Nick Saban defends Christian Barmore in response to ‘character concerns’
The New England Patriots confidently traded up to the No. 38 overall pick to select Alabama defensive tackle Christian Barmore.
Barmore stands sat 6-foot-4, 310 pounds and was widely viewed as a first-rounder who sat atop of the group of defensive tackles. He totaled 37 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and eight sacks for the Crimson Tide last year while helping lead the team to a National Championship win (where he was named defensive MVP).
He did fall out of the first round and reports circulated that he resisted coaching from Nick Saban. The Alabama head coach, who has a close friendship with Bill Belichick, refuted those reports ahead of the draft while speaking with Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“We never had any issues here with him at all when it came to structure, whether it was football or academics,” Saban said. “He always worked hard in the offseason program and he did whatever everybody told him to do. We were were very structured in regards to academics and he worked very hard at that.”
He continued to say, “I never had a problem with him. He’s a good kid.”
That could just be Saban pushing Barmore’s draft stock, but it’s difficult to imagine he’d leave details out and deceive Belichick. Barmore adds incredible talent to an already-deep group of defensive linemen.
Odds are more than likely the Patriots got a huge steal in the draft with Barmore at No. 38.
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12 takeaways from the Patriots' 2021 NFL draft class
