In what was considered an off year in results and prospects this past season, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has added two more names to his growing list of NFL draftees taken in the 1st round.

The Tide’s latest 1st round draft pick, CJ Mosley
Linebacker CJ Mosley was taken by the Baltimore Ravens as the 17th overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft where he will join fellow Tider Courtney Upshaw. Upshaw just missed the 1st round himself by three selections in 2012, going 35th overall. Mosley also joins another former Tider, defensive tackle Terrence Cody, a 2nd round selection by the Ravens in 2010 (57th overall).

Saftey Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was selected as the 21st pick by the Green Bay Packers. Clinton-Dix will join former Alabama running back Eddie Lacy, a 2nd round pick by the Packers last season.

This year’s draft now gives Alabama head coach Nick Saban a total of sixteen (16) players taken in the first round in his tenure at Alabama, consistently turning top athletes who come to Tuscaloosa into top draft prospects a few years later.

Since coming to Alabama in 2007, Saban has taken a program that had not placed a single player in the 1st round in eight consecutive drafts (counting 2008’s) to a program that has now placed 16 in the “money round”, from 2009 to 2014. Under Saban Alabama has now had 35 players drafted, including 16 in the first round and eight in the Top 10.

This year’s “off year” snaps the five-year streak of placing at least one player in the top ten picks of the draft, tying USC (1993-1997) as the most by any college football program to do so since the AFL and NFL merged their drafts in 1967.

The second and third round of the NFL Draft continues on Friday evening from Radio City Music Hall in New York City with rounds 4-7 wrapping up the draft on Saturday.

First round picks under Nick Saban
(7 offensive, 9 defensive)

Alabama-NFL2009
Andre Smith, OL – Bengals (6th)

2010
Rolondo McLain, LB – Raiders (8th)
Kareen Jackson, CB – Texans (21st)

2011
Marcell Dareus, DE – Bills (3rd)
Julio Jones, WR – Falcons (6th)
James Carpenter, OL – Seahawks (25th)
Mark Ingram, RB – Saints (28th)

2012
Trent Richardson, RB – Browns (3rd)
Mark Barron, S – Buccaneers (7th)
Dre Kirkpatrick, CB – Bengals (17th)
Dont’a Hightower, LB – Patriots (25th)

2013
Dee Milliner, CB – Jets (9th)
Chance Warmack, G – Titans (10th)
DJ Fluker, OT – Chargers (11th)

2014
CJ Mosley, LB – Ravens (17th)
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S – Packers (21st)

10 thoughts on “Nick Saban adds two more to his 1st round NFL draft resume”

  1. It’s a perfect fit for both Mosley and Clinton-Dix. The Ravens and the Packers are championship-calibur programs. It should be no surprise Alabama has close ties to those teams, not limited to Bart Starr and Ozzie Newsome.

    Seeing Alabama players get drafted is a great thing to recruits. Seeing Alabama players get drafted to good teams where they belong is even better. Roll Tide.

  2. Now just to be honest and open about this , please inform everyone how Saban’s players have done once they made it into the NFL. Lets break this down why don’t we?

    2009
    Andre Smith, OL – Bengals (6th) Smith has turned out to be a solid Offensive lineman for the Bengals.

    2010
    Rolondo McLain, LB – Raiders (8th) Not quite sure what to say about McLain. Really a waste .

    Kareen Jackson, CB – Texans (21st) Jackson has had an up and down career so far. He has been moved from starter to back up multiple times. Jury is still out on this one.

    2011
    Marcell Dareus, DE – Bills (3rd) Outside of his latest run in with the law, Dareus has had a decent career. Started out very slowly but has managed to pick it up.

    Julio Jones, WR – Falcons (6th) Good NFL WR, but tends to vanish in big games or when Roddy White is not on the field to take pressure off him. Injury prone as well

    James Carpenter, OL – Seahawks (25th) Appears he could be a solid O-lineman.

    Mark Ingram, RB – Saints (28th) BUST.

    2012

    Trent Richardson, RB – Browns (3rd) Bust

    Mark Barron, S – Buccaneers (7th)Want to say Bust but there is still hope he can turn it around.

    Dre Kirkpatrick, CB – Bengals (17th) Huge Bust

    Dont’a Hightower, LB – Patriots (25th) Been up and down so far. Being a huge Patriots fan I am actually hoping he can turn into the beast that some thought he could be.

    2013
    Dee Milliner, CB – Jets (9th) Started out very slowly. If not for a couple of solid games at the end of the year , he could have been following in Kirkpatrick’s footsteps.

    Chance Warmack, G – Titans (10th). Tons of upside and should be a good one.

    DJ Fluker, OT – Chargers (11th) Could be a great NFL player if he can stay healthy and in shape.

    Now this is just the 1st rounders. 13 of them and over 1/4 of those are a bust or close to earning that title. Would love to pull up the rest of the draft picks that have come out of bama while saban has been there and see how their careers have been . That is what lead to the story on AL.Com where Mel Kiper Jr. was concerned about the lack of production of bama defensive players in the NFL and their lack of performance. ” Since 2009, Alabama’s had 17 defensive players selected in the NFL Draft. Seven have been selected in the first round and a combined 10 have gone in the first two rounds.

    ” When deciding between Clinton-Dix and Louisville’s Calvin Pryor, the ESPN NFL Draft expert said the handful of recent Crimson Tide players who have struggled in the NFL has “got to be factored.”

    “Alabama’s defensive players in general have struggled in the NFL,” Kiper Jr. said. “Not just one or two. It’s a pretty good list of names you can throw out there of guys that have not gotten it done on the defensive side of the ball. Mark Barron still hasn’t played up to the level you thought he would. That’s a concern to me.”

    ” Among the players Kiper Jr. criticized for not living up to their potential were linebacker Rolando McClain (eighth pick in 2010), cornerback Kareem Jackson (20th pick in 2010), Terrence Cody (57th pick in 2010), Barron (seventh pick in 2012) and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (17th pick in 2012). ”

    With Saban being the so called Defensive guru, why are bama defenders struggling in the NFL? Are the offensive players coming out of bama doing any better in the NFL? All we hear about is how bama has the best backfield in the nation year after year , but bama has only 1 back in the NFL performing at a high level?

    1. what about eddie lacy you know that guy that won rookie of the year and carried the packers on his shoulders when arod went down. im not a bama fan by no means i really dislike college ball its 2nd tier but im a packers fand first and foremost so we cheese heads seem to think highly of lacy and what he did last year

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