Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: DeMeco Ryans

DeMeco Ryans could be considered the best player of the Mike Shula years as he was the program's top draft pick between 1998-08 (between first-round selections Dwayne Rudd and Andre Smith).

During his senior season, the linebacker led Alabama with 76 tackles including 9.5 for a loss, en route to being named a first-team All-American, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and Lott Trophy winner as college football’s best impact defensive player. Impact is actually an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity.

Still, he surprisingly fell out of the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft, when Houston Texans quickly snatched him up. He led the league with 126 solo tackles and all rookies with 156 tackles, the most tackles by a rookie over the last 20 years, and was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, edging former Tide teammate Mark Anderson with the Chicago Bears.

He was also named the Alabama Sports Writers Association Professional Athlete of the Year.

The product of Bessemer, Ala., had a 10-year NFL career, with Houston (2006-11) and the Philadelphia Eagles (2012-15). He appeared in 140 games (139 starts) and registered 735 tackles, 46 passes defensed, 13.5 sacks, 10 fumble recoveries and seven interceptions.

Ryans was named All-Pro in 2007, and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2007 and 2009.

He's since gotten into coaching. Ryans served as the defensive quality control coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, and he's subsequently been the team's inside linebackers coach.

One of the players who has excelled under Ryans is Fred Warner, who as a rookie in 2018 started all 16 games and led the 49ers with 123 tackles, while adding one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and six passes defensed. His 123 tackles ranked third among all rookies and 12th in the NFL.