Alabama football: 5 most underrated players in Crimson Tide history

Time and place is everything, and linebacker DeMeco Ryans just so happened to play for the Crimson Tide during a very down period for Alabama football. Of course, the Bessemer, Alabama native was going to play for the state school. But instead of playing for an iconic coach like Nick Saban, Ryans was dealt Dennis Franchione as a freshman and Mike Shula the other three years.

When you go to play for Alabama, you’re expected to contend for national championships. When Ryans was in school, the Crimson Tide thought about winning 10 games a year maybe half the time and lived on probation. For a guy who was the best defensive player in the SEC as a senior in 2005, it’s a shame Ryans never got to play on a truly stacked team in college while at Alabama.

Not only was Ryans named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, but he took home the Lott Trophy, was named First-Team All-SEC and a consensus All-American as a senior. He then parlayed this into a decade-long playing career in the NFL with the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles. Ryans became one of the early defensive stars on the expansion-era Texans.

Since retiring as a member of the Eagles in the 2016 offseason, Ryans has gone into coaching, serving as the inside linebackers coach on the San Francisco 49ers. If Ryans were to have played linebacker for a Saban-led team, he without a doubt would be revered as one of the greatest defensive leaders this program has ever seen. We could say he was born a few years too early.