The 2024 NFL Draft starts on Thursday 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.

Four of the five prospects from Alabama high schools and colleges picked at No. 3 in an NFL Draft went on to become all-stars. The puzzle, though, is why the fifth one did not.

When the Cleveland Browns chose Alabama running back Trent Richardson at No. 3 in the 2012 NFL Draft, he was coming off a season in which he set school records with 1,679 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns and placed third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy for the 2011 BCS national-championship team.

In 15 games as a rookie, Richardson ran for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns on 267 carries and caught 51 passes for 367 yards and one touchdown. He was the seventh rookie in NFL history with at least 950 rushing yards, 50 receptions and 12 touchdowns.

But two games into Richardson’s second season, the Browns traded the running back to the Indianapolis Colts for a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Richardson averaged only 2.9 yards per rushing attempt in 14 games with Indianapolis in 2013. In 2014, Richardson ran for 519 yards and three touchdowns on 159 carries and caught 27 passes for 229 yards in 15 games.

Although he was on the rosters of the Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders, Richardson never played in the NFL again, although he did get on the field with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League and the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football.

The other four prospects with Alabama football roots chosen at No. 3 also starred for the Crimson Tide:

· Offensive tackle Chris Samuels (Shaw, Alabama): 2000 by the Washington Redskins. Samuels was a six-time Pro Bowler. He started all 141 regular-season games in his NFL career at left offensive tackle for Washington before a spinal condition abruptly sidelined him in his 10th season.

· Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (Huffman, Alabama): 2011 by the Buffalo Bills. Dareus received two Pro Bowl invitations, earned first-team All-Pro recognition once and was paid $89.532 million while playing in 121 regular-season games in nine NFL seasons.

· Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (Wenonah, Alabama): 2019 by the New York Jets. Williams was a first-team All-Pro selection in his fourth NFL season, signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension with the Jets and made the Pro Bowl Games again in 2023.

· Linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama): 2023 by the Houston Texans. Anderson won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year awards presented by The Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers of America. He switched to defensive end with the Texans.

The New England Patriots hold the third selection in this year’s draft.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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