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Alabama dominance: Viral tweet shows just how incredible Tide’s 2018 roster was
By Jake Rill
Published:
Let’s go back in time to 2018. At that point, things for Alabama were much like they have been recently. The Crimson Tide went 14-1 that season, including a perfect 8-0 mark in SEC play, and they didn’t lose until reaching a College Football Playoff National Championship Game matchup with Clemson.
Although that Tide team didn’t win the national title, it was still a remarkable season. And it helped lay the groundwork for 2020, when they did capture the national championship.
It can be fun to go back and look at the rosters of former college teams knowing what we know now about those players’ future. That’s what ESPN’s Field Yates did with this 2018 Alabama team on Twitter on Tuesday. And looking at that roster now is something else:
The 2018 Alabama football roster had:
* 3 future NFL starting QBs (Tua, Hurts, Mac)
* 2 future 1st round picks at RB (Jacobs, Najee) + Damien Harris
* 4 future 1st round WRs (Jeudy, Ruggs, Waddle, Smith)
* 4 other future 1st round picks (Wills, Leatherwood, Surtain, Q Williams)— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 31, 2021
It’s possible this tweet will be even more amazing when we look back in 10-15 years, considering many of the players on this list still have long NFL careers ahead of them. But it’s already impressive to look at after only three years.
Of the 3 starting quarterbacks listed, 2 of them found out they were starters on Tuesday — Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles) and Mac Jones (New England Patriots).
There are also quite a few rookies on that list, so it will be exciting to see how they fare in the NFL after playing so well at Alabama. That includes Jones and Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy while with the Crimson Tide last season.
It isn’t unusual to see Alabama churning out NFL talent. That’s continually been the case during the Nick Saban era, and there’s a strong likelihood that it keeps happening in the future.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
