Alabama finished with 10 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, tied with Texas A&M for second-most of any school behind Ohio State, although 7 of those 10 came on the third day of the draft, whereas Texas A&M and Ohio State both had only 3 picks each in the deep rounds.
For those who judge Bama’s worth by the talent it produces – to include projecting whether the current roster can make a case for 2026 being a potential championship season – the 2026 NFL Draft was either evidence that Alabama is still in it, or the Crimson Tide has slipped a bit given the imbalance of its draft class front-to-back.
Here’s our analysis of how the 2025 Tiders landed with their new teams, then a quick overview of who is draft-eligible for 2027 selection.
2026 NFL Draft Class (in order of selection):
1. Kadyn Proctor, OL, 12th overall (Miami Dolphins): C
We’ll be honest, we think Miami reached. Proctor has a ton of potential but if you listened to Nick Saban giving live analysis with the ESPN College Gameday crew on the night of the draft, Saban had much higher praise for linemen coming out of other schools who were picked around Proctor. When Proctor’s name was called, Saban paused for a moment before talking about “consistency of performance.” If Kadyn Proctor was recording an album, “Consistency of Performance” would be an apt title for it. Proctor spent three years in Tuscaloosa struggling to consistently keep edge rushers at bay, but there’s no doubting his ability to drive block. He also has the best frame of any tackle in the draft, so there was that. There are a lot of NFL teams completely re-imagining their offenses in 2026, and judging from how Miami drafted overall, it’s a safe bet the Dolphins are going to run the ball to a fault. This will give Proctor time to make an impact while he learns how to deal with premium edge rushers on a play-by-play basis at this level. Prior to the NFL Combine, there was some question whether Proctor would fall completely out of Round 1, but Miami wasn’t buying it. But could the Dolphins have traded down and still gotten Proctor at a lower slot?
2. Ty Simpson, QB, 13th overall (Los Angeles Rams): B+
We don’t hate this pick like some analysts did, who were focused on the fact that incumbent Ram QB Matthew Stafford is coming off a great year. Here’s the thing: Stafford turns 38 this year and his skill set will, not could, start declining soon. The other thing this pick does is keep Simpson from going to division rival Arizona, which opted to take RB Jeremiyah Love with the third-overall pick and were probably planning to try to either trade back into Round 1 or take Simpson with the 34th overall pick, second of the second round. Instead, the Rams cut the Cardinals off at the knees and forced Arizona to reach for Miami’s Carson Beck in Round 3. Getting Simpson is a play for the future, and it probably won’t be the distant future. In addition, we’ve seen a lot more teams than usual lately have to play the backup quarterback due to injury, so it’s not like Simpson doesn’t address that concern, too. As for Simpson, it’s a great fit assuming Stafford doesn’t try to play until he’s 50 and ends up departing in the middle of a roster reset. TideFans.com called this one last year (not the Rams, but rather Simpson) when we projected Simpson to be a one-and-done starter for Bama and then get drafted highly. He probably couldn’t have found a better fit, too.
3. Germie Bernard, WR, 47th overall (Pittsburgh Steelers): B
We were somewhat surprised to see Bernard go this high due to his lack of top-end speed, but Bernard has made plays for three different large FBS schools and was arguably the offensive MVP of both the last two Alabama teams. The character is there, the hands are there, and the switchblade skillset is there, too. Pittsburgh isn’t the best fit for a receiver at the moment, but that won’t be a multi-year problem for the Steelers. They’ll get quarterback fixed soon enough. The key for Bernard there is for expectations to be made realistic for him; he’s an important piece in the machine, but not necessarily the star of it. His ability to complement Ryan Coleman-Williams for two years in Tuscaloosa certainly showed Pittsburgh something.
4. L.T. Overton, DL, 137th overall (Dallas Cowboys): A+
If there was an “A-plus-plus-plus” grade we’d give it here. This is incredible value for Dallas for a player we had marked to the bottom of the first round or top of the second. The issue for Overton, and why he dropped to Round 4, comes from the fact that no one knows what he is. One media outlet listed him as “DT/Edge,” which is comical but … not exactly wrong at this point. Will he gain 30 pounds and play tackle? Will he maintain weight or even lose it, and stay an Edge? No way to tell, but Dallas is getting incredible value at this spot. The potential fly in the ointment is the fact the Cowboys also took two other, more traditional Edge players (Malachi Lawrence/UCF and Jaishawn Barham/Michigan), but Overton will find his way onto the field.
5. Parker Brailsford, C, 146th overall (Cleveland Browns): B+
We like Brailsford more than most, despite his size. Even with his slight build, ESPN flashed an important graphic during his selection: “Sacks allowed at C: Zero.” Alabama fans probably forget that Brailsford played guard and tackle at Washington in addition to center, but he’ll be a center and nothing else going forward for Cleveland. Brailsford’s best attribute is what’s between his ears, a good quality to have given he’ll probably be working with four different quarterbacks for the time being. This is good value, too, for a player that graded Round 2/3 for us in our roster analysis last year.
6. Justin Jefferson, LB, 149th overall (Cleveland Browns): B
Jefferson will have to play in a specific system at the next level due to his size. Probably no Alabama player benefited more from Nick Saban’s retirement and the arrival of Kane Wommack than Jefferson, who went from being a likely spare part in Saban’s defense to one of the most important players on the field under Wommack and Kalen DeBoer. Jefferson is quick and decisive, but sometimes is a bit too quick to think he knows where the play is going. He’ll be a valuable special teams contributor, though, and Cleveland took no other linebackers in its draft, making him all but a lock to make the roster.
7. Josh Cuevas, TE, 173rd overall (Baltimore Ravens): A-
Cuevas lacks the size of a typical NFL Y-tight end, and doesn’t have the explosive speed of the new benchmark for slot tight ends and H-backs. What he does have is incredibly reliable hands, good route-running ability, and enough blocking ability at the H to get on the field. Baltimore got great value by getting him in Round 5, which owed more to the depth of the tight end class as a whole than anything Cuevas might have done to slip. Baltimore had to replace multiple tight ends this offseason and drafted two, Cuevas and SMU’s Matthew Hibner. Both should make the roster.
8. Domani Jackson, CB, 201st overall (Green Bay Packers): B+
Let’s get this out of the way: We’ve been a big fan of Jackson ever since Mo Linguist got him ready to play in 2024. Jackson had started out at USC but had washed out there, and had come to Alabama to get fixed under Nick Saban, only to see Saban retire. Jackson wasn’t as solid in 2025 as he was 2024, and with Dijon Lee on the roster in 2025, there was less of a reason to let Jackson work things out on the field. Jackson got hammered by fans for two or three busts in run defense, but it’s telling that ESPN analysts praised his run-defense skills overall. Jackson was always going to get drafted due to Combine numbers and his physique, and he landed in a value spot with a good franchise that can help him take the next step. There was a time during the 2024 season where Alabama was afraid it would lose Jackson a year early, as he was getting some projections as high as early Round 2 or even the very bottom of Round 1. For Green Bay to get him in Round 6 not just reflects the struggles of 2025, but also means the Packers got outstanding value. If Jackson plays in 2026 the way he played in 2024, this grade goes to A- or A really quickly.
9. Tim Keenan III, DT, 232nd overall (Los Angeles Rams): A-
The value is in where Keenan was picked. It’s an appropriate spot for a guy who is only going to play on two downs at the next level; we never had Keenan rising anywhere above the Round-5 level, and that would have been with Keenan having a massive 2025 season. The Rams know all this; they’re getting a run plugger and high-motor guy who is also off the charts in terms of character. Getting drafted in Round 7 is a crapshoot as far as making the roster, but the good news here for Keenan is LA had only 5 draft picks total and took no other defensive players. This will probably be a case of Keenan making the practice squad as a worst-case scenario. Bet us the Rams didn’t discover Keenan’s character while scouting Ty Simpson so closely. This pick wasn’t made by accident.
10. Jamarion Miller, RB, 245th overall (New England Patriots): C+
No one was more surprised than us when Miller’s name was called, but if he was going to get drafted, this was the actual pick we thought he’d be taken in – the Patriots, at the back end of the draft, going for another Alabama running back. Miller’s 2025 season bordered on the awful, and calls to question the last time an NFL team took a school’s featured running back in the draft that averaged 3.9 yards per carry or less in his final college season. How Miller got drafted was off the back of an impressive Combine performance; take the names off the shirts and the stats off the resume, and Miller was objectively one of the best five-or-so running backs overall that week. Put on the tape, though, and you see the issues with vision and the multiple injuries. If the Patriots get the Miller of the Combine and can keep him healthy, you never know. The measurements don’t lie, and Miller had them.
Undrafted Free Agents: LB Nikhai Hill-Green (Los Angeles Rams), LB Deontae Lawson (Philadelphia Eagles), OL Jaeden Roberts (Philadelphia Eagles): No value grades here because none were drafted, but we like the opportunity for both Hill-Green and Lawson to stick with their new teams. Lawson was graded as highly as a potential Round 2-3 pick at one time early in his college career, before injuries hit. He bounced back in 2025 with a year that was more solid in retrospect than some know. He has positional flexibility and was Bama’s “green dot” (meaning, the signal-caller) for multiple seasons, and the guy just seems to be in the right place at the right time when big plays happen. Hill-Green needs polish, but he’s aggressive and doesn’t have a lot of miles on the tires. As for Jaeden Roberts, there probably hasn’t been a physical specimen like him at Bama in a while as far as offensive linemen go, but his tape would swing wildly from dominating to awful, sometimes on consecutive snaps. We could see him making the Eagles’ practice squad while they attempt to unlock some of his massive talent.
2027 NFL Draft Preview
There isn’t much to hang hats on at the moment, given teams haven’t even gotten to 2026 fall camp yet. But here is a list of Bama players, by position, that will be draft-eligible next April, and some initial notes (not all walk-ons are listed):
OFFENSE
QB: Austin Mack
Analysis: We’re not even sure Mack will start for Alabama, but if he does claim the spot over Keelon Russell, it will be for a maximum of one year. Then Mack will take the same path Ty Simpson just took. Mack has impressive physical tools, but he’ll need to fend off the explosive Russell in fall camp, or perhaps transfer the following season to play elsewhere as a fifth-year senior. As to where he could land, we’re going to cop out: It depends. So much is unpredictable at quarterback, but a Simpson-like season, with a guy who has Mack’s physical tools, would seem to put him in the first couple of rounds. Or he could wind up Alabama’s backup for a season and then transfer. How crazy is that?
RB: Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, Khalifa Keith
Analysis: We don’t see a draftable player right now. Hill certainly has the size but hasn’t done much with it, and didn’t look as quick as Bama’s other backs in the spring. Riley will technically be draft-eligible as a redshirt sophomore, but the world isn’t exactly crying out for 190-pound scatbacks at the pro level. Keith is a step above a walk-on. Our guess is all three are playing college ball again in 2027, albeit not necessarily at Alabama.
WR: Ryan Coleman-Williams, Noah Rogers, Rico Scott, M.J. Chirgwin, Tyler Henderson
Analysis: If Coleman-Williams comes out for the draft, he’ll go highly. For all the drops and headaches of 2025, the tape doesn’t lie about his playmaking ability, and we’re excited to see what happens in 2026 if he can back up an impressive spring performance. With Noah Rogers out for probably the first half of the season and no Germie Bernard, Coleman-Williams is pretty much it. He will be Alabama’s top target in most every situation, and given that Bama fans can expect about 4,000 passing yards, give or take, it’s possible that Coleman-Williams ends up with an obscene stat line. He’s an easy first-round grade. If Rogers can rebound in-season, he has the chance to be an upper-mid-round pick based on his height and resume, but he also could wind up back in Tuscaloosa another season. Rico Scott looked sharp in the spring but he’s a redshirt sophomore without any kind of proven resume on tape, so he likely returns. Chirgwin is a former walk-on, and Henderson is a JUCO walk-on that is only listed here because he looks like the most likely fill-in for Rogers right now.
TE: Danny Lewis Jr., Jay Lindsey, Josh Ford, Jack Sammarco
Analysis: Lewis runs out of eligibility after this year, and if he can stay healthy – which, of course, he wasn’t able to do this spring any better than he has in previous years – he has some real skills. He’s a good inline blocker who can also catch, and the tight end position is rising in value with NFL teams. The other three players are all redshirt sophomores. Josh Ford has the only chance of the three of getting enough work to gin up draft interest, and that probably depends on Lewis not staying healthy. A fully-healthy Lewis could probably get into the middle rounds of the draft.
OL: Casey Poe, Jayvin James, Racin Delgatty, Will Sanders, Ethan Fields
Analysis: We’re probably watching only James and Delgatty here. Of the others, Fields is somewhat of a project, Poe hasn’t made an impact yet and Sanders, a solid prospect, is coming off an injury. James appears set to start at right tackle and Delgatty at center. Both are entering their fourth college years. Centers are hard to project because NFL teams either seem to take one way too early, or they fall to the back end of the draft due to flexibility concerns. Delgatty can play guard, but his resume so far has been forged at Cal Poly; he needs bigger-team tape. If both players hold on to start for all games, both could go. Sanders likely gets drafted in a future season.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
DL: Devan Thompkins, Fatutoa Henry, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Steve Mboumoua, Edric Hill, Leslie Black, Terrance Green, Jeremiah Beaman
Analysis: Thompkins, Henry and Bingley-Jones are seniors. Thompkins is a virtual draft certainty, and if he can take over the L.T. Overton role completely he certainly won’t do any worse than Overton’s fourth-round performance. We think the ceiling is higher, though. Henry is probably an UDFA based on impressive physical measurements even if he doesn’t play much. Bingley-Jones looked like depth when signed but he put up solid spring performances and the NFL doesn’t ignore too many 6-4, 310-pound DLs from FBS powerhouses. Of the rest, get back to us in November regarding Steve Mboumoua, who played virtually not at all in 2025 but who could be the next Christian Barmore. Barmore went from off the radar to a coveted draft pick in the span of about three months. Edric Hill, Leslie Black and Jeremiah Beaman are all likely to return in 2027. That leaves Oregon transfer Terrance Green, who tore up the place in the spring and will get the snaps left behind by the departed James Smith. We think Green has real top-third-of-the-draft potential, but we need to see how he develops.
LB: Yhonzae Pierre, Caleb Woodson, Desmond Umeozulu, Jah-Marien Latham, Cayden Jones, Q.B. Reese
Analysis: Pierre almost came out early this season, and at one time was rated as high as the fifth Edge LB available. Getting him back for 2026 is a coup already; he’ll go in the first couple of rounds next April, barring injury. Caleb Woodson probably lands in the middle rounds, as inside linebacker isn’t as highly valued as it once was. Cayden Jones and Q.B. Reese are likely to return for another year; Reese has real playmaking ability but it’s going to be hard to look past his lack of size. Desmond Umeozulu and Jah-Marien Latham both will run out of eligibility, but the question is whether they’ll get enough snaps to get NFL teams’ attention. Pierre and Devan Thompkins are the undisputed starters off the edge, and Umeozulu and Latham are probably competing for the same snaps as backups. Umeozulu looked strong this spring, a possible late-rounder.
DB: Zabien Brown, Keon Sabb, Rydarrius Morgan, Zavier Mincey, Bray Hubbard, Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., Carmelo O’Neal
Analysis: Zabien Brown could be the top corner taken in next year’s draft. As for everyone else, we need to talk about a phenomenon called “NFL Draft Analysis Lift,” which refers to complementary players on teams getting drafted more highly than expected because they get discovered while general managers are evaluating their better teammates. In this case, look for Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard, good prospects in their own right, to find a team that loves them. Sabb’s raw speed will be hard to ignore, while Hubbard’s ability to dominate the box area will win him fans. The question is whether that will extend to whatever first-year starter gets the vacant Husky position, whether Red Morgan (who has started games in two seasons already, but never full-time), Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. or Mercer transfer Carmelo O’Neal. Zavier Mincey is one of those guys whose measurables go off the charts, and he came to Tuscaloosa as a cornerback. Any of those players not named Zabien Brown could wind up in Rounds 2-4, but our call is that Sabb and Hubbard do just that while the others return in 2027. Brown, though, is out the door with a bullet unless something goes terribly off-script.
ST: Conor Talty, Adam Watford, Ethan Stangle
Analysis: Long-snappers don’t get drafted, so Stangle’s path to the NFL will be as a UDFA only. There were two punters and a kicker taken in 2026; is Adam Watford one of the two best punters in the country? Conor Talty gamely hung around to compete for the placekicking job that was his last year, only to have true sophomore Lorcan Quinn launch missiles all spring. Kickers are always hard to predict, but we didn’t think Talty was draftable before, regardless.
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN