The seventh round of the NFL Draft can be full of surprises. It’s where basketball players and specialists and guys who got no draft buzz can show up.
For two former Alabama high school players, the closing picks in the 90th NFL Draft on Saturday held such a surprise.
With the 245th selection, the Washington Commanders chose Arizona running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt even though eligibility issues limited him to one game in 2024.
Croskey-Merritt played high school football at Sidney Lanier in Montgomery and was a second-team All-State selection for the Poets in 2018. He spent the next four seasons at Alabama State, totaling 1,164 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in 31 games.
Bridges spent five seasons at Oregon and started 17 games, with 13 of those coming in 2022. Transferring to Florida for 2024, Bridges started the final eight games of the season for the Gators – three at safety and five at cornerback – and he finished as the team’s leading tackler with 70.
Croskey-Merritt and Bridges closed the selection of 21 prospects who played at Alabama high schools and colleges, including 15 who went on Saturday, when the NFL closed its 2025 draft with 155 selections in the fourth through seventh rounds. In addition to Croskey-Merritt and Bridges, the state picks included:
- Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter: No. 117, Los Angeles Rams
- Alabama safety Malachi Moore (Hewitt-Trussville): No. 130, New York Jets
- Alabama outside linebacker Que Robinson (Jackson-Olin): No. 134, Denver Broncos
- Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson: No. 141, Baltimore Ravens
- UCF cornerback Mac McWilliams (UAB): No. 145, Philadelphia Eagles
- Florida outside linebacker Shemar James (Faith Academy): No. 152, Dallas Cowboys
- Auburn wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith: No. 158, Los Angeles Chargers
- Alabama tight end Robbie Ouzts: No. 175, Seattle Seahawks
- Ole Miss defensive tackle JJ Pegues (Auburn): No. 180, Las Vegas Raiders
- Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (Fairhope): No. 189, Indianapolis Colts
- Alabama defensive tackle Tim Smith: No. 190, Indianapolis Colts
- Auburn outside linebacker Jalen McLeod: No. 194, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson (Pinson Valley, Troy): No. 235, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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NFL teams picked 39 players from the SEC on Day 3 to boost the conference’s total to 79 selections in 2025. The record for picks from one conference in one draft was 65, established by the SEC in 2021 and 2022. The Big Ten also surpassed that mark with 71 selections in the 2025 draft.
This is the 19th year in a row that the SEC has been the No. 1 draft conference.
Ohio State produced the most picks in the 2025 draft with 14 – one more than Georgia and two more than Texas.
Pick-by-pick through the third day of the 90th NFL Draft on Saturday:
FOURTH ROUND
No. 103: Florida wide receiver Chimere Dike by the Tennessee Titans
After opening the draft on Thursday night by taking Miami (Fla.) quarterback Cam Ward, the Titans opened the final day with an SEC player to catch passes from the No. 1 pick. Dike had 42 receptions for 783 yards and two touchdowns and returned 14 punts for a 13.4-yard average for the Gators in 2024.
