5 college teams most hurt by the 2017 NFL Draft
By John Buhler
Alabama Crimson Tide
SEC, West
Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide are the only team in college football that can lose 11 players to the NFL Draft and still be the No. 1 team in the country in the initial AP Poll the following season. Saban’s ability to recruit and sustain excellence at Alabama is something we may never see again.
Several seniors from Saban’s national runner-up team in 2016 will go in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft: defensive end Jonathan Allen, tight end O.J. Howard, inside linebacker Reuben Foster and outside linebacker Tim Williams. Seniors like outside linebacker Ryan Anderson, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and strong safety Eddie Jackson project as second to fourth-round selections.
Saban got a huge break in getting Allen, Howard and Foster back for their senior seasons. However, he is not getting the juniors on his 2016 team to pay it forward in 2017. Alabama will lose redshirt sophomore cornerback Marlon Humphrey, junior left tackle Cam Robinson and redshirt junior ArDarius Stewart early to the NFL Draft.
Yes, Alabama will return great players like cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick, quarterback Jalen Hurts, and running back Bo Scarbrough, but this type of attrition to the draft is certifiably insane. Alabama will be the favorite to win the SEC in 2017, but youth and inexperience could make the Crimson Tide particularly vulnerable this fall.