The meeting between the Tigers and the Crimson Tide annually draws more NFL interest than any other regular season college football game, but it might get topped this weekend. Alabama’s game against Mississippi State could feature as many as five first-round draft picks—at one position group. Saturday afternoon’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium is “somewhat unprecedented,” says Bleacher Report NFL draft analyst Matt Miller. “I don’t think you’d be overselling it if you say this is the best matchup of defensive lines we’ll see this year or we’ll see in a long time.”
Competing in Saturday’s game will be five defensive linemen who are ranked among the top 50 2019 NFL draft prospects, the biggest haul of D-line prospects in a single game since Clemson and Alabama met in the 2015 national championship game, experts say. Alabama boasts three of the five: Nose guard Quinnen Williams is the mostly highly touted of the bunch, ranked by many as a top-10 pick; defensive tackle Raekwon Davis is 6'7", 315 pounds; and tackle Isaiah Buggs is a stat hog with nine sacks, six quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. There are two from Mississippi State: tackle Jeffery Simmons is projected as a sure-fire first-rounder, and Montez Sweat, the only defensive end of the bunch, prides himself on speed and quickness. Good luck to the offensive lines.