Alabama guard Emil Ekiyor Jr. signs with hometown team as undrafted free agent

A fixture of Alabama’s offensive line for the past three seasons is staying home to start his pro football career.

Emil Ekiyor Jr. signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. Alabama’s other offensive line prospect, tackle Tyler Steen, went on Friday night to the Philadelphia Eagles. Ekiyor’s signing was reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Ekiyor was a four-star prospect out of Indianapolis, Indiana and was the third-ranked center in his class according to 247Sports Composite. After picking Alabama over Tennessee, Michigan and others, Ekiyor appeared in 12 games his first two seasons, eventually settling in at right guard. In 2020, he entered the starting lineup for what would be 18-straight games before an injury moved him to the bench for Week 1 last fall.

Ekiyor was part of the 2020 national championship team, joining four returning starters and future NFLers Evan Neal, Landon Dickerson, Alex Leatherwood and Deonte Brown. Blocking for Mac Jones and highly talented skill players, the Tide had the nation’s best-scoring offense (48.5 points per game).

As a redshirt senior, Ekiyor was named to the All-SEC first-team by coaches and the Associated Press. The Tide have had 21 offensive linemen drafted since Nick Saban became head coach in 2007. Dickerson was the last guard selected in 2021 (second round to the Eagles).

MORE Draft: How many players did Alabama have drafted, and how did that compare to Georgia?

Alabama 2023 NFL draft picks:

First round

1. QB Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

3. OLB Will Anderson, Houston Texans

12. RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

Second round

45. S Brian Branch, Detroit Lions

Third round

65. OL Tyler Steen, Philadelphia Eagles

70. DL Byron Young, Las Vegas Raiders

95. S Jordan Battle, Cincinnati Bengals