What Miami did in the 2004 NFL Draft has been untouchable the past 15 years, and with good reason.

Six 1st-round picks is no small feat. Some Power 5 programs go an entire decade without that many 1st-round selections. There have, however, been threats to that feat.

Ohio State fell just shy, with 5 in the 2016 NFL Draft. Alabama had 4 in 2017. Others like USC’s 2008 class also have come close — 4 1st-round picks and 7 in the first 2 rounds — but haven’t been able to get it done.

Alabama and LSU, dare I say, might finally be the team to match Miami.

I know, I know, I know. We say this all the time. It’s said during the season a lot, too. But now that we’re post-NFL Combine, I thought it was at least worth digging into.

NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah had 6 Alabama players and 5 LSU players coming off the board in his post-Combine mock draft. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, on the other hand, had 4 LSU players in the 1st round, but he had 6 in his first 38 picks. Miller also had 5 Alabama players in his 1st round and 6 in his first 46 picks.

What does that mean? Nothing in terms of actual draft feats. But it does mean that Alabama and LSU have at least 6 guys who theoretically can be picked in the 1st round and it wouldn’t be totally out of nowhere.

Here’s where each of those prospects came in for Miller and Jeremiah in their post-Combine mock drafts (Miller did 3 rounds while Jeremiah did 1):

Joe Burrow, LSU No. 1 No. 1 Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama No. 5 No. 5 Jedrick Wills, Alabama No. 9 No. 8 Jerry Jeudy, Alabama No. 12 No. 12 K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU No. 14 No. 14 Henry Ruggs III, Alabama No. 21 No. 18 Patrick Queen, LSU No. 23 No. 20 Justin Jefferson, LSU No. 22 No. 21 Xavier McKinney, Alabama No. 31 No. 31 Kristian Fulton, LSU No. 38 No. 25 Trevon Diggs, Alabama No. 46 No. 27 Grant Delpit, LSU No. 34 Not listed

Obviously those aren’t the only 2 draft opinions. They are, however, 2 of the top 4 draft experts in the business — in my opinion — giving a post-Combine evaluation and not just a way-too-early take in September when players from powerhouse programs tend to get the benefit of the doubt.

And for what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus’ post-Combine mock draft has 6 LSU players coming off the board in Round 1 compared to 5 for Alabama. Sports Illustrated actually has 6 projected 1st-round picks apiece in its post-Combine mock draft.

Again, this is just saying there’s a chance.

Those are 6 guys from each team who have a legitimate shot to come off the board in the 1st round. The margin for error, however, is slim. We’re not talking about 9 guys on each team who are in the discussion for Round 2 or better. It would take essentially a perfect Round 1 in order for that to happen for Alabama or LSU.

The crazy thing is, Dylan Moses, Alex Leatherwood, DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris all returned to Alabama instead of leaving for the NFL Draft. Even if just 2 of them had left for the NFL, there’d be a realistic expectation that Alabama would at least match Miami. But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Alabama’s run at history feels like it’ll come down to McKinney and Diggs. The top members of the Alabama secondary in 2019 were part of a defense that was the worst statistically since Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa in 2007, but Alabama did rank No. 11 against the pass and it had the No. 4 unit in team passing efficiency defense. That happened in part because Diggs was phenomenal in coverage for most of the year while McKinney can do it all from the safety position (don’t tell me the Shaun Shivers play will prevent him from being a 1st-round pick).

LSU’s path to a perfect 1st round is different in that the Tigers had several players rise up draft boards with their deep run. The 2 guys in the 1st round who blew up the most, especially down the stretch, were Jefferson and Queen. They made themselves some money in the postseason. There’s no doubt about that. But the buzz hasn’t really worn off with them. Jefferson ran a 4.43-second 40 at the Combine, which answered the biggest question scouts had about his straight-line speed. Meanwhile, Queen had a 4.5 40, a 35-inch vertical and a 10-foot-5 broad jump.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a post-Combine mock draft without Jefferson or Queen in the 1st round. Go figure that it might actually be Delpit and Fulton as the biggest question marks after they looked like LSU’s safest bets to become 1st-round picks coming into 2019.

There are still of course a few things left on the table that’ll determine whether LSU or Alabama can make some history come April. Pro days and team meetings will certainly factor into the equation. Medical reports could also sway a pick here or there.

Something always prevents this feat from happening. There’s a reason why just 3 draft classes have ever had 5-plus 1st-rounders from the same school (2004 Miami, 2006 Ohio State and 2016 Ohio State). Even on teams loaded with talent, we pick these prospects apart. That 2016 Ohio State class was historic, but the best pro of the bunch was Michael Thomas, who wasn’t even picked until the middle of the 2nd round.

Maybe Alabama or LSU will have a non-1st rounder become its best pro from the 2020 class. Perhaps it’ll be an afterthought after a historic start to the draft.

Don’t rule it out.