Alabama started the NFL draft in style Thursday night as it tied Miami’s record of six first-round selections set in 2004.
The Crimson Tide accounted for 18.75 percent of the picks in this year’s first round. That included three selections inside the top 10 and five in the top 20.
Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith became Alabama’s second straight first-round duo at receiver as they went to Miami and Philadelphia respectively. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II will look to lock down Denver’s secondary, while Mac Jones will aim to take over the quarterback position from a pair of former Auburn players in New England. Offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood was perhaps Alabama’s biggest surprise landing in Las Vegas, while Pittsburgh made Najee Harris the first running back off the board.
Here’s a look at five Alabama takeaways on what was a historic night for the Tide.
Plenty of reunions
Reunions were the theme of the night as several Alabama players will once again be joining forces with former Tide teammates.
Tua Tagovailoa received a familiar weapon when the Dolphins selected Waddle with the No. 6 pick. During the duo’s two seasons together in Alabama from 2018-19, Waddle became a big-play threat for Tagovailoa. The speedy receiver will likely be one of the left-hander’s favorite targets in Miami for years to come.
Smith will also be teaming up with his former college quarterback as he joins Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. Hurts hit Smith for the game-winning touchdown during Alabama’s 31-24 victory at Mississippi State in 2017. Entering his first full year as the Eagles starting quarterback, he’ll likely lean on the Heisman Trophy winner a lot this season.
Denver drafted an Alabama player in the first round for the second straight year as Surtain will be joining Jeudy with the Broncos. Meanwhile, Las Vegas has selected a Tide player in the first round in each of the last three drafts as Leatherwood will be blocking for his former teammates Ruggs and Josh Jacobs.
Even Mac Jones will have a familiar face in New England as he’ll be handing the ball off to good friend Damien Harris. The former Alabama back showed his excitement for the reunion shortly after Jones’ selection.
Outside of Alabama pairings, LSU receiver Ja’Marr Chase will once again be catching passes from former Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Ettienne were both selected by the Jaguars.
The pick he was Jonesing for
Sure, Jones would have probably liked to be selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the No. 3 overall pick. After all, higher picks not only come with more prestige but also a heftier payday. However when it comes to scheme fits, the Alabama quarterback couldn’t be happier with his landing spot.
During his post draft interview with reporters, Jones said that he watched “a ton” of film on New England both with Cam Newton behind center last season as well as Tom Brady at quarterback in previous years. In fact, he even admitted that he was hoping he’d end up in New England.
“At the end of the day, you want to just get the right fit, and I feel like secretly, I really wanted to go to the Patriots all along,” Jones said. “So I’m actually really happy that it happened.”
Jones, who set NCAA single-season records with a 77.4 completion percentage and a 203.06 passer efficiency rating last season, has drawn comparisons to Brady based on his ability to break down defenses and maneuver well in the pocket.
New England boasts one of the NFL’s sturdiest offensive lines which should give Jones the time he needs to make plays in the pocket. The Patriots also overhauled their roster this season, adding several weapons, including tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry as well as receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.
Jones will have to beat out Newton for the starting spot this fall. If he does, he could find himself in a position for immediate success at the next level.
"New England's just a great place. In watching them the past years, they do everything right. It's all about the team," Jones said. "That's kind of what I grew up knowing is being a good teammate and then obviously winning it comes down to winning football games and New England's done that, but they don't look in the past, they just look in the future, so we got to just focus on trying to win games and then take it day by day and eventually you'll win a lot of games. So, I'm just looking forward to getting in there and meeting my new teammates and seeing what happens from there."
A trio of top-10 picks
Alabama has come close to notching three top-10 picks in previous years but was never quite able to accomplish the feat.
Last year, Tagovailoa went No. 5 overall while offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. went No. 10 to the Cleveland Browns. Ruggs and Jeudy weren’t far behind at No. 12 and No. 15 respectively.
Alabama came even closer in 2013 when Dee Milliner, Chance Warmack and D.J. Fluker were selected consecutively from picks 9-11. That year marked the Tide’s third straight year with two top-10 picks as Trent Richardson (No. 3) and Mark Barron (No. 7) were selected in 2012 while Marcell Dareus (No. 3) and Julio Jones (No. 6) were picked in 2011.
Before this year’s draft, Ohio State was the last school to record three top-10 selections in a draft as Joey Bosa (No. 3 overall), Ezekiel Elliot (No. 4) and Eli Apple (No. 10) achieved the feat in 2016.
Leatherwood surprise
The Raiders have been known to pull off a few first-round surprises in recent years. Their selection of Leatherwood at pick No. 17 certainly continued that trend.
While the Outland Trophy winner was included in the first round of a few mock drafts leading up to Thursday night, the majority media projections tabbed him as Day 2 selection.
Leatherwood is coming off a productive career at Alabama. During his senior season last year, he averaged an overall blocking grade of 91.5 by the Alabama coaching staff and a 99.7 grade on assignments. Since moving to left tackle in 2019, he’s allowed just two sacks over 914 pass-blocking snaps.
Heading into the draft, there were some questions as to whether Leatherwood, 6-foot-6, 312-pounds, could remain at tackle in the NFL. Given where he was selected, it appears the Raiders believe he can.
Upset Barmore
While Leatherwood might be thought of as a reach, Christian Barmore could be considered a first-round snub. The Alabama defensive lineman was the only one of the 13 draft attendees to not hear his name called Thursday night
Following the first round, he took to social media to show his frustration, tweeting that he took the snub personally before later deleting the tweet.
It is understandable how Barmore might feel slighted. The athletic defensive tackle led Alabama with eight sacks last season while recording 9.5 tackles for a loss, six quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles. He also led the nation’s defensive linemen with a 91.5 pass-rushing grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
Barmore figures to be off the board pretty early during Day 2 of the draft on Friday. The draft will resume at 6 p.m. CT on Friday afternoon with Rounds 2-3. It will conclude with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.
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