – Predicting where Tua will go can only be a guess. What he is able to do when throwing at an Alabama football Pro Day will have a big impact. His pre-Draft medicals by teams will likely be the deciding factor. Some Draft pundits still like him at No. 5 to the Dolphins. Rumors will fly for months but a team or two trying to trade up to get Tua would not be a surprise.
• Jedrick Wills, Xavier McKinney, Henry Ruggs III and Trevon Diggs are all likely mid-first round to early second round guys. A guess is Wills and McKinney have the best chance of going in the first round. Some mocks have Wills going quite high. Henry Ruggs may also make the first round after all the teams measure his scorching speed at the NFL Combine.
• Raekwon Davis – Setting a new all-time first round record might come down to Raekwon. Some mocks have him in the No. 25 to No. 32 range.

This far out, there is no point in guessing about all seven rounds of the Draft. A fairly safe prediction is Terrell Lewis, Anfernee Jennings and Shyheim Carter will be drafted somewhere in the second through the fourth round. For Lewis, it will be all about the team medicals. Shyheim will need to have a strong Combine or he could drop even lower.

The NFL Combine will take place February 23 – March 2. The NFL Draft is April 23-25.