Getty Alabama Crimson Tide RB Josh Jacobs
The Alabama Crimson Tide once again boast of the most intriguing running back prospects ahead of the NFL Draft. As we’ve seen in previous years, Alabama has provided talented players at the position in various draft classes, and Josh Jacobs is a headliner this year. Even beyond that, his teammate and backfield mate Damien Harris, who’s received the bulk of the work over the past three seasons, is also earning praise.
Jacobs has proven capable of doing a bit of everything over his three seasons with the Crimson Tide, even though he received under 100 carries in each of the first two. During the 2018 season, the 5-foot-10 back totaled 120 attempts for 640 yards with 11 touchdowns on the ground. For good measure, he also scored three receiving touchdowns over 15 games.
Through his career with the Crimson Tide, Jacobs totaled 251 carries for 1,491 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and 16 rushing touchdowns through 40 games. He’s tacked on 48 receptions for 571 yards and five additional receiving scores for good measure.
Let’s take a look at what the draft analysts have to say about Jacobs as an NFL prospect, as well as his current stock and the projected round/range he could be picked.
Josh Jacobs’ NFL Draft Stock
Walter Football previously had Jacobs’ teammate Harris as the top running back prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft, but that’s since changed ahead of the combine. Jacobs now comes in as the No. 1 running back in the class and the site echoed what many draft analysts have said. There’s a belief that the talented playmaker has the upside to be even better than Harris at the NFL level.
Back in late November, Luke Easterling of USA TODAY’s Draft Wire stated that he believes there’s a chance Jacobs could wind up being the first running back selected overall. Easterling commented that the skill set of Alabama’s running back could have NFL teams envisioning him as the next version of New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara.
Josh Jacobs Draft Projections
We went over to The Draft Network to see where they have Jacobs projected on big boards, and it’s a lot of love. While Jon Ledyard’s board has Jacobs listed as the No. 13 prospect, he was even higher on the big board of Trevor Sikkema, who listed the Alabama back as his No. 5 best player.
Walter Football has Jacobs’ stock rising and pegged him as a player to watch in the first two rounds of the draft. That seems to be the consensus from most at this point, and the latest mock drafts point to him as a likely mid-to-late first/early second round selection.
NFL.com’s Peter Schrager has Jacobs going to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 26 in his pre-combine mock draft. Staying along that same range, CBS Sports and Jared Dubin also offered a first-round prediction for the Crimson Tide running back, sending him to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 25.
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