Who Was the Best Alabama Football Player Under Nick Saban? Just a Minute

With the conclusion of BamaCentral's Saban 250 series, Blake Byler and Katie Windham discuss who they think the greatest player under Saban was.

Jan 5, 2021; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith poses for a photo after being announced the winner of the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Mandatory Credit: Kent Gidley/Heisman Trophy Trust via USA TODAY Sports / Handout Photo-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral staff writers Blake Byler and Katie Windham discuss who was the best Alabama football player across the Nick Saban era of Crimson Tide football, an era which featured six national championships and four Heisman Trophy winners.

With the legendary career of head coach Nick Saban coming to a close, BamaCentral began a series called the Saban 250, which ranked 250 of the greatest players across the Nick Saban era at Alabama.

Saban produced some of the most talented teams ever constructed in the history of college football, and with that came heaps of individual awards and recognitions for these players. Saban had 52 players at Alabama drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, and he had 46 consensus All-Americans during his 17-year career in Tuscaloosa.

He also brought Alabama its first Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram in 2009. Following that, he brought Alabama its second, third, and fourth Heisman Trophy winners as well, running back Derrick Henry in 2015, wide receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020, and quarterback Bryce Young in 2021.

With so many legendary names that have come through Bryant-Denny Stadium and Mal Moore Athletic Facility under Saban, there's almost no wrong answer when it comes to picking the best.