NFL Draft 2024: 3 Alabama stars who could be drafted in Round 1

When the NFL Draft opens on Thursday night, there will be several Alabama players hoping to have their names called. After all, Thursday is when first round picks are announced.

The Tide had three first-round picks last year and have had a first-round pick every year since 2008. Here are three Tide players expected to be selected on Thursday.

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Three Alabama stars who could be drafted in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft

Alabama OL JC Latham is a likely first-round pick in Thursday's NFL Draft.

#1 Dallas Turner, Edge

Turner is the kind of player who makes Alabama feared by the rest of the nation. At six-foot-three and just over 250 pounds, he's got 4.46 speed in the 40-yard dash. A captain at Alabama in 2023, Turner had 53 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks last year.

At the next level, Turner projects as a pass rusher supreme. He's fast enough to play linebacker and strong enough to get push as a defensive end. If there's any real question mark about Turner, it's a fairly humdrum 2022 season that he had. Everything else about Turner screams NFL star.

Most mock drafts project Turner going to the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth pick. His obvious tools aside, it certainly wouldn't hurt the Falcons to have a guy with local SEC connections as their next star.

Turner is the kind of player you can build an NFL front seven around. He's an absolute lock to hear his name called Thursday night at the draft.

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#2 Terrion Arnold, CB

Alabama has not only the best edge rusher in the draft class but also the best pure cornerback.

A season ago, that news would have suggested Kool-Aid McKinstry. McKinstry could be a first-round pick himself on Thursday. But Arnold has better pure skills and less baggage. He has materalized like a defensive back on a bad pass, seemingly out of nowhere.

Arnold redshirted in 2021 and became a starter midway through 2022. He broke up 17 passes in 2023, including five interceptions. He has 4.5 second speed in the 40 yard dash. He just under six-feet tall and weighs just under 190 pounds. His lack of pure size is a bit concerning, but his speed and skills make up for it.

Arnold seems like a lock to go in Thursday's first round of the draft. A host of mock drafts have him placed from 12th to 26th overall. With the Colts and Jaguars picking at 15th and 17th respectively, given the impressive young QBs in their division, it's difficult to imagine Arnold lasting beyond the 17th pick.

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#3 JC Latham, OL

Latham is one of the top offensive line prospects on the board. Notre Dame's Joe Alt is probably the biggest name and is likely to be the first lineman chosen.

However, Latham might be a more versatile pick. He's built like a tank at over six-foot-five and north of 340 pounds. A two season starter at Alabama, Latham was a second team All-American pick last year.

Latham might slide inside at the NFL level. He was quick enough to play tackle at Alabama, but given his physicality, some NFL team covet him playing guard at the next level. He's still a fairly young prospect to big-time football and makes some inexperience based errors.

On the whole, Latham is projected as a likely first-round selection. He has a fairly wide basis of possible outcomes, with picks from 10 to 30 being discussed among the various mock drafts.

The Chargers trading to take him 11th is one common feature of many prognosticators. Latham is relatively certain to be another Alabama first-round selection.

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Will the Tide have four first-round picks with Kool-Aid McKinstry? Weigh in below with your thoughts about Bama's NFL draftees in our comments section!