In the last six NFL Drafts alone, the Alabama Crimson Tide have had 44 players selected, the most of any school. Clemson’s 29 draft picks since 2010 ranks ninth, but the two programs’ best products have been their wide receivers and the difference is razor thin.
Alabama and Clemson have provided the NFL with some damn good WRs
Which school has produced the better NFL tandem: Alabama’s Julio Jones and Amari Cooper, or Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins?
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
When the two teams meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley and Clemson’s Artavis Scott are certainly worth keeping an eye on, but both pale in comparison to some of the alumni currently tearing up the NFL.
Alabama alum Julio Jones earned first-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press after racking up 1,871 receiving yards for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, the second most ever in a single season. But an argument could certainly be made that the 1,521 yards tallied by Clemson alum DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans was even more impressive considering he got there with four different starting quarterbacks.
Both schools had a wide receiver get taken with the No. 4 overall selection in the last two NFL Drafts, too, with Amari Cooper going to the Oakland Raiders in 2015 and Sammy Watkins to the Buffalo Bills in 2014. Both eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in 2015, although neither did enough to earn a Pro Bowl nod. Still, the future looks bright for both Cooper and Watkins.
So which school has produced the better NFL tandem: Alabama’s Jones and Cooper, or Clemson’s Hopkins and Watkins?
With neither Watkins nor Cooper yet reaching their full potential and both in need of another year or two to truly reach elite status, the better determination is to pick between Jones and Hopkins, who are both already there. And there is no wrong answer.
Jones led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards in 2015, and was a first-team All-SEC receiver during his time with the Crimson Tide. He had his fair share of ridiculous highlights:
But so did Hopkins, as he became the first receiver to manage to reach 100 receiving yards with four different quarterbacks. He posted another six receptions for 69 yards in a postseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
If there's a tiebreaker between the two schools, it's Martavis Bryant of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft after three seasons at Clemson. He has provided some highlights of his own, including a ridiculous touchdown that helped the Steelers survive the Wild Card round against the Cincinnati Bengals.
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