The Redskins do love their defensive players from Alabama.

They took them 1-2 in last year’s draft, taking DL Jonathan Allen in the first round and outside linebacker Ryan Anderson in the second.

Neither player helped a lot as a rookie. Allen was playing very well but he suffered a Lisfranc injury in the fifth game of the season and went on injured reserve. Anderson never did get much traction and he didn’t register a sack. It should be noted that his opportunities were limited (82 pass rush snaps) playing behind Ryan Kerrigan (438), Preston Smith (368), and Junior Galette (258).

The lack of instant impact from the Bama players did not deter the Redskins from adding two more last week. This year it was 1-5 with Crimson Tide defenders with DL Da’Ron Payne taken in the first and inside linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton in the fifth.

When Doug Williams was asked about the team’s propensity to draft Alabama defenders, he said one of those things that everyone in his position usually says. It’s just a coincidence.

“Well, number one, it’s about good players,” he said. “One thing we can’t deny, Alabama has had some pretty good players over the last few years. If there’s a guy that’s sitting there that you feel like the best player for your team, whether or not he’s from Alabama or Grambling or Southern, you’ve got to go get that guy.”

It comes down to your definition of “best player." A typical Nick Saban recruit has a solid work ethic and takes football very seriously. They are well coached and disciplined on and off the field. The team comes before individual honors. That just happens to fit the profile of what the Redskins (and most other teams) are looking for when they grade players to determine the best available.

History indicates that perhaps Alabama defenders are not necessarily a sure thing. Six front seven defenders who played under Saban have been drafted in the first round. The jury is still out on Allen. LB Reuben Foster started 10 games for the 49ers as a rookie last year but he is looking at some possible legal issues. Off-field issues derailed the career of LB Rolando McClain, who was the eighth overall pick of the draft.

The other three have done well. LB C.J. Mosley, LB Dont’a Hightower, and DT Marcell Dareus all have made at least one Pro Bowl. Dareus did serve a four-game substance abuse suspension in 2016, but all three are impact defenders.

When you get past the first round the impact front seven players are few and far between. Of the 16 of them drafted, only LB Courtney Upshaw of the Ravens and DE Quinton Dial of the 49ers have been their teams’ primary starters for more than one season. Upshaw has seven career sacks; none of the others has more than 5.5 and nine of them have none.

This doesn’t mean that Allen, Anderson, Payne, and Hamilton will be disappointments. Each player has his own path and where he went to college is just one of a number of factors that influences the direction of that path. Health, coaching, scheme fit, and opportunity have more to do with it than the alma mater.

But the quartet of former teammates with the Crimson Tide faces high expectations because of their draft positions (with the exception of Hamilton) and the need for the Redskins to have success defensively. We will see how it all turns out.

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Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCSand follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS.