Alabama Football 2016 NFL Draft Recap: Picks, UDFA, Veterans & More

THE UNPREDICTABLE DRAFT

In case you missed it, the Crimson Tide had a somewhat surprisingly disappointing first round of the NFL Draft. However, they made up for it on Day Two.

Ryan Kelly C Round 1, Pick 18 (18th overall) Colts
Reggie Ragland ILB Round 2, Pick 10 (41st overall) Bills
Derrick Henry RB Round 2, Pick 14 (45th overall) Titans
A'Shawn Robinson DT Round 2, Pick 15 (46th overall) Lions
Jarran Reed DT Round 2, Pick 18 (49th overall) Seahawks
Cyrus Jones CB Round 2, Pick 29 (60th overall) Patriots
Kenyan Drake RB Round 3, Pick 10 (73rd overall) Dolphins

With all the pre-draft buzz around Kelly, it should not have surprised too many folks that he landed in the first round. Henry was a longshot to make the first round. However, the fall of Ragland, Robinson, and Reed to the second round was a bit confounding. Regardless of those disappointments, Tide fans were rewarded with Jones also going in the second round and Drake soon after in the third.

UNDRAFTED

TIDE PLAYERS

Bama fans could've saved themselves a lot of time if they had know that Drake's selection at number 73 would be the last Tide player picked out of 253 total. Soon after the draft concluded, the UDFA (undrafted free agents) free-for-all began:

Jake Coker QB Arizona Cardinals
Dominick Jackson OG Washington Redskins
D.J. Pettway DL New Orleans Saints
Richard Mullaney WR Houston Texans
Michael Nysewander FB Kansas City Chiefs
Dillon Lee LB New Orleans Saints
Geno Matias-Smith DB Washington Redskins
Darren Lake DL San Francisco 49ers

* Jabriel Washington and Ty Flournoy-Smith have not been picked up as of this writing.

EARLY ENTRIES

30 of the 96 early-entry prospects went undrafted. A select list:

Bralon Addison, WR, Oregon
Dominique Alexander, LB, Oklahoma
Peyton Barber, RB, Auburn
Beniquez Brown, LB, Mississippi State
Denver Kirkland, OT, Arkansas
Jalin Marshall, WR, Ohio State
Marquez North, WR, Tennessee
De'Runnya Wilson, WR, Mississippi State
Avery Young, OL, Auburn

THE VETERANS

With all the players starting their NFL careers, there are veterans who will be pushed out the door. Players drafted in 2013 are starting the fourth year of their rookie contracts. The fifth year is a team option. Two Bama players had their fifth year option not picked up by the team as noted in Tuesday's JP.

Titans not picking up option on Chance Warmack

"At this point and time for our football team, as we manage the roster and salary cap, we believe this is in the best interest of our team," GM Jon Robinson said in the team's press release. "We expect Chance to play well for us this year; and we are not closing the door on his long-term future with our franchise."

Are the Titans getting a little cocky? Flushed with the recent success of the draft, are they really ready to dump a guy who has started 46 games in three seasons?

Jets' Mike Maccagnan explains why he didn't exercise Dee Milliner's option

"Dee is a bit of a wildcard. He was doing some good things [last offseason], and then hurt his wrist [early in training camp]. By the time he got back, he was doing some good things in practice, but our defense was playing well, we stayed very healthy, and it's kind of hard sometimes to get in there and earn play time. Dee, to me, is a bit of a wildcard — and not in a bad way.  "This is going to be a big offseason for him. I think, in fairness, with the injuries Dee has had through his career, at the end of the day, it was just because of the body of work [that] we decided it's kind of beneficial for both sides [to not pick up the option]. If Dee goes out and plays well, we have the ability to potentially try and negotiate a contract and sign him [in free agency next offseason]."

This move is not as surprising. After a good rookie year in which Milliner made 12 starts and had three interceptions, he only played eight games in the last two seasons due to various ailments. Aside from the injuries, I hated it when the Jets drafted him. It never felt like a good fit. Hopefully, he can get it together somewhere in a smaller market.

NFL = NOT FOR LONG

A few others in a similar situation are Luke Joeckel, Jacksonville Jaguars (second overall pick from Texas A&M); Barkevious Mingo, Cleveland Browns (just seven sacks in three seasons since being the sixth overall pick out of LSU); Sylvester Williams, Denver Broncos (28th pick out of UNC); and Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings (29th overall, 80 rec, 863 yards, 5 TD in three seasons makes this former Tennessee Vol expendable).

A NEW TEAM

New Lions DE Wallace Gilberry could make up to $1.75 million in '16

Gilberry has a base salary of $885,000 along with a signing bonus of $340,000. He also has a workout bonus of $25,000. His cap number is $1.25 million. If he somehow failed to make the Lions roster, he would have $340,000 in dead money attached to him.  His deal becomes more interesting with the incentives. He can receive up to an extra $500,000 in incentive-based pay based on playing time, sacks and overall team performance.

Not a bad career for someone who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008, waived, and then picked up by another team.

THE END OF THE ROAD?

Miami Dolphins waive Christion Jones

Jones was one of the new players on last year's postdraft transactions list, joining Miami as an undrafted rookie. A hamstring issue hampered him during training camp, and Miami waived Jones with an injury designation on Sept. 5. After clearing waivers and reverting to Miami's injured reserve list, he was released with an injury settlement on Sept. 9.

Sad to say, this may be the end of his NFL career.

Also cut was OL Leon Brown of the Baltimore Ravens.

TBD

Perhaps a little surprising, DeMeco Ryans is still a free agent. The Philadelphia fan favorite is 31 years old.

ESS-EE-SEE

51 SEC players were drafted including eight in the first round. Both numbers are the most of any conference.

PLAYERS DRAFTED:

Alabama 7
Florida 7
Arkansas 5
Georgia 5
LSU 5
Ole Miss 5
Auburn 3
Mississippi State 3
Missouri 3
South Carolina 3
Texas A&M 3
Kentucky 1
Vanderbilt 1
Tennessee 0

A FEW UDFA OF NOTE:

Cleveland Browns
Mike Matthews, C, Texas A&M
A.J. Stamps, S, Kentucky

Pittsburgh Steelers
Jay Rome, TE, Georgia

New England Patriots
CJ Johnson, DL, Ole Miss
Jonathan Jones, CB, Auburn
Steven Scheu, TE, Vanderbilt
De'Runnya Wilson, WR/TE, Mississippi State

Indianapolis Colts
Sterling Bailey, DL, Georgia
Curt Maggitt, OLB, Tennessee

Jacksonville Jaguars
Mike Hilton, CB, Ole Miss
Max Wittek, QB, Hawaii (transferred from Southern Cal)

Oakland Raiders
Denver Kirkland, OL, Arkansas

Chicago Bears
Taveze Calhoun, DB, Mississippi State

Green Bay Packers
Beniquez Brown, LB, Mississippi State

Minnesota Vikings
Marquise Williams, QB, North Carolina

Atlanta Falcons
Cory "C.J." Johnson, DT, Kentucky
Mike Matthews, C, Texas A&M
Brian Poole, DB, Florida
Brandon Wilds, RB, South Carolina

Carolina Panthers
Jeremy Cash, S, Duke (Consensus All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the year )

New Orleans Saints
Michael Caputo, S, Wisconsin
Trae Elston, DB, Ole Miss
Avery Young, OL, Auburn

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Peyton Barber, RB, Auburn
Russell Hansbrough, RB, Missouri
DaVonte Lambert, DL, Auburn
Cassanova McKinzy, LB, Auburn
Channing Ward, DL, Ole Miss

Arizona Cardinals
Elie Bouka, DB, University of Calgary

Los Angeles Rams
Marquez North, WR, Tennessee

Seattle Seahawks
Vernon Adams, QB, Oregon (tryout only)
Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU (from Heisman hopeful to this...)