For five consecutive NFL drafts, the league’s teams have selected 21 players from Alabama high schools and colleges. That streak might end when the 32 NFL teams make their picks in the 88th draft this week in Kansas City, Missouri, but in a good way for the players with Alabama football roots.

Thirty-one players from Alabama high schools and colleges are definitely on the league’s draft radar because they attended the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.

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All the combine players cannot be drafted, since there were 319 players at the event and the 2023 NFL Draft will have 259 selections, and players who weren’t at this year’s combine still will show up in this year’s draft.

But the 31 combine players are more than in any year during the five-draft run of 21 draft picks. The combine had 27 players with Alabama football roots in 2018, 22 in 2019, 24 in 2020 and 26 in 2022. The NFL Scouting Combine was not held in 2021.

The combine players in 2023 included:

· Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr.

· Troy offensive lineman Jake Andrews (Stanhope Elmore)

· Alabama defensive back Jordan Battle

· Maryland defensive back Jakorian Bennett (McGill-Toolen)

· Auburn running back Tank Bigsby

· Alabama defensive back Brian Branch

· Auburn kicker Anders Carlson

· Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham (Park Crossing)

· Alabama defensive tackle DJ Dale (Clay-Chalkville)

· Houston wide receiver Tank Dell, who played at Alabama A&M in 2018.

· Charlotte wide receiver Grant DuBose (Park Crossing)

· Alabama offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor Jr.

· Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs

· Auburn linebacker Derick Hall

· Alabama defensive back DeMarcco Hellams

· Louisiana wide receiver Michael Jefferson (Murphy), who played at Alabama State from 2018 through 2020.

· Alabama tight end Cameron Latu

· Auburn linebacker Eku Leota

· South Alabama defensive back Darrell Luter Jr.

· Kentucky offensive lineman Tashawn Manning, who played at Auburn from 2018 through 2021.

· UAB running back DeWayne McBride

· Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe

· Appalachian State running back Camerun Peoples (Clay Central)

· Alabama defensive back Eli Ricks

· Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders, who played at Alabama in 2020 and 2021.

· Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Steen

· Alabama linebacker Henry To’oTo’o

· South Alabama wide receiver Jalen Wayne (Spanish Fort)

· Auburn defensive lineman Colby Wooden

· Alabama quarterback Bryce Young

· Alabama defensive lineman Byron Young

Jefferson likely will not be drafted. He suffered injuries in a traffic accident on April 9 that required him to undergo multiple surgeries.

The NFL Draft starts on Thursday with the first round. The second and third rounds are set for Friday, with the remaining four rounds on Saturday. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will televise the draft, starting at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.

Two of the players with Alabama football roots are considered certain selections on Thursday night – Will Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young. The Carolina Panthers traded up to obtain the No. 1 choice in this year’s draft to select a quarterback, and Young might be that pick.

If the Alabama quarterback turns out to be the No. 1 choice on Thursday night, he would become the eighth player from an Alabama high school or college to be the first selection. The seven players from Alabama high schools and colleges who have been the first pick in an NFL Draft include:

· Alabama quarterback Harry Gilmer (Woodlawn): Washington Redskins, 1948

· Auburn running back Tucker Frederickson: New York Giants, 1965

· Auburn running back Bo Jackson (McAdory): Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1986

· Auburn linebacker Aundray Bruce (Carver-Montgomery): Atlanta Falcons, 1988

· LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell (Williamson): Oakland Raiders, 2007

· Auburn quarterback Cam Newton: Carolina Panthers, 2011

· Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston (Hueytown): Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2015

Two players with Alabama football roots also were first-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, with Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal going to the New York Giants at No. 7 and Crimson Tide wide receive Jameson Williams joining the Detroit Lions at No. 12.

By the end of the second day in the 2022 draft, 15 players from Alabama high schools and colleges had been selected. This week, projections indicate the first three rounds will feature about 12 picks with Alabama football roots, leaving the 157 selections in the last four rounds on Saturday to complete the job of getting the state past 21 drafted players.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.