Alabama’s stout recruiting classes being assembled annually by football coach Nick Saban aren’t paying off just at the college level.
In his latest projection of April’s NFL draft, ESPN analyst Mel Kiper has five Alabama players getting selected within the first 25 picks. The Crimson Tide had four first-round selections last year for the first time in program history.
“It’s just tremendous recruiting and some outstanding coaching,” Kiper said Thursday. “There are a lot of these guys who are heavily recruited who don’t pan out, but at Alabama you don’t see many of these guys fall by the wayside and not develop.”
Kiper is pegging tailback Trent Richardson fifth overall to Tampa Bay, safety Mark Barron 14th to Dallas, linebacker Courtney Upshaw 16th to the New York Jets, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick 17th to Cincinnati and linebacker Dont’a Hightower 24th to Pittsburgh.
Alabama producing five of the top 25 selections would rank among the top feats by one school in NFL draft history. Oklahoma provided three of the top four selections in the 2010 draft, including quarterback and No. 1 pick Sam Bradford, and Miami set a record in 2004 with six first-round picks.