NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah updated his top 50 prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft on Monday, and five now-former Alabama players were among those top-50 draft prospects.

Jeremiah ranked defensive tackle Quinnen Williams at No. 2, running back Josh Jacobs at No. 6, offensive tackle Jonah Williams at No. 15, tight end Irv Smith Jr.. at No. 25 and linebacker Mack Wilson at No. 49. During a Monday teleconference, the draft analyst fielded questions on three of those players, as well as one Crimson Tide player that should have returned to school and one that could see his draft stock rise with a solid performance at the Scouting Combine.

The first was Jacobs, who Jeremiah when asked about the overall running back class, said is the one player at that position he would feel comfortable turning in the draft card in the first round.

“I have him as my sixth overall player,” Jeremiah said. “I’m a huge fan of his. And one of the knocks on him is he didn’t get as many touches at Alabama because it’s so crowded there. But I think if you gave the league a do-over on Alvin Kamara, whose touches are almost identical to Josh Jacobs, we’d see Alvin Kamara in the top 10, top 15 if you were to redraft that year.

“So, if that’s the only concern you have about him -- I don’t have any concern about that. He’s got vision. He runs with power. He can make you miss. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He can block. There's really nothing he can’t do. So, the knock on him that he doesn’t have touches, I can spin that and say that’s a good thing. There’s still plenty of tread on his tires.”

Jeremiah said Wilson could improve his stock with a strong showing in Indianapolis, Ind.

Alabama inside linebacker Mack Wilson

“Mack Wilson dropped a little bit on my list,” Jeremiah said. “I thought his play kind of trailed off down the year at the end of the year. He’s somebody that has all the athletic ability in the world. We’ll see at the Combine, can he have a great workout and kind of try to recapture a little bit of momentum I think he might have lost there at the end of the year.”

Rounding out the trio of top-50 players, Jeremiah had intriguing things to say about Jonah Williams.

“I think there’s a chance he can hold up at tackle and can be a functioning, starting tackle,” Jeremiah said. “I think he has a chance to be special inside. I think, to me, that’s where he fits best. Some of his length issues, he’s not a real long guy, showed up in the Clemson game this year, showed up in the Clemson game last year, where guys kind of get into his chest and he struggles a little bit on the edge. So, I like him kicking inside. He is a dominating run blocker. You’re talking about somebody who can get his hands on people, work up to the second level, combo block, he’s instinctive, he runs his feet on contact. He played a lot of football there at Alabama.

“I know some teams actually like him at center. I wrote him up and said I think he has a chance to be a perennial Pro Bowl guard with the way that he plays. I love the nasty that he has. I have to come up with a new scouting term if anybody wants to help me because we used to call them ‘typewriter feet,’ but apparently, typewriters aren’t a thing anymore. So, I have to find another way to describe that, somebody that has that quick pitter patter with his feet, he’s a real quick-footed guy.”

Later in the teleconference, Jeremiah was asked if he thought any of UA’s players that declared for the draft would have benefitted by bypassing the draft and returning to school another year.

“They have so many guys that go through. I would say the one that -- I don’t think Deionte Thompson finished up the season the way you’d want to finish it up,” Jeremiah said. “That Clemson game put a lot of doubt in some people’s minds of can he really run? That was a concern there. I thought he kind of had some big games early on in the season where you got really excited about him. Obviously, Ole Miss was one of those.

Alabama safety Deionte Thompson

“But I thought he would have been one to maybe go back, get a little bit stronger and then you go from being in that -- I have him kind of in the mid-to-late second round range. If he goes back to school and gets a little bit stronger and a little bit more consistent as a tackler as well as just making some more plays down the stretch, I think you’re talking about somebody that’s a first-round lock next year.”

Thompson will not be participating in on-field drills at the NFL Scouting Combine because of a wrist injury during training. As for the former Crimson Tide player that is not among Jeremiah’s top 50 prospects, after a moment to ponder, the analyst chose linebacker Christian Miller.

“A guy that’s going to be interesting is Miller,” Jeremiah said. “We’ll see what happens with him. How’s he going to move around, how’s he going to test. I know one thing: he is tall, he’s long. You see him as a rusher. He’s got great hands. He can finish. He’s a little bit stiff in coverage. That’s one of those things if you’re a team looking at him as an outside linebacker, you want to see how does he do going through those drills. Can he change direction? Can he show you a little more fluid? That can be something he can prove that could really help himself in that department.

“So, he’s one I would definitely keep an eye on. I think you might start hearing his name buzz a little bit more after the Combine because he’s a pretty intriguing player.”

Alabama’s Pro Day will take place Tuesday, March 19, at 11 a.m. CT in Tuscaloosa, per NFL.com. Prior to that, 10 former Crimson Tide players will participate in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis between March 1-4. The 2019 NFL Draft is scheduled for April 25-27 in Nashville.

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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