Alabama Football Playoff Semifinal Sugar Bowl 2015 vs OSU

Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland (19) knocks the helmet off of Ohio State halfback Jalin Marshall (17) during Alabama's 2015 Sugar Bowl.

(Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Just minutes after Ohio State's Cardale Jones nationally-televised return to Columbus, a potential Alabama draft entry announced his decision with a little less fanfare.

Linebacker Reggie Ragland used Twitter to reveal his plan to return for his senior season.

"I've decided to come back for my senior season! Roll Tide!!!" Ragland tweeted at 3:36 p.m. Thursday.

The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Thursday. The NFL will publish the official list on Monday.

"I've thought a lot about this decision and talked to my family, Coach Saban, and everyone close to me," Ragland said in a statement released by UA. "I'm going to return to the University of Alabama for my senior season. One of the big factors for me and my family is earning my degree and I'm on track to graduate. You only form a brotherhood like this once and I look forward to spending another season here with my teammates. Roll Tide."

Earlier Thursday, Yahoo! Sports reported Ragland's teammate Jarran Reed also planned to return to Alabama for his senior season.

A former top-recruit, Ragland made a big impact in his first season starting at Alabama. The team's second-leading tackler finished with 95 stops, trailing only draft entrant Landon Collins' 103.

Ragland earned a reputation as one of the hardest hitting players on the field. He forced a high-pop fumble in the Tennessee game with a shot on quarterback Josh Dobbs. He also hit Ohio State's Jalin Marshall hard enough to knock the helmet from his head in the Sugar Bowl.

So, to this point, the only three Alabama players who have declared for the NFL draft did so at a school news conference held last Friday. Amari Cooper, T.J. Yeldon and Collins will depart a season early. Cooper and Collins received first-round grades and Yeldon was told he was projected to go in the second round.

Ragland's Twitter account, followed by 19,000-plus users, made subtle comments about the decision in recent days.

"Yall will know about me when the time comes," he wrote Wednesday.

"Today should be fun," he posted Thursday morning.