College Football: Replacements for every first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft

12. Alabama football replacement for Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions): Jase McClellan

Oddly enough, figuring out how Alabama is going to replace Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the tougher questions for the Crimson Tide in the 2023 season. That’s not because they don’t have options but, rather, that the offense is going to be much different.

With the questions around replacing Bryce Young front of mind, the expectation is that Bama is going to lean more heavily on the run this year than they did with Young at the helm. As such, whoever is replacing Gibbs will be playing a substantially different role than in previous seasons.

The likely RB1 entering the year will be Jase McClellan, who has been good in limited work. With that said, this is a deep running back room and, with the emphasis on that part of the offense, we should see plenty of Roydell Williams, Justice Haynes and Jamarion Miller too.

13. Iowa football replacement for Lukas Van Ness (Packers): Deontae Craig

Because of the way Iowa runs the program under Kirk Ferentz, replacing Lukas Van Ness doesn’t mean the Hawkeyes are replacing a starter because, even though Van Ness was the most feared presence in the defensive front, the team gave the “starter” label to more experienced players.

So while we are looking at the replacements for Van Ness, it becomes more of a question of who will be stepping up as the most disruptive presence on the Iowa defense.

Deontae Craig, who registered 6.5 sacks as a reserve last season, is the most obvious candidate to be that player. While he doesn’t have the same versatility as Van Ness, nor the elite athletic traits, he’s proven to be a real force and should thrive at defensive end, perhaps putting up more production sack-wise too as a more polished, technical rusher.