The 2024 NFL Draft starts on April 25 in Detroit with the 32 first-round picks. In the 88 NFL drafts, teams have chosen 128 prospects who played at Alabama high schools and colleges in the first round, and another 29 who were not first-rounders but were selected in the first 32 picks. AL.com is counting down to the draft by highlighting the players with Alabama football roots who have been chosen in the first 32 picks.

Three Alabama players were selected in the first 32 picks of the 1978 NFL Draft. So were three future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tight end Ozzie Newsome is in both groups.

The Houston Oilers opened the 1978 draft by choosing Texas running back Earl Campbell. At No. 6, the Green Bay Packers picked Stanford wide receiver James Lofton. At No. 23, the Cleveland Browns chose Newsome.

Five picks before the Browns took Newsome, the New England Patriots had picked offensive tackle Bob Cryder from the 1977 Alabama team that finished as the runner-up in the final polls to Notre Dame. At No. 30, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added Crimson Tide fullback Johnny Davis.

Newsome spent his entire 13-season NFL career with Cleveland. In 198 regular-season games, the former Colbert County High School star had 662 receptions for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns.

When he retired after the 1990 season, Newsome ranked fourth in NFL history in career receptions. He also had broken Dante Lavelli’s franchise records for career receptions and receiving yards. Newsome still holds those team records more than three decades past his final game.

Those numbers don’t include Newsome’s 27 receptions for 373 yards and one touchdown in 10 postseason games.

Newsome continued his association with the Browns after his playing days. Entering Cleveland’s personnel department, Newsome accompanied the team to Baltimore, and he made the draft picks for the Ravens for 23 years.

Four other prospects who played at Alabama high schools and colleges have been chosen at No. 23 in an NFL Draft:

· Back Charley Holm (Ensley, Alabama): 1939 by the Washington Redskins. A Birmingham News All-State selection in 1934 and a two-way standout at Alabama, Holm did not play in the NFL after Washington selected him with the eighth pick of third round. In the third quarter of the Crimson Tide’s 14-14 tie with Georgia Tech on Nov. 12, 1938, Holm sustained a knee injury. It turned out to be his last game as he missed Alabama’s 7-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the season finale.

· Running back Antowain Smith (Stanhope Elmore): 1997 by the Buffalo Bills. Drafted from Houston, Smith ran for 1,124 yards for the Bills in 1998 and 1,157 yards for the New England Patriots in 2001 on his way to becoming the former Alabama high school player with the most NFL rushing yards, totaling 6,881 across nine seasons. Smith was the leading rusher for New England in two Super Bowl victories as he tallied 175 yards and one touchdown on 44 carries in the Patriots’ 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI on Feb. 3, 2002, and 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004.

· Defensive end Dee Ford (St. Clair County, Auburn): 2014 by the Kansas City Chiefs. Injuries diminished Ford’s impact in the NFL. He played fewer than seven games in three of his eight seasons and appeared in every game in two seasons. One of those came in 2018, when Ford recorded 13 sacks, led the NFL in forced fumbles with seven and made the Pro Bowl.

· Offensive tackle Tytus Howard (Monroe County, Alabama State): 2019 by the Houston Texans. The only first-round selection from Alabama State, Howard has started all 61 of his games with the Texans while dealing with a couple of injury setbacks. The former Monroe County High School quarterback has been a regular at right tackle and left guard so far in his career.

The Minnesota Vikings hold the 23rd selection in this year’s draft.

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