Alabama coach Nick Saban attended this year's NFL draft and saw five of his players go in the first 35 picks. Next year NFL teams are likely to take a similar haul of talent from Saban's roster.
Our friends at College Football Talk pass along the word that Saban said on his weekly radio show that junior offensive tackle D.J. Fluker is "a guy who's probably going to go out for the draft."
The 6-foot-6, 335-pound Fluker looks like he's ready to step onto an NFL field right now, and if he decides to declare for the 2013 NFL draft, then Alabama's offensive line could have as many as three first-round draft picks in April. One of the starting guards, Chance Warmack, is a lock to be a first-round pick, and the other starting guard, Barrett Jones, may be a first-round pick as well. Fluker isn't a sure thing to go in the first round, but the fact that Saban thinks he'll leave suggests that he may have been told that Fluker will get a high grade from the NFL's draft advisory board.
Another Alabama junior, cornerback Dee Milliner, could be the first cornerback off the board in April, and two players on Alabama's front seven, defensive tackle Jesse Williams and linebacker C.J. Mosley, look like they could be first-round picks as well. Amazing as it is, Alabama could provide even more talent in the 2013 NFL draft than it did in the 2012 NFL draft.
[ Edited by AB83Rules on Nov 16, 2012 at 6:26 PM ]