Alabama’s Dee Milliner, Eddie Lacy, D.J. Fluker enter NFL draft

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 11, 2013, 12:27 PM EST
AP

Three members of the national champion Alabama Crimson Tide are leaving school early to enter the 2013 NFL draft.

Alabama confirmed today that cornerback Dee Milliner, running back Eddie Lacy and offensive tackle D.J. Fluker have all decided to turn pro.

The 6-foot-1, 199-pound Milliner looks like the best pro prospect of that bunch, and a likely Top 10 pick. Milliner was a first-team All-American and is likely to be the first defensive back to hear Roger Goodell call his name on April 25.

Lacy is coming off an excellent performance against Notre Dame in which he was named offensive MVP of the BCS National Championship Game. Alabama has had the first running back selected in each of the last two drafts (Trent Richardson in 2012 and Mark Ingram in 2011) and Lacy could make it three in a row in 2013.

The 6-foot-6, 335-pound Fluker looks like he’s ready to step onto an NFL field right now, and he’ll benefit from Taylor Lewan’s decision to return to Michigan — that could make Fluker the No. 2 tackle in the draft, after Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M.

Last year Alabama had five of the first 35 players drafted, and today’s news means Alabama will be shipping another talented group of players to the NFL again this year.

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41 responses to “Alabama’s Dee Milliner, Eddie Lacy, D.J. Fluker enter NFL draft”

  1. I’m glad someone like Saban is staying in college football, the more depth there is there in head coaching the more young players learn, and the better the talent pool for the NFL

  4. Good move for Lacey considering Yeldon would probably get just as many carries as he would next year.

  5. I remember hearing someone say that a reporter once asked Nick Saban why he ultimately left the Miami Dolphins to coach the Crimson Tide. “Well,” Saban said, “in the NFL, every year you get to coach one first round draft pick. At Alabama, every year you get to coach about five.”

  12. I can’t wait for the draft… I love that part of the (off)season. I’m excited to see Milliner at the combine, what team he ends up on and what system of D he is put into.

  13. The packers would get more out of Fluker than Yates. I think next years barometer for the o line is gettin sacks down from the fifties to high thirties.

  14. Eddie Lacy -The Crimson Tide Nightmare.. The Notre Dame defense did not want no parts of that man. His last TD , that little dump off pass…the ND defense was like… “That end zone is all yours playboy. It’s not that serious.” LOL

  16. The way they are pipelining talent to the NFL right now and crushing championships expect the talent at Alabama to only get better

  18. If I was an NFL GM, my goal in the draft would be to grab as many Alabama players as possible. As much as I don’t like seeing them win the national championship again and again, they are beast players and well coached.

  20. Dear Tampa

    Please do whatever is necessary to trade up to get Milner. Our pass defense is atrocious and we have no cornerbacks to speak of.

    Thank you

  21. thraiderskin says:
    Jan 11, 2013 12:55 PM
    I can’t wait for the draft… I love that part of the (off)season. I’m excited to see Milliner
    ————————————————-

    Signed,

    Raiders Fan

  22. As a young H.S. star, your best bet to make your NFL dream true would be to go to Alabama, where you will be coached up the right way. Very few College teams are as generous as Alabama when It comes to producing NFL talent. Its a very strong pipeline.

  26. Raiders pick 3rd and will pick Eddie Lacey. Sorry Eagles and Lions fans!!!

    Darren McFadden is too nimble to be an every down RB. Eddie Lacey will open up the playbook for the TE and WRs on the Offense.

  28. As a Steelers fan, I’d almost kill to get Lacy or Barrett Jones, whose eligibility is up at Bama. Jones has played three different positions on the Tide offensive line and excelled at all of them. He’d ensure whatever back we run could get as many yards as possible. The one benefit of not making the playoffs is that we get to draft a little higher.

  30. I remember hearing someone say that a reporter once asked Nick Saban why he ultimately left the Miami Dolphins to coach the Crimson Tide. “Well,” Saban said, “in the NFL, every year you get to coach one first round draft pick. At Alabama, every year you get to coach about five.”
    _________________
    The truthful response would have been, “Well, at Alabama there’s no cap on what we can pay the players.”

  32. Browns got #6 pick n i pray its used on Milliner. The guy would be great if paired with haden in orange n brown. . Having Two young stud shutdown CBs would greatly improve our defense. Sry tampa fans

  33. Congrats Lunarpie….as an Eagles fan, we hope that your Raiders to take Lacy at #3 as we don’t need a Running Back! We already have a pro bowl back and a viable back up!

    Congrats again!!

  34. I think Alabama players are overrated in the NFL. Richardson and Julio Jones are good, but there’s a lot of fluff. Rolando McClain, Terrence Cody, Mark Ingram, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas….there’s plenty of “meh” players in the group. What seperates them is that they were all great college players in Saban’s system.

  35. @hanspard …

    Courtney Upshaw has played great for the Ravens, as has Dont’a Hightower for the Pats. Marcell Dareus was doing great for the Bills until his brother’s murder. And I haven’t heard the Ravens complaining about Cody. Smith spent most of his rookie year on IR, but he’s been doing a fine job for the Bengals since becoming a starter in 2011.

    Personally, I’ve never felt Ingram has been used appropriately in New Orleans, and he’s had injury issues. I’d love to have him in Pittsburgh. The guy has tremendous heart, and is a joy to have on the team.

    McClain is a heartbreaker. That guy is so unbelievably talented. He was Bama’s defensive signal-caller, and earned the nickname of being a mini-Saban. His problems have nothing to do with ability. It’s all personality/attitude stuff. Saban is a tough disciplinarian. McClain clearly isn’t able to function at the same level without him.

  36. Barrett Jones played 3 different offensive line positions on 3 different national championship teams, AND graduated with a 4.0 average, AND got his master’s degree with a 4.0 average!

    Want that guy playing center making all your line calls for you? Heck yea.

  37. If a Pac 12 team (Oregon) had played Alabama .instead of the poser golden domers ,these young men would be staying in school where they belong. East coast bias strikes again. They had a cake walk last game so I would go to the film room and evaluate them against a real team.

  38. The Lions shouldn’t even THINK about drafting Lacey! He looks like he’s going to be solid, but it would be a luxury pick for the Lions. We need to go with Milliner, although it will be hard to pass up Barrett Jones.

  39. @hanspard …

    Courtney Upshaw, Dont’a Hightower, Marcell Dareus, Terrence Cody, Javier Arenas, and Andre Smith all have been successful in the NFL–as has Ingram when he’s not injured and gets the opportunity to carry the ball.

    The big bust from Bama has been McClain. The guy is an unbelievably talented and smart player. His problems have nothing to do with ability but with off-field drama. Saban is a tough disciplinarian. McClain clearly hasn’t been able to function at the same level in the NFL without the kind of supervision he had in college. Sad case.

  41. As awesome as Lacy is, and he certainly is. Look out next season for Alabama’s latest Freshman back, Derrick Henry out of FLA. Early enrollee at the Capstone, like Yeldon was last year. 6″3 240lbs as a freshman, watch him run on youtube. ROLL TIDE!

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