HERO Sports is counting down the days until the kickoff of the 2018 college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, by featuring the best player in the FBS at each jersey number, from 99-1. Each day, from May 18 through Aug. 24, we'll publish one article showcasing the best player whose jersey number matches the number of days remaining.
No. 30 Mack Wilson
Alabama – LB
At least one Alabama linebacker has been selected in the NFL draft each year since 2012. Last year, Rashaan Evans and Shaun Dion Hamilton became the eighth and ninth former Crimson Tide linebackers drafted over that seven-year period, and their replacements, Dylan Moses and Mack Wilson (below), could be the 10th and 11th former Tide linebackers drafted over an eight-year period.
While Moses missed a spot on our Best Players at Each Jersey Number countdown (Iowa State's David Montgomery is the top No. 32), Wilson takes the top No. 30 spot.
Like Evans, the 6-foot-2, 239-pound Wilson is a former five-star recruit, and like Hamilton, Evans and a former standout for Carver High School in Montgomery, Ala. And like both, he's expected to be a vocal leader and game-changing player at middle linebacker. After appearing in all 15 games in a special-teams and reserve role a true freshman in 2016, Wilson had 40 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions in 201
"I think both of those guys have really good ability,” Saban said in the spring of Wilson and Evans. “I think the same old theme — because it’s a theme with me and the team — is their consistency in terms of the mental energy and intensity and leadership that they show on a consistent basis. They do it at times, but it’s a little up and down. We have to strive for that with those guys, too."
