Later this afternoon, Alabama will hold its annual press conference regarding juniors’ NFL decisions at 2 p.m. CT. This comes two days after the players that received feedback from the NFL Draft Advisory Board sat down with head coach Nick Saban and their families to discuss their respective decisions to either return to school or leave for the league.

Howard caught five passes for 208 yards and two scores vs. Clemson.

As of now, four players’ decisions have been revealed. A trio of defenders in Tim Williams, Eddie Jackson and Ryan Anderson has chosen to forego the NFL Draft and return for their senior seasons, while Derrick Henry will reportedly enter his name into the 2016 draft.

We will know everyone’s choice later this evening, but before that takes place in Tuscaloosa, one draft expert, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., has already evaluated some of the Crimson Tide juniors and their stock at the next level.

Kiper Jr. placed four Alabama players in the first round of his Mock Draft 1.0 (Reggie Ragland to the Chicago Bears at No. 11, A'Shawn Robinson to the New Orleans Saints at No. 12, Jarran Reed to the Detroit Lions at No. 16 and Jonathan Allen to the Buffalo Bills at No. 19) and provided some insight into his thinking via a conference call Thursday afternoon.

For Allen, who paced the Crimson Tide with 12 sacks this season, his pass-rushing ability has stood out to scouts and evaluators when watching his 15 games’ worth of film from his defensive end position. He has not, however, announced he will enter the upcoming draft.

“Jonathan Allen is an outstanding pass rusher,” Kiper Jr. said. “He’s 280-285 pounds, he can stop the run, underrated player all the way through his career. It was always A'Shawn Robinson, and then it became Jarran Reed and there was Allen showing up big in key moments of just about every game.”

But Kiper Jr. wasn’t as complimentary of Alabama’s second Heisman Trophy winner. Despite 2,219 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns this year, the draft expert doesn’t see Henry as a first-day pick in the first 31 selections.

“Henry doesn’t have enough wiggle and change of direction to attract maybe first-round, maybe even second-round interest,” Kiper Jr. said. “He’s a build-up-speed guy, he’s not that initial-quickness-through-the-hole type of player that you need for the NFL, so I would take Henry for third round, maybe second.”

The third junior Kiper Jr. provided a prognosis for was tight end O.J. Howard, who also has yet to announce his intentions. The 6-foot-6 target produced a career-high 208 receiving yards and two touchdowns on five receptions in the national championship game Monday in Glendale, Ariz., and quieted the critics that said he could not be a receiving threat.

“O.J. Howard’s an intriguing guy because you expected so much, and Nick said ‘Hey, we didn’t do a good enough job of getting him the ball,’ and they did it the final two games,” Kiper Jr. said. “You saw the difference maker he could be against Clemson.”

With his season-ending, breakout performance, Howard vaulted himself up draft boards into the No. 2 tight end position, trailing only Arkansas’ Hunter Henry, who was involved on the miracle play against Ole Miss that helped send Alabama to the SEC Championship Game.

“With Howard having that strong workout you would expect with a kid with his size, his physicality and the way he finished, you remember what you saw last,” Kiper Jr. said. “You saw a chance to be a heck of a weapon in the NFL. I would think he could be a second rounder who could be the No. 2 tight end off the board, if not maybe the first tight end off the board.”

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Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging system or on Twitter at @Charlie_Potter.