2021 NFL Draft: 5 players who could be surprise first-round picks

Just in case Alabama didn’t have enough guys on an annual basis being considered first-round prospects, their starting center is getting love in NFL circles and could wind up being a first-round pick.

If you had said even a few months ago that Alabama would have a first-round offensive lineman, most people would have probably guessed it would be Alex Leatherwood, the left tackle who had been a projected first-round pick even dating back to before he decided not to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.

Landon Dickerson is not built like a traditional center. He’s not a shorter, squatty guy with shorter arms. He looks like he should be playing the left tackle position with his massive 6-foot-5, 325-pound frame, and he was the leader of a great unit at Alabama.

He won the Rimington Trophy last year, the award given to the best center in college football, and if there is a team in the first round that doesn’t have a long-term solution right now at the position, Dickerson could come in and solidify that pretty quickly.

Especially teams later in round one who would risk him not being there at the back end of the second round.