Alabama Crimson Tide Football in the NFL Draft
Welcome to our NFL Draft coverage on BamaInsider.com. Throughout the 2020 NFL Draft, our staff will keep you updated with insight and analysis of each of the Crimson Tide football players that are drafted.
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The NFL Draft will conclude Saturday with rounds 4-7.
When: Round 4 is set to begin at 11 a.m. CT
Watch: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes
Listen: ESPN Radio, Westwood One, SiriusXM
Round 3
No. 87 overall — LB Anfernee Jennings to the New England Patriots.
Jennings is the ninth Alabama player taken in this draft and the program’s 11th linebacker selected in the first three rounds of the Saban era.
Jennings received the highest pass-rushing grade on the team (88.2) from Pro Football Focus in 2019 (minimum 50 attempts). He also received a team-high run defense grade (88.6)
PFF also credits Jennings with a team-high 15 quarterback hits and 21 hurries.
Jennings finished with a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss and a team-high eight sacks in 2019. He also finished third on the team in both solo and total tackles with 45 and 83, respectively.
No. 84 overall — LB Terrell Lewis to the Los Angeles Rams.
Lewis is the eighth Alabama player taken in this draft and the program’s 10th linebacker selected in the first three rounds of the Saban era.
Lewis averaged more tackles for loss per game (1.05) than any other Alabama player in 2019. He finished the season with 31 tackles, 21 solo and six sacks.
Pro Football Focus credits Lewis with a team-high 48 total pressures thanks in large part to a team-best 35 hurries.
Lewis might have gone even higher in the draft if not for injury concerns. The linebacker only missed one game due to injury in 2019, but a knee injury cost him the entire 2018 season. Lewis also missed 10 games in 2017 after he suffered an upper arm injury in the season-opening showdown with Florida State.
Round 2
No. 56 overall — DL Raekwon Davis to the Miami Dolphins.
Davis is the seventh Alabama player taken overall in this draft and the program’s ninth defensive lineman selected in the first three rounds of the Saban era. His selection by Miami reunites him with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (whom the Dolphins took fifth overall).
Davis finished the 2019 season with 47 tackles, 18 solo.
Davis appeared poised for a breakout following a sophomore season in 2017 that saw him record 10 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Since then Davis recorded only 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
No. 51 overall — CB Trevon Diggs to the Dallas Cowboys.
Diggs is the sixth Alabama player taken in this draft and the 20th defensive back drafted in the Saban era.
Diggs received Alabama’s highest defensive grade from Pro Football Focus (88.5) for his performance in 2019. His coverage grade (90.1) is the highest mark given to an Alabama player that spent at least 10 snaps in coverage since Minkah Fitzpatrick graded out at 90.2 in 2016.
Diggs finished ninth on the team with 37 total tackles in 2019. He returned his three interceptions for 79 yards and a touchdown. Diggs also returned a pair of fumbles for 100 total yards and another score.
No. 36 overall — S Xavier McKinney to the New York Giants
McKinney is the fifth Alabama player taken in this draft and the team’s 10th defensive back to get drafted in the first two rounds during the Saban era. He is also the first safety selected this year.
McKinney finished last season with both a team-high 95 total tackles and 59 solo tackles. He also recorded 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three interceptions, five pass breakups, four forced fumbles and one blocked kick.
Pro Football Focus graded McKinney’s defense out at 87.6 overall. Cornerback Trevon Diggs (88.5) was the only Alabama player to receive a higher grade that played at least 300 snaps.
Round 1
No. 15 overall — WR Jerry Jeudy to the Denver Broncos.
Jeudy became the fourth Alabama player and second Crimson Tide receiver taken in this year's draft. The 2018 Biletnikoff winner tallied 77 receptions for 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. The selection marks the first time in more than 50 years that one program has had four offensive players taken in the first round. Southern California was last team to accomplish the feat, doing so in the 1968 draft.
No. 12 overall — WR Henry Ruggs to the Oakland Raiders.
Ruggs was the third Alabama player taken and the first of six total receivers taken in the first round. The speedster led all NFL Combine participants this year with a 4.27 time in the 40-yard dash. Last season, he finished third on the team with 40 receptions for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. Ruggs will be reunited with former Crimson Tide teammate Josh Jacobs in Oakland.
No. 10 overall — OT Jedrick Wills Jr. to the Cleveland Browns.
Wills was the second Alabama player taken in the top 10, marking the fourth time the Crimson Tide has accomplished the feat under head coach Nick Saban (2020, 2013, 2012 and 2011). Wills started all 13 games at right tackle last season, earning first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press. He will move over to left tackle to protect Baker Mayfield's blindside in Cleveland.
No. 5 overall — QB Tua Tagovailoa drafted by Miami.
Tua Tagovailoa was the first Alabama player to hear his name called in this year's NFL draft. He is the first Crimson Tide quarterback to be selected in the first round since Richard Todd went No. 6 overall to the New York Jets in 1976. The selection also extends Alabama's streak to 12 straight years with at least one player drafted in the first round, the longest active run by any school. The former Maxwell and Walter Camp award winner completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 2,840 yards and 33 touchdowns with just three interceptions last season before suffering a dislocated hip and posterior hip wall fracture against Mississippi State on Nov. 16. Tagovailoa said he is fully recovered and ready to play next season.
