It’s not exactly breaking news to say that Nick Saban has recruited a lot of talent to Alabama. But it’s striking just how many good players Alabama is sending to the NFL, year after year after year.
In each of the last two years, Alabama has had the most first-round picks of any college team, with four each year. And it may happen again this year, as defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and guard Jonah Williams are both viewed as sure things to go in the first round, and running back Josh Jacobs and tight end Irv Smith may go in the first as well.
Alabama also had the most first-round picks in 2011 and 2012, and was tied with Florida State for the most first-round picks in 2013.
If Alabama has the most names called on Thursday night, we’ll be in a stretch of nine NFL drafts when Alabama had the most first-round picks in six of them.
Saban has managed to keep on winning at Alabama because every time he loses a lot of NFL talent, he has another recruiting class with a lot of NFL talent coming in.