The NFL Draft’s Alabama roots: Pick No. 20
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.
The 20th selection of the 2010 NFL Draft needs a contract for 2024 to become the fourth Alabama alumnus to appear in 15 NFL seasons.
If defensive back Kareem Jackson returns, he would join quarterback Bart Starr, who played in 16 NFL seasons, and punter Chris Mohr and quarterback Ken Stabler, who appeared in 15.
During the 2023 season, Jackson became the fourth Alabama alumnus to play in 200 NFL regular-season games, joining Mohr, tight end Howard Cross and linebacker Cornelius Bennett. Jackson needs seven starts to join Bennett as the only Alabama alumni with 200 in the NFL.
Jackson spent his first nine NFL seasons as a cornerback with the Houston Texans. In 2019, he joined the Denver Broncos as a safety.
Last season, Jackson returned to the Texans for his most recent two games after being released by Denver following two suspensions by the NFL for hits on pass receivers.
Even with its length, Jackson’s NFL career isn’t the most decorated for a pro prospect from an Alabama high school or college selected at No. 20 in the draft.
Chosen in that spot by the Philadelphia Eagles as the eighth pick in the second round in 1960, linebacker Maxie Baughan went on to earn a Pro Bowl invitation in nine of his first 10 NFL campaigns and receive first-team All-Pro recognition in 1964 and 1969.
An All-State player for Bessemer City, Baughan had a College Football Hall of Fame career at Georgia Tech and kicked off his NFL tenure as a champion when the Eagles won the league title in 1960.
Four other players from Alabama high schools and colleges have been the 20th selection in an NFL Draft:
· Fullback Hosea Rodgers (Brewton, Alabama): 1946 by the New York Giants. The fifth pick of third round in 1946, Rodgers’ pro career consisted of a single season with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-American Football Conference in 1949. An All-State selection for Brewton High School’s 1941 undefeated team, Rodgers was a freshman fullback on Alabama’s 1942 Orange Bowl team. Because of World War II, the Crimson Tide didn’t field a team in 1943, but Rodgers was an All-Southern Conference selection for North Carolina. After the war, he got drafted by the Giants, but Rodgers returned to play three seasons for the Tar Heels before signing with the Dons. He was Los Angeles’ leading rusher with 494 yards and five touchdowns on 131 carries in 12 games in 1949.
· Wide receiver Dennis Homan (Muscle Shoals, Alabama): 1968 by the Dallas Cowboys. Homan entered the NFL after earning consensus All-American recognition with 54 receptions for 820 yards and nine touchdowns in 1967. Homan’s single-season school record for receiving yards stood until 1993, when David Palmer became Alabama’s first 1,000-yard receiver. In five NFL seasons, Homan totaled 37 receptions for 619 yards and two touchdowns.
· Linebacker Dwayne Rudd (Alabama): 1997 by the Minnesota Vikings. In seven NFL seasons, Rudd played in 109 regular-season and nine playoff games and became an NFL record-holder. In 1998, Rudd had the most fumble-return yards in a single season in NFL history. One of his three fumble recoveries in 1998 had only a 1-yard return, but Rudd took the other two 62 and 94 yards for touchdowns.
· Wide receiver Kadarius Toney (Blount): 2021 by the New York Giants. The former Blount High School quarterback entered the NFL as a wide receiver from Florida. Toney was traded by the Giants to the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2022 season, and he caught a touchdown pass and recorded the longest punt-return in Super Bowl history in a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL championship game for that season. Kansas City won the Super Bowl again in the 2023 season, but Toney missed the final three regular-season games and all four playoff contests. In 32 NFL regular-season games, Toney has 82 receptions for 760 yards and three touchdowns.
The Pittsburgh Steelers hold the 20th 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.