Alabama linebackers Chris Braswell and Dallas Turner competed their way into this weekend’s NFL Draft.

“At Bama, we had a production-points system,” Braswell said. “Me and him would always go back and forth who would have the most production points at the end of the season. When we got to the end of the season, it actually ended up being a tie. Me and him was both top three. It all worked out at the end of the day, but that was just competition we had within the room to keep us on our toes.”

Did Turner get a tie-breaker in the 2024 NFL Draft? He went in the first round to the Minnesota Vikings. Braswell went in the second round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who got “just a great fit in our scheme” at No. 57, said John Spytek, the team’s assistant general manager.

“Here’s a kid that went to Alabama to compete,” Spytek said. “He wanted to go play with the best. He ends up behind Will Anderson and Dallas Turner, two really high-end players. When he came in here and visited with us, we asked him, ‘You ever think about leaving?’ ‘No, why would I leave. I picked Alabama. I love Alabama. I’m not afraid of competition. I believe in myself. This is where I want to be.’ And he got to learn from two really good guys that he considered to be really good teammates.

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“And then you put the tape on, and he finally gets a chance to play this year and he produces with eight sacks. He’s our kind of guy. He’s physical. He’s trying to run through your face all the time. He’s going to make you earn it every play, and my experience in the league has been that those guys are tough to block. You get worn down after a while.”

Braswell said he kept digging during his time at Alabama.

“For me, always remaining patient and working hard and keeping my head down is one of the philosophies I live by,” Braswell said. “… I’m a really hard worker, so I just like to keep my head down, keep working hard and just take advantage of the opportunity that’s given to me.”

Although Braswell did not become a starter at Alabama until the 2023 season, Spytek wouldn’t term his game as raw.

“I think Chris is pretty far along in that,” Spytek said. “Maybe he hasn’t played as much football as a lot of guys that you would pick in the second round. He did play 62 percent of the snaps this year. But he came from Alabama. He’s competing against J.C. Latham every day. You ask him, ‘Who’s the best player you played against?’ He said, ‘Can I say J.C. Latham?’ … Those guys slug it out with really good players all the time. They’re super well-taught.”

Tampa Bay is seeking to beef up its pass rush after releasing Shaquil Barrett this offseason. Barrett led the NFL with 19.5 sacks in 2019, but he recorded 4.5 in 2023 and was let go in a salary-cap move in March.

“There’s a premium on these guys in the league,” Spytek said. “You’ve got to be able to affect the quarterback, and we think we found the one who can do that. Pass rush is always at a premium. You have to be able to affect the best quarterbacks in this league. We’ve got to be able to affect the Brock Purdys, the Jalen Hurtses, the Dak Prescotts in this league – we play them this year – otherwise you don’t have a chance. Pass rush is at a premium for us, always will be, and I know we found another guy that’s going to empty for us.”

Braswell was not surprised to be picked by the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay included him among the 30 prospects that NFL rules allowed them to bring to town.

Braswell already has played at the Bucs’ Raymond James Stadium. In Alabama’s 17-3 victory over South Florida on Sept. 16, Braswell had seven tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup.

“It was great,” Braswell said. “I liked the boat, the pirate ship back there. That’s kind of amazing. I never seen anything like that in any other stadium. It’s an overall great city, a great town, a great state and great weather as well.”

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