The first two days of the 2020 NFL Draft have been busy ones for members of the Alabama Crimson Tide. You don't send nine guys to the NFL without setting, or at least matching some records.
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Here's some numbers that stood out to us after the third round ended. Most of them are good, but that's not how the list starts.
Zero:
Alabama linebackers drafted in the first two rounds in back-to-back seasons.
This is the longest such drought for the position since 2007-09. From 2016-18 at least one Crimson Tide linebacker was taken in the first two rounds each year.
Funny enough, no Alabama linebackers were drafted that high in 2011, 2013 and 2015. One Alabama linebacker went early in the 2010 and 2014 drafts while two guys were selected that high in 2012.
This drought probably doesn’t happen if Dylan Moses can play in 2019. It’s hard to imagine him slipping into the third round, assuming he’s healthy.
Two:
Alabama wide receivers taken in the first round.
This feat was last accomplished by Ohio State (Tedd Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez) LSU (Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis) in 2007. Of that group, Ginn Jr. was the only receiver drafted within the first 22 picks.
Both Henry Ruggs III and Jerry Jeudy were comfortably inside that window, hearing their names called 12th and 15th overall, respectively.
Fun Fact: Tennessee came close in 2013 when receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter were drafted 32nd and 34th overall.
Two:
Alabama players drafted inside the top 10 for the fourth time in the Nick Saban era.
Tua Tagovailoa and Jedrick Wills Jr. selected fifth and 10th, respectively, are the only such duo to play on the same side of the ball.
Other pairs consisted of:
2011: Marcell Dareus (3rd) and Julio Jones (6th)
2012: Trent Richardson (3rd) and Mark Barron (7th)
2013: Dee Milliner (9th) and Chance Warmack (10th)
Four:
Offensive players drafted from Alabama in the first round alone.
When quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., receiver Henry Ruggs III and receiver Jerry Jeudy went in the first 15 picks on Thursday night Alabama tied the record for offensive players drafted in the first round.
Southern Cal was the last school to match the record in 1968. It’s no guarantee, but maybe Alabama shatters the record if receiver DeVonta Smith declares for the draft as well.
Five:
That’s what pick quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, perhaps the best quarterback to play for the Crimson Tide, fell to on Thursday night when the Miami Dolphins selected him.
Tagovailoa is the first Alabama quarterback taken in the first round since Richard Todd was drafted sixth overall by the Jets in 1976.
Seven:
Alabama defensive linemen drafted inside the first two rounds since 2016.
Raekwon Davis became the latest player to join this elite group of players when the Miami Dolphins selected him with the 56th overall pick.
At least one of the program’s defensive linemen has been drafted in the first 64 picks since the recent trend began in 2016.
Fun Fact: Clemson is next in line with five defensive line selections since 2016.
Nine:
Alabama players drafted inside the first three rounds matching the program record set in 2017.
LSU finished the first two days of the 2020 NFL Draft with a draft-high 10 selections. That matches the all-time record set by Ohio State in 2016.
Speaking of the Buckeyes, Ohio State is next in line behind Alabama with seven selections. Clemson, Florida, Oklahoma, TCU and Utah all sent four players to join the NFL ranks in the first three rounds.
Alabama and LSU also tied the NFL record for most picks inside the first two rounds with seven each. Ohio State, USC and Tenessee have each accomplished this since 2000, but the Crimson Tide is the only school to do it twice.
Twelve:
Alabama defensive backs taken inside the first two rounds of the Nick Saban era.
Safety Xavier McKinney and cornerback Trevon Diggs were the latest guys to join that group when the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys respectively selected them with the 36th and 51st overall picks.
Although it’s common to see one go that high, it’s been a while since two members of the Crimson Tide’s secondary went before the third round. Mark Barron and Dre Kirkpatrick compromised the last duo to accomplish that feat back in 2012 when both went inside the first round.
Thirty-three:
Alabama players drafted inside the first round under Nick Saban.
Tua Tagovailoa’s selection on Thursday was particularly important as it gave Saban one first-round pick at all 22 non-specialist positions. He is the first coach in the NFL’s common draft era to accomplish that feat.
Fun Fact: This roster would also be impossible without tight end O.J. Howard’s selection by Tampa Bay with the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Forty:
Players selected in the first three rounds played for the Southeastern conference.
The first two days only had 106 total picks. Twenty-seven of those guys played in the SEC West.The conference also made history on Thursday when a record number of 15 players from the SEC heard their names called.
The previous record for first-round picks belonging to a single conference was 12. The SEC matched that total in 2013 and 2017 after the Atlantic Coast Conference set the record in 2006.
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