Buggs, too, credited the Alabama program after his later-than-anticipated selection by the Steelers.

"Just a great coach, a great program," he said. "Coach Saban, you have to buy into his system, do what he tells you to do and you'll be successful."

There aren't any guarantees.

The Steelers drafted defensive lineman Joshua Frazier on the seventh round out of Alabama in 2018 (246th overall), and that didn't pan out.

But Buggs considers players such as Frazier the exception to the rule among his Alabama teammates.

"Out of 100 percent of them, probably 99 percent of them are in the league," Buggs suggested. "Just from Coach Saban, doing what you're supposed to do and buying in. It'll get you where you need to be.

"When you get there you don't think about the NFL. You think about getting better, working each day and the NFL will find you."

He might have been exaggerating, overestimating or miscalculating the 99 percent estimation.

But there's no mistaking what Buggs perceives to be the difference at Alabama.

"Just the whole team buying in because they want to win," he said. "When you get a group of guys that buy into the program and do what they're supposed to do, the whole team will be successful.

"Not only will you be successful yourself, you'll be successful for others."

The eventual draft round is relative.

In Buggs' case, it was later than he thought it would be.

So be it.

"I went to Alabama, did what I was supposed to do, still made it to the league," he said.