Alabama’s NFL Draft: Crimson Tide riding record first-round streak

Alabama’s record streak of producing at least one first-round pick in the NFL Draft rolled on to 16 years in 2024 when three Crimson Tide standouts entered the NFL on the event’s first night.

The streak likely will continue for Alabama on April 24 with linebacker Jihaad Campbell and guard Tyler Booker considered first-round prospects.

Last year, Alabama had three players picked in the first round -- offensive tackle JC Latham by the Tennessee Titans at No. 7, outside linebacker Dallas Turner by the Minnesota Vikings at No. 17 and cornerback Terrion Arnold by the Detroit Lions at No. 24.

The NFL has held 17 drafts since Nick Saban coached his first game at Alabama, and after 2024’s three-player showing, its teams had selected 47 Tide players in the first round during that span.

In the 72 drafts that preceded Saban’s arrival at Alabama, the Tide produced 33 first-round draft picks.

Saban’s total benefited over most of the Alabama teams of the past because his Tide career was spent during the era of the 32-pick first round (although in the first year of the first-round streak, there were 31 selections because the New England Patriots had to forfeit their choice as a Spygate penalty).

Ten Alabama players who were not first-rounders when they were selected would be if they were chosen in the same spot in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Alabama players who have been picked in the first 32 selections of an NFL Draft include:

No. 1 pick: Harry Gilmer, quarterback, Washington Redskins, 1948; Bryce Young, quarterback, Carolina Panthers.

Gilmer led the nation in touchdown passes, interceptions (made, not thrown) and punt-return yards and finished fifth twice in the voting for the Heisman Trophy during his career with the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s first No. 1 pick went to a team that had a future Hall of Famer at quarterback in Sammy Baugh, and injuries limited Gilmer to one game as a rookie. The former Woodlawn High School star spent eight seasons in the NFL (six with Washington and two with the Detroit Lions), went to the Pro Bowl twice and was the Lions’ head coach for two seasons.

Young won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and finished sixth in the voting for the award in 2022 before the Panthers traded into position to pick him over Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud at No. 1 in the 2023 draft. An immediate starter for Carolina, Young was benched two games into his second season, then came back over the final 10 contests of the 2024 campaign with improved play.

No. 2 picks: Riley Smith, back, Boston Redskins, 1936; Cornelius Bennett, linebacker, Indianapolis Colts, 1987.

Smith was the second player picked in the first NFL Draft, and, in a way, the first drafted player to reach the pros. Jay Berwanger, the first Heisman Trophy winner (before the award was even called that) and the first player picked in the first draft, decided not to play pro football. Smith played quarterback (or blocking back in the nomenclature of the era) in the Redskins’ final season in Boston and two more years in Washington.

Bennett made the Pro Bowl five times and played in 206 regular-season and 21 playoff games, including five Super Bowls, although his team lost in all those NFL championship games. One of the three Alabama players to appear in at least 200 NFL regular-season games, Bennett has the most starts for a Tide alumnus with 204.

No. 3 picks: Chris Samuels, tackle, Washington Redskins, 2000; Marcell Dareus, defensive tackle, Buffalo Bills, 2011; Trent Richardson, running back, Cleveland Browns, 2012; Quinnen Williams, defensive tackle, New York Jets, 2019; Will Anderson, linebacker, Houston Texans, 2023.

Samuels was a six-time Pro Bowler, starting all 141 regular-season games in his NFL career at left offensive tackle for Washington before a spinal condition abruptly ended his career in his 10th season.

Picked in consecutive years, Dareus received two Pro Bowl invitations, earned first-team All-Pro recognition once and was paid $89.532 million while playing in 121 regular-season games in nine NFL seasons while Richardson was traded after his first season and was paid $18.211 million while playing in 46 regular-season games in three seasons.

Williams was a first-team All-Pro selection in his fourth NFL season, signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension and made the Pro Bowl Games again in each of the two seasons since.

Anderson won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year awards presented by The Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers of America. He switched to defensive end with the Texans and coach DeMeco Ryans, a former Alabama linebacker.

No. 4 picks: Lowell Tew, fullback, Washington Redskins, 1948; John Hannah, guard, New England Patriots, 1973; Jon Hand, defensive end, Indianapolis Colts, 1986; Derrick Thomas, linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs, 1989; Keith McCants, linebacker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1990; Amari Cooper, wide receiver, Oakland Raiders, 2015.

Tew did not play in the NFL. Instead of joining Alabama teammate Harry Gilmer, chosen at No. 1 in 1948, in Washington, he got a $10,000 contract from the New York Yankees of the All-American Football Conference. A knee injury and concussion ended his football career in his second season.

Hand spent his entire nine-season NFL career with Indianapolis, playing in 121 regular-season games and one playoff contest for the Colts. He recorded 35.5 sacks in his career, including 10 in 1989. Hand played in only two more NFL games after breaking his leg against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 18, 1994.

Hannah and Thomas are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, taken out of Alabama at No. 4 16 years apart. A member of the NFL All-Time Team chosen for the league’s centennial celebration, Hannah was a seven-time first-team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler for New England. Thomas was a two-time first-team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler for Kansas City.

McCants had knee surgery shortly after being drafted, but he was a full-time starter at defensive end in his second and third seasons with Tampa Bay. But injuries and substance-abuse problems unraveled his career and his life. He played in 88 games and recorded 13.5 sacks in six seasons.

Cooper has been a Pro Bowler five times and has seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons, with a career-high 1,250 for the Cleveland Browns in 2023.

No. 5 picks: Vaughn “Cisco” Mancha, center, Boston Yanks, 1948; E.J. Junior, linebacker, St. Louis Cardinals, 1981; John Copeland, defensive end, Cincinnati Bengals, 1993; Tua Tagovailoa, quarterback, Miami Dolphins, 2020.

When the Boston Yanks drafted Mancha, that made three Alabama players picked in the first five selections of the 1948 draft. Washington had chosen Harry Gilmer with the No. 1 pick and Lowell Tew at No. 4. Mancha played one season in the NFL. By the next season, he was the head football coach at Livingston State Teachers College (now West Alabama).

Junior and Copeland had longer careers. In 13 seasons, Junior played in 170 regular-season games and earned Pro Bowl invitations twice and first-team All-Pro recognition once. Copeland played all 107 of his games for Cincinnati.

After sustaining a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture in his final game for Alabama, Tagovailoa became Miami’s starting quarterback in his seventh game in 2020. Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing-efficiency rating in 2022 even though concussions sidelined him twice. In 2023, Tagovailoa played the entire schedule for the first time, led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards and went to the Pro Bowl Games. In 2024, Tagovailoa led the NFL in completion rate but missed six games with injuries.

No. 6 picks: Lee Roy Jordan, linebacker, Dallas Cowboys, 1963; Richard Todd, quarterback, New York Jets, 1976; Barry Krauss, linebacker, Baltimore Colts, 1979; Eric Curry, defensive end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1993; Andre Smith, tackle, Cincinnati Bengals, 2009; Julio Jones, wide receiver, Atlanta Falcons, 2011; Jaylen Waddle, wide receiver, Miami Dolphins, 2021.

The sixth pick has been a productive one for NFL teams where Alabama players are concerned, and Waddle has kept up the tradition by setting an NFL rookie record for receptions in 2021, leading the league in yards per catch in 2022 and recording another 1,000-yard receiving season in 2023. Jones had seven Pro Bowl and two All-Pro selections and has more NFL receiving yards than any other Alabama alumnus. Jordan was a five-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro who has more interceptions than any other Crimson Tide alumnus. All the No. 6 picks have played at least a decade in the NFL except Curry, who had a seven-year career, and Waddle, who’s just getting started.

No. 7 picks: Mark Barron, defensive back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2012; Evan Neal, offensive tackle, New York Giants, 2022; JC Latham, offensive tackle, Tennessee Titans, 2024.

An All-American safety at Alabama, Barron played that position in the pros, too, until moving to outside linebacker in 2015 and inside linebacker in 2017.

Neal has been the Giants’ starting right tackle since joining the team but has been limited to 29 games.

Latham played every Titans’ snap of his rookie season at left tackle.

No. 8 picks: Bobby Marlow, back, New York Giants, 1953; Rolando McClain, linebacker, Oakland Raiders, 2010.

It doesn’t seem possible today that pro teams in Canada could sign players away from the NFL, but that’s what happened with Marlow and others in the 1950s. The former Troy High School star skipped the NFL to sign with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he was a two-way star for eight seasons.

McClain retired after his third season, then came back after a one-year hiatus to play two more years with the Dallas Cowboys.

No. 9 picks: Butch Avinger, fullback, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1951; Wilbur Jackson, running back, San Francisco 49ers; 1974; Antonio Langham, defensive back, Cleveland Browns, 1994; Dee Milliner, cornerback, New York Jets, 2013; Patrick Surtain II, cornerback, Denver Broncos, 2021.

Avinger played only one season in the NFL, although he did get off the league’s longest punt that year, which was 1953 -- two years after he’d been drafted. After leaving Alabama, Avinger served a year in the U.S. Army, then signed for a season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, one of the forebearers of the Canadian Football League.

Until Shaun Alexander came along, Jackson’s 3,852 rushing yards were the most in the NFL by an Alabama alumnus. Jackson closed his career in the Washington Redskins’ 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. Jackson played in only one regular-season game for Washington in the 1982 campaign because he sustained a knee injury in the opener. But he returned to play in all four of Washington’s postseason victories.

Langham had 14 interceptions across seven NFL seasons. Milliner had three in back-to-back games as rookie, but that was all for his 21-game NFL career.

Surtain opened his career as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team in 2021, made first-team All-Pro in 2022, repeated as a Pro Bowler in 2023 and was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024 season.

No. 10 pick: Chance Warmack, guard, Tennessee Titans, 2013; Jedrick Wills Jr., offensive tackle, Cleveland Browns, 2020; DeVonta Smith, wide receiver, Philadelphia Eagles, 2021.

Warmack started at right guard for Tennessee in his first three seasons before getting hurt in the second game of 2016 and missing the rest of the year. He came back to play on the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LII winners.

Wills switched from right tackle at Alabama to start 57 of the 58 games of his career so far at left tackle for Cleveland.

The 2020 Heisman Trophy winner, Smith started his NFL career with a Philadelphia rookie record of 916 yards, had 1,196 in his second as the Eagles went to Super Bowl LVII, recorded 1,066 receiving yards in his third season and caught a touchdown pass in Philadelphia’s victory in Super Bowl LIX in his fourth.

No. 11 picks: D.J. Fluker, offensive tackle, San Diego Chargers, 2013; Minkah Fitzpatrick, safety, Miami Dolphins, 2018; Jonah Williams, offensive tackle, Cincinnati Bengals, 2019.

When the San Diego Chargers chose Fluker, the pick was the third in a row from Alabama in the 2013 draft. The New York Jets selected Dee Milliner at No. 9 and the Tennessee Titans took Chance Warmack at No. 10. With 108, Fluker played in more games that Milliner and Warmack combined.

Traded to Pittsburgh two games into his second season, Fitzpatrick has earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 2019, 2020 and 2022 and been a five-time Pro Bowler for the Steelers.

Williams missed his rookie season after suffering a shoulder injury during Cincinnati’s offseason program and missed six more games in 2020, but he was a fixture at left tackle as the Bengals won the AFC championship in 2021.

No. 12 picks: Joe Namath, quarterback, St. Louis Cardinals, 1965; Henry Ruggs III, wide receiver, Las Vegas Raiders, 2020; Jameson Williams, wide receiver, Detroit Lions.

Namath never played for St. Louis, instead signing pro football’s most lucrative contract with the New York Jets when the NFL and AFL were competing for players. Thus, “Broadway Joe” was born and a Pro Football Hall of Fame career started.

Ruggs was the first wide receiver chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft. But his NFL career ended after he was charged in 2021 in a fatal traffic accident and released by Las Vegas.

Williams sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the 2021 CFP national championship game, which delayed the start of his NFL career. He had only two touches as a rookie, but they went for a 41-yard touchdown reception and a 40-yard run. In his second season, Williams raised his production to 24 receptions for 354 yards and two touchdowns and three carries for 29 yards and one TD. In his third campaign, Williamson recorded his first 1,000-yard season.

No. 13 picks: Joe Kilgrow, back, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1938; Daron Payne, defensive tackle, Washington Redskins, 2018.

After finishing fifth in the 1937 Heisman Trophy balloting, Kilgrow did not play in the NFL. He joined the Alabama coaching staff instead and later became the superintendent of the university’s golf course. Kilgrow also played two seasons of minor-league baseball, with the Class B Montgomery Rebels of the Southeastern League and the Class D Troy Trojans of the Alabama State League.

Payne’s selection made it two consecutive seasons that the Redskins had used their first-round pick to draft a defensive lineman from Alabama. As with Jonathan Allen in 2017, Payne stepped directly into Washington’s starting lineup. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022, then signed a $90 million contract with the Commanders.

No. 14 picks: Tarzan White, guard, New York Giants, 1937; Marty Lyons, defensive end, New York Jets, 1979.

White played on the New York Giants’ 1938 NFL championship team.

Lyons was a starter for 11 seasons with the New York Jets and is a member of the team’s Ring of Honor for his role in the New York Sack Exchange.

No. 15 picks: Ed Salem, defensive back, Washington Redskins, 1951; Jerry Jeudy, wide receiver, Denver Broncos, 2020; Mac Jones, quarterback, New England Patriots, 2021.

After intercepting five passes in 12 games for Washington in 1951, Salem played a season of football in Canada, where he set a record by kicking a 53-yard field goal for the Montreal Alouettes in 1952.

After recording 211 receptions for 3,053 yards and 11 touchdowns in four seasons with the Broncos, Jeudy was traded to the Cleveland Browns and responded by making the Pro Bowl in 2024.

Jones started every game for New England and played in the Pro Bowl to cap his rookie season. But in 2023, he lost the starting job, and the Patriots traded Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He started seven games as Trevor Lawrence’s backup in 2024.

No. 16 picks: Mike Pitts, defensive tackle, Atlanta Falcons, 1983; Marlon Humphrey, cornerback, Baltimore Ravens, 2017.

Pitts played in 169 regular-season games in 12 seasons.

In his third NFL season, Humphrey earned first-team All-Pro recognition with Baltimore and received Pro Bowl selection again in 2020 and 2022. Then in 2024, he was back as a first-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.

No. 17 picks: Dre Kirkpatrick, cornerback, Cincinnati Bengals, 2012; C.J. Mosley, linebacker, Baltimore Ravens, 2013; Jonathan Allen, defensive end, Washington Redskins, 2017; Alex Leatherwood, offensive tackle, Oakland Raiders, 2021; Dallas Turner, outside linebacker, Minnesota Vikings, 2024.

Kirkpatrick played in 119 games and intercepted 13 passes, including one that he returned for 101 yards without scoring.

Mosley earned Pro Bowl recognition in four of his five seasons with Baltimore, then moved to the New York Jets for a five-year, $85 million contract in free agency and got another Pro Bowl nod in 2022.

Allen received his first Pro Bowl invitation in 2021, when Leatherwood broke into the NFL by starting every game for Las Vegas. Allen earned Pro Bowl recognition again in 2022, when Leatherwood got released and landed with the Chicago Bears.

Turner played a reserve role in his first NFL season.

No. 18 picks: Bob Cryder, tackle, New England Patriots, 1978; Ryan Kelly, center, Indianapolis Colts, 2016.

Cryder spent nine seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman, but he didn’t do what Kelly has done – make the Pro Bowl, which the center had done four times.

No. 19 picks: Shaun Alexander, running back, Seattle Seahawks, 2000; O.J. Howard, tight end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2017.

Alexander is one of four Alabama alumni to have been the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. He won the award with Seattle in 2005, when he led the NFL with 1,880 rushing yards and scored a league-record 27 rushing touchdowns. Bart Starr was the MVP in 1966 with the Green Bay Packers, and Ken Stabler was the MVP in 1974 with the Oakland Raiders. Don Hutson won the Joe F. Carr Trophy, the NFL’s original MVP Award, in 1941 and 1942 with the Packers. Hutson wasn’t drafted because he entered the NFL before the first draft in 1936.

Howard’s injury-affected career produced 129 receptions for 1,882 yards and 17 touchdowns in six seasons.

No. 20 picks: Dennis Homan, wide receiver, Dallas Cowboys, 1968; Dwayne Rudd, linebacker, Minnesota Vikings, 1997; Kareem Jackson, cornerback, Houston Texans, 2010.

Homan held Alabama’s single-season record for receiving yards for 25 seasons, but in his NFL career, he totaled 37 receptions for 619 yards and two touchdowns.

Rudd led the NFL in fumble-return yards with a league-record 157 in the second of his seven seasons. He returned a fumble 63 yards for a touchdown in Minnesota’s 24-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 15 and returned another 94 yards for a touchdown in the Vikings’ 48-22 victory over the Chicago Bears on Dec. 6.

Only one Alabama alumnus has more NFL starts than Jackson’s 193 – Cornelius Bennett with 204.

No. 21 picks: Don McNeal, cornerback, Miami Dolphins, 1980; Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, safety, Green Bay Packers, 2014.

McNeal played in 110 regular-season and 10 playoff games, and Clinton-Dix was a Pro Bowler for Green Bay in 2016.

No. 22 pick: Rashaan Evans, linebacker, Tennessee Titans, 2018.

Evans made 159 tackles in 2022 for the Atlanta Falcons.

No. 23 picks: Charley Holm, back, Washington Redskins, 1939; Ozzie Newsome, tight end, Cleveland Browns, 1978.

Holm sustained a knee injury that ended his career before he ever played a game for Washington.

Newsome spent his entire 13-season NFL playing career with Cleveland and holds the franchise record for receptions and receiving yards. The former Colbert County High School star has been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 1999.

No. 24 picks: Butch Wilson, tight end, Baltimore Colts, 1963; Josh Jacobs, running back, Oakland Raiders, 2019; Najee Harris, running back, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2021; Terrion Arnold, cornerback, Detroit Lions, 2024.

Wilson caught 25 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns in seven NFL seasons. He spent his first five NFL campaigns behind future Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, then was traded for Earl Morrall.

Jacobs was the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, when he ran for 1,150 yards in 13 games. He had another 1,000-yard season and received Pro Bowl recognition in 2020. In 2022, Jacobs was the first-team All-Pro running back as he led the NFL with 1,653 rushing yards. He went over 1,000 rushing yards again and went back to the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Green Bay Packers in 2024.

Harris started his NFL career by leading the league in touches as Pittsburgh’s workhorse. He had 1,200 rushing yards, the most by a rookie from Alabama, and played in the Pro Bowl to cap his rookie season. With 1,000-yard seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024 Harris became the 14th player in NFL history to open his career with four in a row.

Arnold was an immediate starter in the secondary for the Lions, who posted the NFL’s best regular-season record in 2024.

No. 25 picks: Fred Davis, tackle, Washington Redskins, 1941; Emanuel King, linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals, 1985; James Carpenter, offensive tackle, Seattle Seahawks, 2011; Dont’a Hightower, linebacker, New England Patriots, 2012.

Davis played on NFL championship teams in 1942 with Washington and 1946 with the Chicago Bears, Carpenter did the same in 2013 with Seattle, and Hightower played on three NFL championship teams -- for the 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons -- with New England. King played in the Super Bowl, but Cincinnati lost that NFL title game 20-16 to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 22, 1989.

No. 26 picks: Les Kelley, linebacker, New Orleans Saints, 1967; Fernando Bryant, defensive back, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1999; Calvin Ridley, wide receiver, Atlanta Falcons, 2018.

Kelley was the first player drafted by the Saints. An expansion team, New Orleans held the No. 1 pick in the 1967 draft but traded it to Baltimore for quarterback Gary Cuozzo, who’d been Johnny Unitas’ backup with the Colts. Baltimore used the No. 1 pick on Michigan State defensive end Bubba Smith, who was a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 1971. Center Bill Curry, who went from the Saints to the Colts in the deal, also became a two-time Pro Bowler for Baltimore (and later the Crimson Tide’s head coach). Kelley played in 30 games, with one start, in three seasons.

Ridley made the NFL All-Rookie team in 2018, then caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020. He missed the 2022 season on an NFL suspension for betting on league games and came back with 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. The Tennessee Titans signed Ridley to a four-year, $90 million in free agency, and he responded with another 1,000-yard season in 2024.

No. 28 picks: Joe Domnanovich, center, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1943; Mark Ingram, running back, New Orleans Saints, 2011.

Domnanovich’s six NFL seasons (split between the Boston Yanks and the New York Bulldogs) didn’t start until 1946 because of his service in World War II.

Ingram was Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 2009 and the first running back selected in the 2011 draft. In the NFL, he was a two-time 1,000-yard rusher and Pro Bowler with New Orleans, and he reached those milestones again in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019.

No. 29 pick: George Teague, defensive back, Green Bay Packers, 1993.

Teague played in 133 regular-season and 12 playoff games in nine NFL seasons. In 1999, he led the league with two interception-return touchdowns, going 32 yards in Dallas’ 35-7 victory over Arizona on Oct. 3 and 95 yards in the Cowboys’ 27-13 victory over Green Bay on Nov. 14.

No. 30 picks: Bobby Wood, tackle, Cleveland Rams, 1940; Johnny Davis, running back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1978.

Wood played in three NFL games – none for the Rams – before heading for the military and World War II.

A fullback in 10 NFL seasons, Davis earned a Super Bowl ring with the San Francisco 49ers in 1981, when he scored seven touchdowns on 94 rushing attempts plus another one on four postseason carries.

No. 31 picks: Paul “Bear” Bryant, end, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1936; Reuben Foster, linebacker, San Francisco 49ers, 2017.

In 10 NFL drafts, the league’s Brooklyn franchise selected 10 players from Alabama, starting with Bryant. He never played in the NFL. Instead, Bryant stepped right into coaching and went on to become a college football icon and a Crimson Tide legend.

Foster made the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team, but an offseason knee injury in 2019 wrecked his career. He came back to play in the USFL in 2023 and UFL in 2024.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.