Nick Saban is fuming mad again, and this time is at all those NFL Draft experts out there who determine who’s going to be great at the next level and who’s not.
Saban’s increased frustration with certain draft experts reportedly stems from the recent barrage of criticism aimed at Alabama star left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio.
Kouandijo has been criticized for his play early and often this year by draft experts and analyst. Saban said Kouandjio has “played very well overall,” and during his news conference, Saban had a few choice words for the Mel Kiper’s and Todd McShay’s of the world.
“I think a lot of expectations are created with these guys,” Saban said. “I hate it thatMel Kiper and all these guys say this is the No. 1 guy at his position. They don’t even have an idea.”
Kiper of course has been ESPN’s go to draft expert for 20 years. That didn’t seem to impress Saban much.
“And most of the teams haven’t even evaluated them yet when they’re underclassmen,” Saban said. “But what it does create is this expectation that this guy is the best left tackle that ever played the game. So every time he gets beat, well, he isn’t playing very well.
“But the fact of the matter is, is he still plays pretty well. Has he gotten beat a few times? Yeah. Is that unusual for any player? Probably not. I’m sure if you ask him, he would tell you things he’s like to improve on and do better. And I think there’s things that I’d like for him to improve on and continue to get better. But nobody here is disappointed in the way he’s performed and we’re going to keep on helping him to be the most consistent performer he can be.”
I think Saban is starting to feel some of the heat from pundits who have been overly critical of Alabama players in the NFL lately.
This less about Kiper and more about Saban’s frustration with Bama players being built up in college, only to somewhat fail in the NFL.