The Saban 250: Top 50 Begins With A True Alabama Legend, Rashad Johnson

BamaCentral marks the end of the Nick Saban coaching era with the definitive rankings of his top 250 players with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

November 8, 2008; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Rashad Johnson (49) carries the ball into the end zone after intercepting the ball from the LSU Tigers during the first half at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. / Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The top 50 of The Saban 250, ranking the most important players of the Nick Saban era with the Crimson Tide, begins with a player who not only was outstanding on the field, but an even better story: Rashad Johnson.

He didn't win a national championship under the coach, or even an SEC title, yet might have benefitted more from having Saban as a head coach than anyone

 Out of Sulligent High School in Alabama, Johnson didn’t have a single Division I scholarship offer as a recruiting prospect. He walked on to the Crimson Tide under Mike Shula in 2004, as a running back. He moved to safety in 2005 and was awarded a full scholarship in 2006. He was credited with 33 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss in spot duty.

After Nick Saban took over in 2007, his career really took off. Johnson won a starting job at free safety and ended up leading team with 81 tackles. His six interceptions tied for the most in the SEC and 10th nationally.

The following season, when Alabama reached the SEC Championship Game, he was named an All-American. The game he will forever be known for was the Saban "homecoming" game at Death Valley in 2008. Johnson made three interceptions to tie the Crimson Tide single-game record. He returned one for a touchdown, and the last was in overtime, setting up the offense to make the game-winning score in the 27-21 victory.

After helping make a huge impact during the final two years of his career, during which he was named a team captain both seasons, he played eight years in the NFL, seven with the team that drafted him, the Arizona Cardinals.

The Saban 250: 46-50

The Saban 250 ranks the players who made the biggest impact during his time with the Crimson Tide (2007-23).

46. Marcell Dareus, DT, 2008-10

• 2010 All-SEC
• Third-overall pick in 2011 NFL Draft
• Was defensive MVP of the 2010 BCS Championship Game after returning an interception for a 28-yard touchdown against Texas in the Rose Bowl

47. Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, 2009-11

• 2011 All-American
• 2010-11 second-team All-SEC
• 17th-overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft
• Went from making 53 tackles and three interceptions in 2010 to 30 in 2011 as offenses largely avoided him. Had a fumble recovery for a touchdown during final season
• Made 91 career tackles, including eight for a loss, and three interceptions

48. Courtney Upshaw, LB. 2008-11

• 2011 All-American; second-team All-American
• 2011 All-SEC
• Second-round pick in 2012 NFL Draft
• As a junior was credited with 52 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and four forced fumbles
• His senior season accounted for 51 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles
• Had 141 career tackles, including 36.5 for a loss and 17.5 sacks

50. Alex Leatherwood, OL, 2017-20

• Won Outland Trophy 2020
• Unanimous All-American 2020; All-American 2019
• 2020 co-SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy
• 2020 All-SEC
• Team captain 2020
• 17th-overall pick in 2021 NFL Draft
• Played in seven games as a freshman reserve, before taking over as the 2018 starter at right guard. Spent his last two seasons at left tackle
• Played in 48 career games with 41 consecutive starts dating back to 2018
• Averaged an overall blocking grade of 91.5 by the Alabama coaching staff and 99.7 on assignments
• Leatherwood took 832 snaps during the 2020 season and allowed only two sacks, missed only three assignments, and committed just five penalties. He yielded just three quarterback hurries and four pressures

49. Rashad Johnson, S, 2007-08

• 2008 All-American; second-team All-American
• 2007-08 All-SEC
• Third-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft
• Twice named team captain
• Was originally a walk-on running back
• As a junior led the defense with 81 tackles and six interceptions
• Was credited with 89 tackles and five interceptions as a senior
• Tied an Alabama record with three interceptions against LSU (returned one for a touchdown, had another pick in overtime)
• Credited with 216 career tackles, all but 33 of which occurred during the Nick Saban era. All 11 of his interceptions, including the two he returned for a touchdown, happened

Linebacker Courtney Upshaw and the Alabama Crimson Tide defense made the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the 2011 national title. /

The Man From Eufala: Courtney Upshaw

There’s a part of Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw that Crimson Tide fans almost never saw, unless they’re from his hometown Eufaula.

Even though the city of 14,000 was in the state, it wasn’t exactly considered Crimson Tide territory when he was being recruited. Bordering Georgia and pretty much behind enemy lines due to its proximity to rival Auburn, Crimson Tide players from there had been pretty rare, like Paul Trodd (kicker, 1981-83), Jug Jenkins (end, 1949-51) and William Hoadley Merrill (guard, 1910).

Even when in Tuscaloosa, Upshaw regularly visited, and not just his Aunt Donnella Williams, who took in him at age seven along with his brother.

There were the McKenzies, Leigh and Tom, along with their son Will, whom Upshaw met in kindergarten, essentially his second family. The Haygoods helped him buckle down academically so he could qualify for his scholarship. 

The schools where he attended classes, yes, he dropped by them too.

“When I go home I try and spend time with kids,” Upshaw explained in 2011. “If school is in, I’ll go to the elementary school. Go out to the high school and say hey to the people who taught me and what-not, the principal, those who lent a hand to me getting into college, my passing and tutoring me on the grad exam.

“Just because of the way I grew up. I didn’t really have a role model, to be honest. When I grew up I really didn’t just have anyone to help me.”

It was with this backdrop that Upshaw found himself home the day after the April 27, 2011 tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, and like so many others wanted to do something to help. Because of the connections developed through the years, he asked about what could be done within the NCAA-rule boundaries, and they turned to out to be the right people.

With the help of Circuit Judge Burt Smithart and other Eufaula residents, Upshaw set up “The 41 Fund” to aid victims of the disaster. To help fund it, autograph sessions with all of the proceeds geared for the foundation were green-lighted through the Alabama compliance department.

Even he was surprised by the response. The lines were huge and others contributed to help raise thousands, with three U-Haul trucks full of relief items quickly sent to Tuscaloosa.  

“I knew I would raise some money, but I didn’t think I would raise that much,” Upshaw said. “It was a bunch of people. I thought it was just going to be ’Bama fans, doing that in my hometown full of Auburn people, but a lot of people showed up.”

More than that, Eufaula took an immense amount of pride in its crimson-wearing son, the kind in which people asked to have their babies photographed with him. The public court records website boasted: “The town plays home for a few well know people like Martha Reeves, the lead singer of the American Motown group Martha & the Vandellas, Lula Mae Hardaway, mother of Stevie Wonder, and Courtney Upshaw, linebacker for the University of Alabama football team.”

Upshaw just hoped to have a season worthy of that kind of praise, and maybe propel himself into a top pick in the NFL draft. Despite being hobbled by a high-ankle sprain that that kept him from pushing off or getting a good jump with the snap, he still developed into Alabama’s best pass rusher in 2010. 

Upshaw notched 10 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles against Auburn, and was just as potent against Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Earlier in the season he was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week against Florida (seven tackles, four for a loss, one forced fumble and two passes broken up), when his mom, who had recently re-entered his life, saw him play for the first time with Alabama.

We’re guessing that she was impressed. His teammates certainly were.

“Can I say the four-letter word?” sophomore tight end Michael Williams said about continually trying to stop No. 41 in practice. “Every day that's how it is.”

“It’s not pretty,” junior running back Trent Richardson said about trying to pick Upshaw up on a blitz. “He’s one of the strongest and biggest guys you’ll ever find on a football field, and he’s pretty fast, too. When I look at him and know he’s blitzing, I’m like, ‘Maaaaannn.’ You can’t cut in practice, so I’ve got to go toe-to-toe with him. We’re about the same in strength, but that body he’s got is something else.”

“It’s a challenge,” junior offensive lineman Barrett Jones summarized. “The best rushers in any league are guys who can beat you with speed and power. The thing about Courtney is he is the perfect hybrid of speed and power. He’s so fast off the edge and he can beat you with a speed rush. But the second you kind of soft set him so you set back and handle that speed rush, he’ll just run right over you. So he really is an extremely difficult guy to block.:

ESPN.com rated him the 10th-best player in the SEC heading into the 2011 season. In media balloting for preseason All-SEC honors only four other defensive players received more votes (three of  whom were teammates: linebacker Dont’a Hightower, safety Mark Barron and nose tackle Josh Chapman), and just 11 overall.

“I don't see a way to block him,” Hightower said. “You slide him or you double-team him, but he'll find a way to get to the ball.”

See also: 51-60, O.J. Howard was Mr. Clutch in CFP Title Games

Next up: 41-45