Nick Saban made his ESPN College GameDay debut on Thursday, the first day of the 2024 NFL draft.

Saban was joined on the Detroit set by host Rece Davis and fellow analysts Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee. Davis asked him how being on the GameDay set compared to leading a team onto the field for a game.

“I’m glad to be a part of a team,” Saban said. “That was something that I thought I’d always miss. This is our crowd now, so I’m all with them.”

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Saban later listed his All-Defense Draft team, which consisted of edge rushers Dallas Turner of Alabama and Laiatu Latu of UCLA, defensive tackles Byron Murphy of Texas and Darius Robinson of Missouri, linebackers Edgerrin Cooper of Texas A&M and Payton Wilson of North Carolina State and defensive backs Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry of Alabama, Cooper DeJean of Iowa, Tyler Nubin of Minnesota and Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo. He then provided a breakdown of each heading into the draft.

“The two guys that I really like on the edge, is Dallas Turner who played for us at Alabama and Laiatu Latu from UCLA,” Saban said. “These two guys can really rush, they’re three-way rushers, they can beat you with speed, they can turn speed to power and they can beat you inside. They’re very athletic

“Byron Murphy inside a really disruptive player; Darius Robinson, probably a little bit more of a 3-4 type defensive end or a three-technique, but a very good player. Both inside backers — and it’s gonna be tough for any inside backer to get drafted in the first round — but I like Edgerrin Cooper from Texas A&M and Payton Wilson from North Carolina State. These guys are really athletic and they can really run and cover and play in space.

“There’s not a lot of safeties in the draft, but Terrion Arnold and Quinyon Mitchell are really good corners. I would actually take guys like Kool-Aid, who played for us at Alabama, and Cooper DeJean, who are both corners who can play corner, but they may end up playing inside for somebody. And then Tyler Nubin is probably the best safety in the draft.”

The NFL draft begins at 7 p.m., with coverage on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network.