Last year South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier claimed that Alabama could beat some NFL teams and would even be favored in some matchups. This of course sparked a debate that we settled by simulating the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Alabama.
Last weekend Alabama easily dispatched another ranked opponent and the Jaguars lost by more than three touchdowns for the third time this season. With Alabama gunning for a three-peat and Jacksonville “playing dead for Ted” we thought we would run this simulation back, except we will simulate the Crimson Tide against every winless team in the NFL.
Alabama: Do they have enough talent to win?
Since the start of the 2011 college football season, Alabama has been at the top of our College Football Power Rankings every single week.
Since 2008, Alabama has had 33 players selected in the NFL Draft. Of those 33 players, 14 have been first round draft picks. In last year’s draft, nine players from Alabama were selected, the most from the school since 1945.
On this year’s squad, eight players rank in the top 200 of the 2014 NFL Draft Prospects (per CBS Sports). This includes three projected first round picks in Cyrus Kouandjio (OT), C.J. Mosley (OLB), and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix (FS). Plus, two of Alabama’s most exciting prospects are true sophomores T.J. Yeldon (RB) and Amari Cooper (WR) who are not avaiable for next year's draft.
Of course the talent is there but how does it stack up against NFL teams?
Alabama vs. the NFL (0-4 teams)
We simulated each matchup on a neutral field, with the assumption that each team had equal time to prepare and that games were played under NFL rules.
