File this in the rat poison folder. Sure, there’s a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the season. And, yes, No. 1 Alabama will continue its game-by-game approach beginning with Saturday’s matchup at Texas A&M.
However, with each passing week, it’s becoming clearer that the Crimson Tide’s biggest offensive talent is poised to make history in the near future. No, not Bryce Young — although he does appear to have a solid shot at becoming Alabama’s fourth Heisman Trophy winner in December. This space is reserved for the 6-foot-7, 350-pounder who has been keeping the starting quarterback clean this season.
Evan Neal won’t be filling up stat sheets this fall, but the starting left tackle has been absorbing a good deal of pressure on Alabama’s front. The five-star lineman was arguably the MVP of the Tide’s 42-21 victory over Ole Miss, earning a team-high 89.3 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus while also leading the way in pass-blocking (83.0) and run-blocking (85.3).
While running back Brian Robinson Jr. garnered much of the plaudits after piling up 171 yards and four touchdowns against the Rebels, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was quick to point out the man responsible for a lot of that production during his postgame press conference.
“That left tackle [Neal] may be the first pick of the draft since No. 31 [Will Anderson Jr.] can't come out,” Kiffin said, “because he's huge and they ran behind him a lot. The guy's a dominant player.”
While Kiffin’s statement comes as high praise, he’s hardly the only one who holds the same high opinion of Neal. The junior is currently projected as a top-five pick in several early NFL mock drafts. Sporting News projects Neal as the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft, while CBS Sports and Pro Football Network both have him going No. 2 overall. Sports Illustrated currently has Neal projected to go No. 5 overall while ESPN’s Mel Kiper lists him as the No. 4 overall player and top offensive tackle on his latest Big Board.
Alabama hasn’t had a player selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft since Washington took Harry Gilmer with the first pick in 1948. Could Neal end the Tide’s drought at 75 years next spring?
His teammates seem to think so.
“I mean, he’s what, 6-8, 340, incredible feet, strong as an ox,” Alabama right tackle Chris Owens said. “There’s really not much Evan can’t do. I think where he’s grown over the years is his intelligence. You can see the progression from freshman year when he was a left guard, then last year he was at right tackle, now he’s at left tackle. He’s had experience on both sides of the field at multiple positions, and he’s starting to take that second- and third-level learning so he can progress his game to not only help himself now but help himself in the future.
“So I think, of course, Evan’s going to be a top-five pick. And he’s a good person too, so that just adds on to his character.”
According to PFF, Neal has yet to surrender a sack over 173 pass-blocking snaps this season. He’s faced 1,019 pass-blocking snaps over his 30 career games with Alabama, allowing just three sacks over that span. Even Alabama’s sack specialist, Will Anderson Jr., admits he has trouble when going up against Neal during practice.
“That man right there is very talented,” Anderson said during fall camp. "Somebody his size, who can move like that… I mean that’s what you come to Alabama for, to go against players like that. He makes me better every day, I make him better every day. I wouldn’t want to go against anybody else but Evan. He’s great, he knows what he’s doing, and he’s not only helping us, but the D-Line and the outside linebackers as well.”
Fortunately for Anderson, Neal isn’t his problem this week. Instead, the starting left tackle will look to continue his dominance against another projected top-five pick in Texas A&M defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, who has 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss over five games this season.
No. 1 Alabama (5-0, 2-0 in the SEC) and Texas A&M (3-2, 0-2) are set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday inside Kyle Field. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.
