2023 NFL Draft Profile: Alabama Safety Jordan Battle

BamaCentral is taking a long look at each of the Crimson Tide's 15 football prospects who could hear their names called during the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City on April 27-29.

Jordan Battle ended up at Alabama because of Urban Meyer. 

That's something you haven't heard too often in college football, especially when the coach and Nick Saban were going toe-to-toe while trying to win national championships. But Battle was committed to Ohio State until Meyer stepped down, and then flipped to the Crimson Tide. 

He contributed as a freshman (four starts with 30 tackles and an interception) before sliding into a starting role for his second season. 

Ironically, he was a leader of the Alabama secondary when it faced Ohio State in the title game at the end of the 2020 season. For the year he was credited with 12 starts, 66 tackles (three for loss), one interception that was returned for a touchdown and four pass breakups. 

Battle was named a third-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-SEC safety in 2021 after notching  84 tackles, three interceptions and returning two for touchdowns, and 15 pass breakups.  

He was again named a third-team AP All-American and first-team All-SEC pick. He had 71 tackles, one interception and two pass breakups during his final season with the Crimson Tide. 

"Jordan Battle's been a really good leader," Nick Saban said about one of the players he had represent Alabama at 2022 SEC Media Days along with with Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Will Anderson Jr. 

Saban always says action speaks louder than words when it comes to that kind of thing.

Alabama Safety Jordan Battle

NFL Combine/Workout Details

Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

No. 9
Position: S
Height: 6002
Weight: 210
DOB: 12/14/2000
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
High School: Saint Thomas Aquinas

40-Yard Dash: 4.55 seconds
10-Yard Split: 1.56
Bench Press: 17

Hands: 08.48
Arms: 32.00
Wingspan: 74.12

What They're Saying About Jordan Battle

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Lance Zierlein, NFL.com: Battle offers the size, speed and pedigree to become a starter early in his NFL career. Film study shows a certain sageness to his game. He is usually where he needs to be on the field and helps his defense move on to the next play. He’s athletic enough for man coverage and is field-aware as a split safety. He’s not a thumper in run support and will miss tackles when he’s slow to find his positioning, but he typically finishes plays that are in front of him. Battle has the physical and mental makeup to upgrade a defense in need of steady safety play.

NFL Draft Bible: A wiry thin safety with good length and athleticism for the position. An incredibly smart football player who you can tell understands the whole defensive scheme at Alabama. He plays with strong instincts as a short zone defender or robber, knowing when he can and cannot take risks within the scheme of the defense. Impressive eye discipline keying the quarterback in zone coverage, showing a natural feel for leveraging routes and seeing concepts develop. Good hip fluidity to turn and run without losing speed, flipping his hips with ease without false steps or losing balance. Athletically shows he can be reliable in man coverage against tight ends and slot receivers. Effectively used as a blitzer who shows the ability to properly time snaps to provide instant pressure off the edge. Tackles well playing in closed spaces and plays with good physicality in the box despite his wiry thin frame. Lacks instincts as a playmaker with his eyes on the quarterback, he fails to anticipate routes or throws to make plays on them. Even when he has a chance to make a play, he just bats the ball down.

In the run game, he can be slow to trigger and fill. Battle likes to keep everything in front of him, failing to locate routes developing behind. Shifty ball carriers can make him miss when he comes downhill with a head of steam. He does not provide much range on the backend and does most of his work in underneath zones or in the box. Plays with a lack of urgency at times, not triggering fast enough to run alleys downhill and bring runs down closer to the line of scrimmage. He takes inconsistent angles to the football, causing him to be an inconsistent tackler in space. A safe player in coverage who prefers to tackle the football instead of making plays on the football. Ball production is not there. He needs to be more aggressive in coverage as opposed to just being okay with being in the right spot. A wiry safety whose playing style looks more suited for playing in the box at the next level. A smart football player who excels as a short zone defender or a guy you can use as a robber and does not blow coverages. Inconsistent coming downhill in run support accompanied with a lack of deep zone coverage abilities hinders his ability to show projection as a two-high safety. He can be a versatile player who can match up with tight ends and add a blitzing element to a secondary in the NFL.

Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network: "Jordan Battle is my third safety. I love the anticipation. I love his eyes. I wish he had a little bit more twitch, but he is somebody that I think especially immediately he is going to get on the field and be really good on special teams as well. Something he did well there."

BamaCentral Analysis

Photo: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

The guess here is low second round because Battle is a good, solid player, but playing a position that teams don't really don't want to invest a high draft pick. That might be changing, though, because of the popularity of receiving tight ends and defenses need players to match up. Battle will likely be a Day Two selection of the draft. The biggest question is does he somehow sneak into the second round?

Projection: Third round. 

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

This is the second story in an annual series profiling Alabama football players available in the upcoming NFL draft.

Linebacker Will Anderson Jr.

Bama in the NFL Database

All-Time Alabama Crimson Tide Players in the NFL
Former Alabama Crimson Tide Players Selected in the NFL Draft