The Saban Top 100: No. 5 Barrett Jones

5] Barrett Jones, OL

Won 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy
2011 Outland Trophy
2011 Wuerffel Trophy
2011 Rimington Trophy
2011 ARA Sportsmanship Award
2011 Jacobs Blocking Trophy
2011-12 Consensus All-American (T-C)
2011-12 All-SEC
Fourth-round selection in the 2013 NFL Draft
Played through Lisfranc injury with at least two torn ligaments suffered in SEC Championship Game. Also played in national title game before having surgery that kept him out of the NFL combine
Team captain

Even with all of the great Alabama offensive linemen over the years, only a few truly achieved elite status.

John Hannah, of course, is considered a legend. After leaving the Crimson Tide he was named an NFL All-Pro 10 times (1976-85), and selected for nine Pro Bowls with the New England Patriots. Paul W. “Bear” Bryant once said of him, “In over 30 years with the game, he’s the finest offensive lineman I’ve ever been around.”

Like Hannah, Dwight Stephenson is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and was considered the premier center of his time. Lee Roy Jordan, Vaughn Mancha and Billy Neighbors are all in the College Football Hall of Fame, along with Fred Sington, who won nearly every academic and athletic award while playing for Alabama (1928-30), and also served as student body president his senior year.

Chris Samuels, who in 2012 was back serving as a Crimson Tide student while finishing his degree, and Andre Smith won the Outland Trophy as college’s football’s best interior lineman.

So when Barrett Jones became Alabama’s third member of that exclusive club in 2011, in addition to winning the ARA Sportsmanship Award and the Wuerffel Trophy, he was already in rare air.

“I know they were really good,” Jones said about Hannah and Stevenson. “I see their names around here a lot and obviously John Hannah's a guy who some people say was the best lineman ever.”

Consequently, his place in Crimson Tide lore was already secure even before his senior year, when Jones won another national championship and the program’s first Campbell Trophy, considered the academic Heisman Trophy.

Although Jones wasn’t the biggest player on Alabama’s prized offensive line, the fastest nor even the most talented (even he conceded that it was senior left guard Chance Warmack), he’s the one considered a once-in-a-lifetime- type player.

“I've said this many times, and maybe I can't say it as well each time, Barrett Jones is probably as fine a person, in terms of his leadership, his example that he sets, the willingness that he has to serve other people with his time, in terms of all the things he's done to help other people,” Nick Saban said. “He's one of the best students I've ever had the opportunity to coach, relative to his grade point average and how successfully he is academically.

“As a football player, I don't know I've been around, maybe one other guy who can play every position on the offensive line and do it efficiently and effectively and win awards for all of those and still be as good of a person, as humble of a person, have as much humility as you could ever ask anyone and be very thoughtful of others. Just not very many people like him. He's special.”

That other player who Saban had the privilege to coach was none other than Bruce Matthews, who was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility in 2007. Not only did he play every line position while at Southern California, but with the Houston Oilers. He was named to the Pro Bowl 14 times, tying the record set by Merlin Olsen.

Jones didn’t have similar success in the NFL, yet finished his collegiate years with an unparalleled legacy despite playing three different positions.

“Barrett is a great athlete,” senior defensive end Damion Square said. “Barrett can play all across the front. He's a very smart athlete. He plays the game in his mind. It's amazing how he plays his game in his mind. He's not a real physical guy, but he's a guy that’s so hard to beat because he's always in the right spot at the right time. He changes up his set from center to (left) tackle. That's a very hard thing to do, to move from offensive tackle to center in the spring and come and play in the SEC every week and do that. All the accolades Barrett has, he deserves them and more.”

His success was even more remarkable when considering that Jones played his first two seasons at right guard before switching to left tackle, and then center.

“I don't think he's ever really struggled at all,” Saban said. “He's such a bright guy. He's got great resiliency and adaptability and very flexible in what he can do, and he has the confidence that he can do it. He played the position some last year, so it wasn't like totally new to him. He sort of anticipated that this was going to happen so it wasn't any sort of psychological surprise to him.

“I think the kind of person he is, he sets his mind to being the best he can be at whatever position he's playing, and that's the way he approached this. He's worked hard to become a complete player at the position. He's played extremely well for us all year long.”

Of course, Jones claimed that his last switch, to open a spot for Cyrus Kouandjio at left tackle, wasn’t anywhere near as easy as is looked from the outside or went as smoothly as portrayed. Even after spring workouts, summer conditioning and fall camp it still took him a couple of games to get over the final mental hurdles.

It also gave him an overall appreciation and big-picture understanding of the offense that he could use to his advantage.

“The nightmare in all that is when I make my calls and then I put my head down and (defenders) move and then I put it back up and it's different,” he said. “That's really when it gets very difficult when you're not able to see. I'm kind of a control freak so I don't like that when I put my head up and it's different. I have to rely on my guards to tell me what's going on and what's changed.

“That's one adjustment. There are several. Snapping the ball is a big adjustment. An adjustment people don't talk about that much is being on the ball. The other two positions you're about two yards off the ball, but at center you're right there with a guy, especially against our defense that plays a lot of 3-4 that are right there in your face. That's definitely one of them. One of many.”

Yet it all only helped make him what he was at the end of his collegiate career, truly one of a kind.

•

The Saban Top 100 will be revealed over the course of the 2020 football season, with the top players unveiled one a day as part of BamaCentral's 25 Days of Christmas celebration.

The series thus far:

Introduction

No. 6: Jonathan Allen

No. 7: AJ McCarron

No. 8: Minkah Fitzpatrick

No. 9: C.J. Mosley

No. 10: Amari Cooper

No. 11: Rolando McClain

No. 12: Trent Richardson

No. 13: Andre Smith

No. 14: Quinnen Williams

No. 15: Dont'a Hightower

No. 16: Jerry Jeudy

No. 17: Jalen Hurts

No. 18: Reuben Foster

No. 19: Chance Warmack

No. 20: Mark Barron

No. 21: Jonah Williams

No. 22: Da'Ron Payne

No. 23: Ryan Kelly

No. 24: Landon Collins

No. 25: Cam Robinson

26-30: Terrence Cody, Calvin Ridley, Javier Arenas, Reggie Ragland, Jedrick Wills Jr.

31-35: Dee Milliner, D.J. Fluker, Marlon Humphrey, Rashad Evans, A'Shawn Robinson

36-40: Rashaan Evans, Dre Kirkpatrick, Marcell Dareus, Eddie Jackson, O.J. Howard

41-45: Courtney Upshaw, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Henry Ruggs III, Jarran Reed, Xavier McKinney

46-50: Dalvin Tomlinson, Antoine Caldwell, Kareem Jackson, Cyrus Kouandjio, Trevon Diggs

51-55: Mike Johnson, T.J. Yeldon, Ronnie Harrison, Damien Harris, JK Scott

56-60: Ross Pierschbacher, Eddie Lacy, Bradley Bozeman, Ryan Anderson, Glen Coffee

61-65: Greg McElroy, Josh Jacobs, Anfernee Jennings, James Carpenter, Kenyan Drake

66-70: Terrell Lewis, Blake Sims, Christian Miller, Irv Smith Jr., Tim Williams

71-75: Mack Wilson, ArDarius Stewart, Deionte Thompson, Raekwon Davis, Jalston Fowler

76-80: Josh Chapman, Cyrus Jones, Kevin Norwood, Isaiah Buggs, Jake Coker

81-85: Bo Scarbrough, Anthony Averett, Leigh Tiffin, Ed Stinson, DeQuan Menzie

86-90: Jesse Williams, Shaun Dion Hamilton, William Vlachos, Da'Shawn Hand, Arie Kouandjio

91-95: Nico Johnson, Wallace Gilberry, DJ Hall, Vinnie Sunseri, Quinton Dial

96-100: Trey DePriest, Damion Square, Christion Jones, John Parker Wilson, Simeon Castille