No college football program produces talent like the University of Alabama. Head coach Nick Saban's draft factory has churned out more first-round picks than any coach in history, and more will fly off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft come April.
At wide receiver specifically, the Alabama Crimson Tide have seen stars like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley pass through Bryant-Denny Stadium. And now, the next great Tide wideout is set to enter the NFL.
Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, widely considered the best wide receiver in the country, officially declared for the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday. He is expected to be a top-10 pick and the first receiver off the board.
"I want to give thanks and praise to the most-high; through God, anything is possible. This journey at the University of Alabama has been an amazing experience.
I want to give thanks to my family, the coaches, my football brothers, all of the staff, and our die-hard fans that have made the time that I spent at the University of Alabama a great one. Being able to play the sports I love alongside some of the greatest people in the game, has been a blessing for me. I will forever represent the Crimson Tide.
With that said, I am officially announcing that I will be declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft. Roll Tide!"
Jeudy finished his collegiate career with 2,742 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns. The yardage ranks fourth all-time in Alabama history and only Cooper hauled in more touchdowns. The 2018 consensus All-American won the Biletnikoff Award in '18 and was twice named a first-team All-SEC selection.
The 6-foot-1, 192-pounder capped off his Crimson Tide career by winning Citrus Bowl MVP honors after catching six passes for 204 yards and a touchdown against the Michigan Wolverines.
A go-to playmaker under quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Jeudy was a five-star recruit in the 2017 class and USA Today High School All-American out of Deerfield Beach High School in Pompano Beach, Florida. He made a name for himself against SEC cornerbacks after developing into an elite route runner.
Jeudy's name is all over NFL mock drafts, as he's considered the best draft prospect out of a talented receiver draft class that includes teammate Henry Ruggs, Clemson's Tee Higgins, Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb and Colorado's Laviska Shenault.
ESPN's Todd McShay originally slated Jeudy at No. 3 to the Washington Redskins in his NFL Mock Draft 1.0 following LSU's Joe Burrow to the Cincinnati Bengals and Ohio State's Chase Young to the New York Giants.
The SEC has produced a ton of talented wide receivers over the years, including LSU's Odell Beckham Jr. and Georgia's A.J. Green. Jeudy figures to be next great one on that list and could be even better.
