Chris Braswell was never a full-time starter at Alabama, but that didn’t stop him from being selected in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.

After totaling eight sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss in 2023, Braswell was selected by the Tampa Buccaneers with the No. 57 overall pick on Friday. Despite being largely a situational player in college, his old coach said the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Baltimore native could play both as a stand-up edge rusher and with his hand on the ground at the next level.

“(Braswell) is really, really a good player, a great pass-rusher, can turn speed into power and make some big-time plays,” Saban said on ABC’s NFL draft coverage. “He can long-arm a guy … playing a guy’s weak-side shoulder. He plays better standing up. He’s probably more skilled when he plays defensive end, but he can drop.”

Braswell was a fourth-star recruit in Alabama’s 2020 class, and redshirted his freshman year. He played sparingly in 2021 and 2022 before blossoming as a redshirt junior as part of a tandem with fellow edge rusher Dallas Turner this past season.

Braswell is the fifth player selected in the 2024 draft, after offensive tackle JC Latham (No. 7 by the Tennessee Titans), Turner (No. 17, Minnesota Vikings) and cornerback Terrion Arnold (No. 25 Detroit Lions) all went in the first round on Thursday. Earlier Friday, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry was drafted in the second round by the New Orleans Saints (No. 41 overall).