For two years, Alabama owned college football, winning 25 of 27 games and back-to-back national championships in 2011 and 2012. We’re now three years removed, which has given us a glimpse on how the players from those Nick Saban-coached Crimson Tide dynasty teams have performed at the next level.
Trent Richardson is the name everyone remembers – the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 draft who has been a colossal bust – but there are several other Alabama products who have thrived on Sundays, or been unable to hack it.
Here’s the breakdown:
Booms
Eddie Lacy
The buzzsaw of a back replaced Richardson as the No. 1 runner for the 2012 season after serving as his backup the previous year. He was a second-round pick of the Packers in the 2013 draft, and has developed into one of the league’s best runners, rushing for at least 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns in each of his first two seasons.
Dont’a Hightower
A Super Bowl champion and first-round pick (2012), he’s gotten off to a super start, playing regularly each of his first three seasons with the Patriots. He made one of the biggest plays of last season’s Super Bowl, stopping Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard-line in the final seconds – the play before Russell Wilson was picked off by Malcolm Butler to seal the title for New England.
Courtney Upshaw
A second-round pick of the Ravens in 2012, Upshaw has been a solid pro, a stout outside linebacker/defensive end who plays the run well and has helped Baltimore’s defense remain one of the NFL’s best.
Busts
Trent Richardson
NFL teams have shied away from taking running backs early in the draft after Richardson made the Browns look silly for making him the third overall selection. He’s already been traded once and waived twice (Colts and Raiders), leaving him to try to catch on with his fourth NFL team. Richardson has yet to average more than 3.6 yards per carry in a season. At Alabama he never averaged less than 5.2 yards.
Dee Milliner
At least Richardson is able to stay on the field. Milliner, a John Idzik special, has been injured or ineffective since the Jets took him in the first round in the 2013 draft. A torn Achilles tendon cost him all but three games last year and he could go on short-term injured reserve after injuring a tendon in his right wrist during training camp this year.
Dre Kirkpatrick
He has developed into a quality depth cornerback and special teams player for the Bengals, peaking with a two-interception day off Peyton Manning last December. But more is expected of first-round picks who were All-Americans in college.
Incomplete
AJ McCarron
It’s too early to make a judgment on the two-time college football champion. He’s enjoyed a solid summer to win the Bengals backup job, throwing his first professional touchdown last weekend, but the jury remains out on the heady McCarron — also known as Mr. Katherine Webb.