As the offseason rolls on, the NFL Draft is quickly sneaking up on us. The first round of the Draft will kick off on Thursday, April 24th (a little over a week from now), and that will dominate the sports news cycle for a couple of weeks.
For Alabama, this will be the first Draft class from a coach not named Saban since 2007, though, admittedly, all of the players going for the NFL this year did play for the legendary head man. In any case, this class will forever be part of Kalen DeBoer’s record at Alabama going forward, and by all accounts, it is still expected to keep the streak of 1st round picks going.
The Tide only had three players declare for the Draft as juniors this year, and only 6 seniors are moving on. It was a young team for the Tide in 2024, so this class reflects that, but the quality of draftees looks to be just as high as usual. Below is a quick primer on each of the Crimson Tide alumni who hope to have their names called next week.
Tyler Booker – Offensive Guard
Projected Round: Mid- to late- first round.
Booker was viewed as the #1 interior offensive lineman in the draft up until a poor showing at the NFL Combine (5.38 forty, 27” vertical, only 21 bench reps) wrecked some of the public opinion on him. Still, he’s going to be the first or second guard off the board. The three most common teams he’s been mocked to are the Seattle Seahawks (#18), Minnesota Vikings (#24), and Houston Texans (#25).
It seems unlikely he’d drop out of the first round, as about 2⁄3 of the NFL actively hate their OL and need to upgrage, and a player with Booker’s pedigree and production will be hard to pass up.
Jihaad Campbell – Linebacker
Projected Round: First round. Fringe top ten.
Campbell was relatively unknown and not talked about until the final month of the 2024 season, and once people started catching on to how impactful he was, his stock skyrocketed. Then he went to the combine and put together an exceptional performance (seriously, he’s ranked as the 41st most athletic linebacker since 1987).
Most view Campbell as the top off-ball linebacker in the draft and one of the top ten players overall… However that gets the caveat that teams just don’t tend to draft off-ball linebackers very high. The Atlanta Falcons at #15 and Tampa Bay Bucs at #19 seem to be the most common mock landing spots, but most pundits will mention that they could see him going earlier if a team is willing to spend on the less premium position for a great player.
Jalen Milroe – Quarterback
Projected Round: Most likely 2nd round. Maybe first round? Maybe 5th?
After being one of the most polarizing players ever among Alabama fans, Milroe continues to be a polarizing NFL prospect. He was often mocked in the first round (and probably top-10 pick) going into 2024, but a lackluster season as far as production and a poor end to the year and bad Senior Bowl performance saw opinions on him plummet.
On the other hand, he ran a 4.40 flat forty yard dash and really impressed in throwing drills during his pro day a few weeks back.
In any case, Alabama fans, for the most part, seem to be more down on Milroe than the NFL community at large. There’s a big contingent mock drafts sending him to the Steelers at #21 overall, and even a few crazy souls that have him at #6 to the Raiders.
There are also plenty of mocks sending him to the 2nd or 3rd round. Some even had him in the 4th or 5th only a month ago, but the groupthink has generally moved him back up into 2nd round over the last few weeks. Ultimately, the NFL is starved for QBs, and he could be the best one. Milroe has, at times, shown he has the ability to do anything an elite NFL QB can, and his rushing ability is something nobody outside of Lamar Jackson can match. It’s just a question of if he can eliminate his spirals of poor play.
CJ Dippre – Tight End
Projected Round: 5-7
Most of the pundits have Dippre solidly in the 6th round, but I’m going out on a limb and predicting he’s the 4th Alabama player off the board, and it could very well be in the 4th or 5th round.
Dippre’s athletic testing was phenomenal at his size, and his combination of blocking, hands, and after the catch ability far outweigh his actual production in Alabama’s low-volume passing offense the last two years. I think a smart NFL team will pounce on him earlier than expected.
James Burnip – Punter
Projected Round: 4-6
Burnip is the top punter in the Draft, and the Aussie’s stratospheric improvement over the last two seasons to go along with this 6’6” height and trebuchet-like legs give him essentially unlimited upside as a punter.
He’s still a punter, though, and round 5 is about as good as you can hope for without being a transcendent talent. He’ll be the first one off the board, and that’s all you can ask.
Malachi Moore – Safety/Nickel
Projected Round: 5-6
As a 5-year starter for Alabama with All-American honors, the low projections for Malachi Moore might seem a bit shocking. Ultimately, Moore lacks the athleticism to be a stand out at the NFL level, and with 5 years of production, he’s viewed as someone that has very little upside to improve from what has already been seen. He’s not big enough to be a true safety, nor fast enough to be a corner.
His versatility and production will get him drafted and likely carve out a nice role as core backup and special teams piece, but that mostly limits him to being a day 3 pick.
Tim Smith – Defensive Tackle
Projected Round: 5-7
Former 5-star recruits at defensive tackle are hard to come by, and that kind of clout pushes Tim Smith up the draft boards a little. His production over multiple years as a starter is underwhelming, but there will be teams that look at him and see a solid DT depth piece. It’s hard enough for NFL teams to find DTs that can be even functional, so someone with Smith’s size, experience, and former high school ranking will be tempting. Round 6 seems to be the most common projection.
Que Robinson – Edge Rusher
Projected Round: 4th – UDFA
There’s a wide range of opinions on Robinson. NFL.com seems rather high on him, as does Pro Football Focus, who put him in the 3rd round. On the other hand, many mocks have him going 6th or even 7th. Personally, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he goes undrafted. The senior had years of no production and didn’t do a whole lot with his 5th year senior season as a part-time starter. He’s long and has decent speed, but is a bit light to play on the line and doesn’t have the skill set to be an off-ball linebacker.
He’s essentially a tweener speed rusher, but lacks dominant tape doing that.
A team may take a flyer on him for the height/speed, but I suspect he’ll drop further than many think.
Robbie Ouzts – Tight End
Projected Round: 7th-UDFA
Ouzts quietly had a nice Combine performance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some team noticed and is willing to jump to the 6th or 7th round to make sure he makes it to their team. If not, he’ll be one of the top UDFAs.
Ouzts is something of a unique body type (Lance Zierlein said he’s “built like an ironworker with a squat rack in the garage”), and I think he could have been a legitimate NFL fullback about 15-20 years ago. With the NFL starting to swing back to running the ball more, I’ve heard some rumblings that fullbacks might start making something of a comeback, and with that, bowling ball shaped blockers like Ouzts may be able to catch on and carve out a career after being relegated to extinction post-2013.
