For more than an hour, there were more WMU players drafted than Alabama

Let’s seal a moment in time, just for posterity’s sake.

Around 8:43 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Tennessee Titans drafted Western Michigan Broncos receiver Corey Davis fifth overall in the NFL draft.

At about 10:04 p.m., the Baltimore Ravens picked Alabama Crimson Tide cornerback Marlon Humphrey 16th overall. He was the first Bama player taken, and he kicked off a run on them. Two of the next three picks were also Bama, with defensive lineman Jonathan Allen going to Washington and tight end O.J. Howard to Tampa Bay with the 17th and 19th picks, respectively. Alabama’s draft night futility was brief.

And yet! It will always be true that WMU had a player drafted 11 picks before the first Alabama player in the 2017 draft. This should be a proud moment for the MAC.

Davis is an exciting pick for Tennessee, too. It was a bit surprising to see him go so soon, but he had a real case as the draft’s best receiver. Davis drops passes sometimes, but his physical talent isn’t deniable. He can fly, and he can sky.

Davis should go on to a really strong NFL career. So should the Bama guys, and all of them have a national title to their resume. Davis will always have an incrementally higher NFL draft placement, however, and that’s not nothing.

The recent record for top-five NFL picks out of the MAC is mixed. Eric Fisher of Central Michigan was the first overall pick by the Chiefs in 2013, and that didn’t go well. But Khalil Mack from Buffalo went fifth the next year, and that sure did.