2017 NFL Draft Team Profiles: Top Alabama Prospects
Oct 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban leads his team onto the field prior to the game against Texas A&M Aggies at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Alabama is the best team in College Football, but do their 2017 NFL draft prospects meet the same standard of excellence?
As an NFL draft analyst, you must always separate where a player is playing from who that player actually is. And the temptation to go along with groupthink is by far the original sin every draftnik faces.
You will constantly see positive feelings about a college program influencing how high a draft prospect is valued. But just because a prospect plays at a top college program doesn’t mean that player will be a generational talent. That doesn’t mean Alabama doesn’t have some very talented NFL draft prospects. Or that a lot of these players will have long NFL careers.
But remember that I evaluate these players based on what I see on film and the instincts I’ve gained from years of scouting experience. So if you disagree with one of my takes on these prospects, then all I ask is you keep an open mind.
So let’s get to breaking down the top 2017 NFL draft prospects on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Jan 11, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Marlon Humphrey (26) celebrates after recovering an onside kick against the Clemson Tigers in the 2016 CFP National Championship at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Marlon Humphrey, Cornerback
The top NFL draft prospect at Alabama is Marlon Humphrey. He has a nice mix of size, strength, ball skills and fluidity to become a team’s number one corner.
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I was first introduced Humphrey’s skills at the USC game where he shut top wide receiver prospect JuJu Smith-Schuster down. He showed great patience and discipline that is a skill that’s rare these days from college corners. In addition to the ability to bring the wood in run support that is a lost art as well. And ever since that performance, he has built quite a resume as the most consistent corner each week.
The only concerns I have with Humphrey is that I don’t see a generational talent at the position. He doesn’t have elite speed, explosiveness or fluidity. And while I do see a very good football IQ when it comes to his recognition skills, he still has a ways to go before he has that next level recognition where he’s able to see everything before it happens.
On the spectrum of NFL corners he most reminds me of, he falls into the Devin McCourty and Dunta Robinson type. He has enough speed and quickness to become a team’s top corner, but not enough without extra development to be a true lockdown corner at any point in his career.
Draft Grade: Top 20
Oct 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Jonathan Allen (93) hits Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) during the first quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Jonathan Allen, Defensive Tackle
Jonathan Allen has been the most impactful pass rusher for the Crimson Tide throughout 2015 and especially this year. He has a 3-tech build playing as a power edge rusher who will move inside to become a handful for weak guards and centers.
There is a bit of “we don’t know what your true position is in the NFL” with Allen. However, I’m confident that he is a 3-Tech in a 4-3 or a 5-Tech in 4-3 under scheme.
Red Bryant and Brandon Mebane are the most immediate types of players he could most be like in the NFL. But Jonathan Babineaux and Cornelius Griffin might be better forms of what he can become.
His best pass rush moves are all power based. Whether it’s a straight to the quarterback bull, or a push pull counter. He also has a devastating club move that he builds off of too. Allen is fast for his size, but his functional speed is more of an issue when he is unblocked versus off the edge.
I have been really impressed with what I’ve seen from Jonathan Allen throughout his tenure at Alabama. But I also don’t see a generational talent here either, as much as a very good player on an even better team.
Draft Grade: Top 32
Oct 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Tim Williams (56) celebrates his sack of Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) during the third quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Tim Williams, Defensive End
The red enigma wrapped in a Crimson mystery is Tim Williams. He has the most impressive GIFs out of all the Alabama players. And he is the most athletic player on the roster. Where his pure mix of explosiveness, speed and fluidity is deadly.
However, he is rarely utilized to comical effect. Furthermore, the going explanation for his lack of production is that he’s being held back from the coaching staff. Or that they are keeping him fresh in a rotation. But it’s an excuse I’ve heard about similar players like him for nearly a decade.
Great players produce. I don’t want to go on another one of my tirades about how production is disruption, but it is. The elite edge rushers in the NFL all had at least one season where they took over games and seasons. While Tim Williams’ career has been an exercise in frustration where on tape he isn’t incredibly refined as a pass rusher.
Nor does he have a very high football IQ, all largely due to his usage being so low. It’s hard to get experience and learn from your mistakes when you are only playing 10-11 snaps a game. But I still recognize the fact that he has Jason Babin and Connor Barwin level traits. So where Williams goes will be crucial to his development. If he goes to a team that doesn’t have a very good defensive line coach. He could be a bust.
However, if he does go to a team with a great defensive line coach, the best you are going to get is a 10-sack a year starter. But in either case I see Williams as a high risk, high reward prospect who should be properly valued to mitigate that risk.
Draft Grade: Top 50
Oct 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide tight end O.J. Howard (88) carries the ball against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
O.J. Howard, Tight End
The consensus amongst most NFL draft analysts is that this is a very strong tight end class. I’m not one of those believers. There are definitely a slew of good players in this class at tight end, but they all have flaws. And many like O.J. Howard are mysteries due to usage.
Howard first came to my attention when he had a 52-yard touchdown versus LSU back in 2013. But since that breakout touchdown, he’s been largely unimpressive. He has speed, but he lacks power. And not in the sense that he’s the weakest tight end I’ve ever seen. But he doesn’t break a ton of tackles after the catch. He doesn’t show heavy hands as a blocker.
And more importantly as far as his place in the NFL as a pass receiver. He doesn’t show refinement as a route runner. He’s essentially a less powerful version of Devin Funchess. He just happens to be getting first-round buzz due to where he plays.
The top end upside I see is potentially a Tyler Eifert type, but a significantly rawer version of that. Eifert was a very crafty route runner out of Notre Dame. And as such, I want Howard as a developmental tight end in the NFL versus a high round asset.
Draft Grade: Top 100
Jan 11, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Cam Robinson (74) and linebacker Reuben Foster (10) celebrate after defeating the Clemson Tigers in the 2016 CFP National Championship at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Robinson, Offensive Tackle
The consensus top offensive tackle in this draft is Cam Robinson. And if Robinson is truly the best offensive tackle in this class, then we are in a lot of trouble.
But let’s start with the positives about Robinson before we dig into the major issues. Robinson’s best attribute is run blocking. He’s aggressive, strong and is like a Coke Machine on wheels when he hits the second level. That aggressiveness gets him into trouble at times where he loses balance on some of his blocks. But when he keeps his shoulders square and drives, he moves people with ease. That’s his best attribute and that will translate to the NFL.
Where Robinson comes into trouble is pass protection. Anything that is fast, fluid or crafty can get around the edge with him.
The fact that Alabama has an athletic quarterback in Jalen Hurts, and that he plays in a run heavy offense, helps Robinson’s tape look more impressive than it actually is. It’s a highlight reel every game, because he does what he does best most of the time. But that won’t happen in the NFL.
He will be asked to pass protect more often, and I don’t see the hip flexibility, or explosiveness to hold up without more tech work. Especially his feet that can look like molasses. Robinson’s best fit is a right tackle in a West Coast offense, or guard. However, there are far better right tackles and guards in this class. Spend a little bit more time evaluating other teams than Alabama and you will see why.
Draft Grade: Top 75
Oct 1, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Reuben Foster (10) is blocked by Kentucky Wildcats running back Jojo Kemp (3) at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide defeated Kentucky 34-6. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Reuben Foster, Will Linebacker
Every year, there is a linebacker prospect who is said to be the best linebacker to come out since Luke Kuechly. And every year that assessment is wrong.
Reuben Foster is starting to get some of that praise and it’s unfair to make those comparisons. Kuechly was a much more explosive, faster and supremely instinctive player at Boston College. Foster has speed, but he doesn’t have great power. Nor are his instincts on par with Kuechly, or any of the other great linebackers to roam the NFL. Foster is in many ways a nice complimentary will linebacker. He’s the Malcolm Smith to Bobby Wagner
The linebacker is decent in man coverage who can clean up the weak side. But anyone who sees him as a future superstar linebacker either didn’t see the great linebackers play in college, forgot what they saw from the great linebackers in college, or simply don’t understand how to differentiate good from great players.
I like Reuben Foster a lot in man coverage. And I believe he will have a good career as a NFL linebacker. But I have to pass on the groupthink that he’s a future Pro Bowl linebacker versus solid will linebacker contributor.
Draft Grade: Top 75
Oct 22, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Tim Williams (56) and linebacker Ryan Anderson (22) sack Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) during the third quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Anderson, Strong-side Linebacker
Ryan Anderson is the “other guy” prospect on Alabama. He’s always been there and makes his fair share of plays in the defensive line rotation. But he’s often overshadowed by Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams when it comes to the discussion of Alabama prospects. In many cases, this is the player the media should have been paying attention to most of all.
However, Ryan Anderson is who he is. He’s a workmanlike version of former Auburn prospect Carl Davis. He’s a bit undersized to be full-time 4-3 defensive end where he lacks size and length, all while also not having outstanding athleticism to be a true strong side linebacker in a 3-4, or pursuit linebacker in a 4-3.
His best pass rush moves are hand-based, here he builds off of the club with a spin or rip move. But these moves don’t always consistently work due to his size and length. As a NFL prospect, I see a future rotational pass rusher. And he’s the type of player that Bill Belichick covets due to being smart and doing his job. Yet I wouldn’t go any farther than that in the NFL due to his lack of size and athleticism.
Draft Grade: Top 100
Oct 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Eddie Jackson (4) celebrates his punt return for a 79yd touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers during the fourth quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Eddie Jackson, Free Safety
So now we’ve come to probably the most divisive player on this list. Eddie Jackson has always been a good safety at Alabama. And Jackson has shown to be a decent tackler and can make plays on the ball. However, he’s more a product of his environment than his actually skill.
He’s more of a bear trap safety than someone who is making plays all over the field in that, when the play comes Jackson’s way, he makes the play. But there are multiple occasions where he’s late to the party. And he’s more of a cleanup guy. Top safeties don’t just play single high and eat the table scraps. Great safeties do everything at a high level.
They come down in the box to support the run. They play man coverage in the slot and make plays on the ball when they are targeted. They refuse to be ignored. And there’s been a lot of ignoring when it comes to Jackson’s play at Alabama. Jackson is a team player. There is nothing wrong with that.
But great safety play transcends team ball. Add in his recent season ending injury. And Jackson becomes more of a roster stash, than someone you want to risk a high pick on.
Draft Grade: Top 100