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Deionte Thompson’s long wait is finally over. The hard-hitting safety became the seventh Alabama player selected in this year’s NFL Draft when he was taken No. 139 overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round.
Thompson is the second Alabama player selected on Day 3 of the draft Saturday, joining outside linebacker Christian Miller (No. 115 overall, Carolina Panthers). Defensive lineman Quinnen Williams (No. 3 overall, New York Jets), offensive lineman Jonah Williams (No. 11 overall, Cincinnati Bengals) and running back Josh Jacobs (No. 24 overall, Oakland Raiders) were taken in the first round on Thursday, while tight end Irv Smith Jr. (No. 50 overall, Minnesota Vikings) and running back Damien Harris (No. 87 overall, New England Patriots) were taken on Friday.
Playing behind a loaded secondary early on in his career, Thompson burst onto the scene early last season. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound safety tallied 35 tackles, five pass deflections and two interceptions over Alabama’s first five games. He drifted off from that pace later in the year, but still finished second on the team with 78 stops and forced a team-high four fumbles. Thompson was selected as a consensus first-team All-America honoree after earning the accolades from the Associated Press, The Sporting News and the American Football Coaches Association.
"Deionte got off to a great start this past year. I thought his play was a little bit up and down toward the end of the year,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said on a teleconference earlier this week. “He had some opportunities to take the ball away and didn’t. He didn’t finish the way I expected him to based on the beginning of the season… He has range, and I think he’ll continue to get better. I think, just like Coach Saban would, that he probably would have been better off going back for another year and continuing to develop. I do think over time that Thompson is going to outplaying where he’s eventually going to be drafted."
