Welcome to BamaCentral's "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.
Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's Theo Fernandez explains why he thinks Alabama football's streak of 18 consecutive years with a first-round NFL Draft pick will end this April.
One of the most impressive streaks in college football history is going to end in six months.
Alabama football has had a first-round NFL Draft pick in every draft going back to 2009, when the Cincinnati Bengals took Andre Smith No. 6 overall. That's a nation-leading streak of 18 years, a full seven longer than second-place Ohio State. Most years, there's never even been a debate over whether or not the Crimson Tide would have a player taken, and it was commonplace to see two, three, four - even six (2021) -players taken in a single first round.
Last year, Kadyn Proctor and Ty Simpson kept the streak alive. Entering this season, it appeared likely to continue, as Yhonzae Pierre, Ryan Coleman-Williams, and Zabien Brown were all floated as potential Day One selections.
There were three other longshots: Austin Mack, Bray Hubbard, and Devan Thompkins. Mack would have had to win the starting job and have a Simpson-like season, that obviously didn't happen. Hubbard would have needed a significant jump forward, that hasn't happened, and he'll likely be a fringe Day Two pick if he declares. Thompkins, somehow, is Alabama's current likeliest first-round, including the players above.
Thompkins came in at No. 15 on CBS Sports' Big Board this week, the only Alabama player in the top 32. He absolutely has improved his stock this year, but seriously? 15?
Thompkins has the size, physicality, and versatility to absolutely succeed in the NFL. And much of the evaluation goes beyond systems and stats. But no player ranked that high on a board should produce this little. Thompkins has been a non-factor at times for Alabama. It's been three straight games for him now without a true game-wrecking moment.
Pierre has seen his stock slightly dip due to a lack of production, while Thompkins has been rewarded. Are scouts hyper-fixated on his elite first five games, are they baking in future production, or are they that sold on his physical traits and attributes?
I think Thompkins goes early Day Two, slightly ahead of Pierre and Brown, who has continued to look solid, but not anywhere near can't-miss. Coleman-Williams, meanwhile, may be preparing to return to Tuscaloosa for his senior season - the money he'll make in crimson will rival what his first-year NFL salary would pay him as a likely third-rounder.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as Why Alabama's First-Round Draft Pick Streak Will End in April: Just a Minute .
