Alabama's defensive players struggle in the NFL

[Shift 350]

Interesting comments from Mel Kiper, Jr. I'll just leave this here for discussion:

http://www.al.com/al...#incart_m-rpt-2

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

[war eagle6 0]

And it will go on and on in the nfl, they DONT allow steroids!!

[AU64 10,122]

An interesting assessment and basically you can't argue with facts but I do wonder how other top draft picks from other schools have fared in the NFL and whether bama's players have a higher "disappointment" rate than say....LSU or the other hand full of major schools that seem to dominate the draft rankings.

No question that bama has been out-recruiting about everyone else the last several years but it's reasonable to ask how much those 5* players have developed in the three or four years they are at UAT.

[AU-24 3,063]

Could see as many as 7 UAT defensive players drafted this year. Now think about the points Gus and Stoops hung on ole nickie and kirby not so smart? Heck of a job by Gus and Bob Stoops. No wonder lil nickie wants to change the rules of the game!

[AUTUmike 79]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

Good point about offense too. Ingram will continue to be a disappointment but I think Richardson will bounce back to have a productive few years. Also, the current popular idea that McCarron is an NFL QB is only going to add to their proportion of disappointing players when we reassess in about 2-3 years.

[WarTim 3,456]

Ingram winning the Heisman is still a huge JOKE......................

[JRush 0]

Ingram winning the Heisman is still a huge JOKE......................

Yeah, biggest joke of all time.

Bbbbbbut.....his ol' pappy was in jail though

[AURandy56 148]

In my opinion, Ingram winning the Heisman may have been what cost tRent Richardson the trophy. I think he deserved it far more than Ingram did. I also think McCarron coming in 2nd this past year on Heisman voting may have been as big of if not bigger joke than Ingram actually winning it. Yes, McCarron had a great career at Alabama, but how does a guy who was 3rd string All-SEC come in 2nd in the national Heisman balloting?

[AUFlyer99 647]

Just a guess, but I would bet those kids have a lot of miles on them by the time they get to the NFL. I'd love to see someone compare career lengths between products of the various schools for individual positions. I'm thinking former SEC players spend less time in the show than those who play in lesser leagues.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

It will be interesting to see, in the long run, if the trend really does start hurting their draft stock and, in turn, hurting bama's recruiting, since their #1 message is "we are a pipeline to the NFL".

[EagleFlight34 101]

Ehh...this can be debated both ways. What is his criteria for "disappointment"? Several of those high draft picks, not necessarily the group he mentioned, have been multi-year starters in the NFL and at least one has been a Pro Bowler. They've had a lot of high draft picks over the past few years. Not all high draft picks are going to be hall of fame players....or even Pro Bowlers.

I too would like to see a comparison of other top program's early draft picks and how they have panned out before I take what Kiper said as Gospel.

[buzzurd24 11]

The other trend that is starting to get attention is their RB's don't have much tread left on the tires when they get to The League because of the way they grind on them.

[AubTiger14 0]

They talked about this on SVP and Russillo a while ago. Their argument was more geared towards RBs, but they said Bama works their players so hard that they already have a lot of wear and tear heading into the NFL. I don't really buy that argument because every college team works hard, but I do think it's interesting the number players that haven't lived up to the hype. Who really knows if there is a reason...I think Bama players are almost viewed as already semi-pro players and they are thought to be can't miss prospects, so they have sky high expectations. I also think that they play in such a good team system that individual draft stocks are inflated by team success.

I know one thing is for sure...I will not be drafting Trent Richardson in fantasy again this year.

[WarEagle84 0]

In my opinion, Ingram winning the Heisman may have been what cost tRent Richardson the trophy. I think he deserved it far more than Ingram did. I also think McCarron coming in 2nd this past year on Heisman voting may have been as big of if not bigger joke than Ingram actually winning it. Yes, McCarron had a great career at Alabama, but how does a guy who was 3rd string All-SEC come in 2nd in the national Heisman balloting?

McCarron's Heisman love was based on his career, not his 2013 season. There was a lot of sentiment among Heisman voters that a guy who led his team to 3 national championships deserved recognition even if he didn't have eye-popping stats. After the Iron Bowl loss (which was by no means his fault) and elimination from the third natty, his votes plummeted. He stayed on a lot of ballots, but almost no one still had him at #1.

[keesler 5,924]

It will be interesting to see, in the long run, if the trend really does start hurting their draft stock and, in turn, hurting bama's recruiting, since their #1 message is "we are a pipeline to the NFL".

That's all some high school recruits care about, getting into the league. They go with the program that has a history of putting players into the NFL, they bust their arse for a couple of years in college and then cash that big NFL check. The great thing is that uat ain't the only program that can get you into the NFL and there is a limit to how many they can sign, just like everyone else.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

It will be interesting to see, in the long run, if the trend really does start hurting their draft stock and, in turn, hurting bama's recruiting, since their #1 message is "we are a pipeline to the NFL".

That's all some high school recruits care about, getting into the league. They go with the program that has a history of putting players into the NFL, they bust their arse for a couple of years in college and then cash that big NFL check. The great thing is that uat ain't the only program that can get you into the NFL and there is a limit to how many they can sign, just like everyone else.

Yea, my point was that, if the NFL starts looking the other way, a little, because of the lack of production from Alabama draftees, then they are going to loose their ability to claim the pipeline and it could really hurt them.

[milehighfan 1,240]

How many times has a player from turdville been the top overall pick in the NFL Draft? How many times has a player from Auburn been the top overall pick in the draft?

[keesler 5,924]

It will be interesting to see, in the long run, if the trend really does start hurting their draft stock and, in turn, hurting bama's recruiting, since their #1 message is "we are a pipeline to the NFL".

That's all some high school recruits care about, getting into the league. They go with the program that has a history of putting players into the NFL, they bust their arse for a couple of years in college and then cash that big NFL check. The great thing is that uat ain't the only program that can get you into the NFL and there is a limit to how many they can sign, just like everyone else.

Yea, my point was that, if the NFL starts looking the other way, a little, because of the lack of production from Alabama draftees, then they are going to loose their ability to claim the pipeline and it could really hurt them.

Anything's possible I suppose.

[quietfan 233]

McCarron's Heisman love was based on his career, not his 2013 season. There was a lot of sentiment among Heisman voters that a guy who led his team to 3 national championships deserved recognition even if he didn't have eye-popping stats. After the Iron Bowl loss (which was by no means his fault) and elimination from the third natty, his votes plummeted. He stayed on a lot of ballots, but almost no one still had him at #1.

I agree with you!

(Even though the Heisman is supposed to recognize individual performance, not team performance, and represent the best player of a single season, not career stats or career trophies. I think any rational voter would have to agree that Tre Mason's individual performance during the 2013 season far exceeded A.J.'s.)

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

But yet Auburn has been discredited by some NFL experts/scouts for having a "high school" offense?

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

But yet Auburn has been discredited by some NFL experts/scouts for having a "high school" offense?

What experts would those be? I honestly haven't heard any criticism of Gus's offense since Cam was drafted and it seems to me that the "Spread QBs can't play in the NFL" perception has been put to bed for the most part. Many NFL teams are incorporating spread principles into their offenses (New England, Denver, Philadelphia) and guys who would've been called "system QBs" in the past have come into the league and been (mostly) successful (i.e. Cam, Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III).

[keesler 5,924]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

But yet Auburn has been discredited by some NFL experts/scouts for having a "high school" offense?

I'd like to know which NFL experts or NFL scouts have discredited Auburn's offense and called it "high school". This site would have BLOWN UP if an NFL scout had made that comment about Auburn.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

But yet Auburn has been discredited by some NFL experts/scouts for having a "high school" offense?

I'd like to know which NFL experts or NFL scouts have discredited Auburn's offense and called it "high school". This site would have BLOWN UP if an NFL scout had made that comment about Auburn.

Some have certainly stated or alluded to such. I don't recall the article but there was one article where a couple NFL scouts criticized Nick 5-6 games into the season. Basically they referred that Nick’s success was more so related to the “system” we run and not the fact that he does in fact have good QB skills. The whole DB to QB deal and that most any athletic guy could play QB in Gus’s system and have some sort of success.

It was similar to the Cam criticism and they stated that Cam was different as he has other attributes like his size and is a better passer. I mean who knows if those scouts/experts were any good anyway b/c there are certainly some bad teams in the NFL so it wasn’t that big of a deal b/c some scouts say stupid stuff all the time anyway.

[war eagle6 0]

Honestly I think this applies to Alabama on both sides of the ball. Alabama leads all SEC teams in recent 1st round draft picks but comparatively few of them made much of an impact at the next level. Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones are the only names that spring to mind who've lived up to their billing. Roman Harper, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, Mark Barron, Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Kareem Jackson, Andre Smith, Javier Arenas, Dee Miliner, and more. The list goes on and on and on.

But yet Auburn has been discredited by some NFL experts/scouts for having a "high school" offense?

I'd like to know which NFL experts or NFL scouts have discredited Auburn's offense and called it "high school". This site would have BLOWN UP if an NFL scout had made that comment about Auburn.

Some have certainly stated or alluded to such. I don't recall the article but there was one article where a couple NFL scouts criticized Nick 5-6 games into the season. Basically they referred that Nick’s success was more so related to the “system” we run and not the fact that he does in fact have good QB skills. The whole DB to QB deal and that most any athletic guy could play QB in Gus’s system and have some sort of success.

It was similar to the Cam criticism and they stated that Cam was different as he has other attributes like his size and is a better passer. I mean who knows if those scouts/experts were any good anyway b/c there are certainly some bad teams in the NFL so it wasn’t that big of a deal b/c some scouts say stupid stuff all the time anyway.

^^Exactly!! Good point 83, Mike mayock is one so called expert that thinks AU's offense is high schoolish. He may not have said it directly but a first grader could uncode who and what he were referring to. The guy said Cam would be a bust and Carolina should not waste their pick on him as he comes from a system that doesn't translate to the nfl. Said a whole lot more,including saying Nick Saban exposed Cam to what he would be like in nfl, but praises everything that comes out of bama