Alabama's offensive stars from last season's national champions were on display Saturday at the A-Day spring game in Tuscaloosa.
The Crimson Tide's defensive heroes from a year ago are about to get plucked in the NFL draft.
Linebacker Rolando McClain and cornerback Kareem Jackson, who elected in January to forgo their senior seasons, are projected by longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper as first-round selections. Kiper pegs defensive tackle Terrence Cody as a second-round pick and has cornerback and return specialist Javier Arenas going in the third round.
McClain, Kiper predicts, is headed to the New York Giants as the 15th overall pick.
"He's got a lot of fire and a lot of intensity and is very passionate about the game of football," Kiper said. "He sets the tone. He was the leader. He was the guy who gave you that Ray Lewis-type of enthusiasm for the game."
It's been an interesting month for McClain, who revealed in March that he has battled Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, since his freshman year at Decatur (Ala.) High School. He underwent a series of tests, however, that revealed he did not have the disease.
In the short time it was assumed that he did, his draft standing never slipped. McClain was invited to Thursday night's extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall in New York but declined, opting to watch the event with his family back home.
Should McClain and Jackson get selected in the first round, they would become the first Tide tandem to do so since offensive tackle Chris Samuels and tailback Shaun Alexander in the 2000 draft.
Kiper has Jackson going to Philadelphia at 24th overall and has Cody destined for Kansas City and Arenas for the Tennessee Titans. There was an unflattering shirtless photo of Cody weighing 373 pounds taken at the Senior Bowl, but he was at 349 pounds at last month's pro day, according to an Alabama release, and set a goal of 340 for the draft.
The top pick from Alabama's offense last season is expected to be guard Mike Johnson, whom Kiper has going to Oakland in the fourth round.
"Johnson is the underrated one," Kiper said. "You look at the way he hustles down the field. He can pull. He's athletic. He is fundamentally outstanding."
Alabama's path to last season's national title contained a 32-13 victory over Florida in the SEC championship. The Gators, who won the 2008 national crown, will be even more well-represented this week with as many as eight players going in the first four rounds.
Kiper projects cornerback Joe Haden (San Francisco) and center/guard Maurkice Pouncey (Pittsburgh) going in the first round; quarterback Tim Tebow (Buffalo), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (New York Giants) and safety Major Wright (Philadelphia) going in the second; defensive end Jermaine Cunningham (Cincinnati) and tight end Aaron Hernandez (Denver) going in the third; and receiver Riley Cooper (Chicago) going in the fourth.
Tebow has been the biggest story in the months leading up to the draft, even though he never has been considered first-round material. He struggled during Senior Bowl practices and in the game but revamped his throwing motion and impressed scouts at pro day.
"I don't think that anyone could have done a better job in a five-week span of basically retooling his entire mechanics as a passer," ESPN analyst Todd McShay said. "It's easy for us to sit here and talk about it, but you have to understand how much goes into that. From the time he picked up a rock and threw it in the water or picked up a tennis ball and was messing around at recess, that's just the way he was throwing.
"And after all these years, to just start over and to learn new footwork, learn how to carry the ball and learn not to dip it down and basically learn this entire new motion, and to look as good and comfortable as he did in five weeks -- it's a tribute to his work ethic and the coaching he's gotten and how determined he is to prove everyone wrong, including myself, as he kindly reminded me."