Over the last three drafts, the Detroit Lions have drafted four players out of the University of Alabama. In April, cornerback Terrion Arnold made it three straight years the Lions took an Alabama player in the first round.
According to ESPN Stats and Information, per ESPN Lions' beat writer Eric Woodyard, that's the third time in the common draft era (since 1967) a team has selected players from the same school in the first round of three consecutive drafts.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes pointed to knowing what to expect from players who played under now former coach Nick Saban as part of the appeal of Alabama players. Holmes also said taking three straight Alabama players in the first round was not necessarily the plan, but players from that school naturally fit a template the Lions are looking for.
"I never thought it would have worked out like that with the continuous Bama to Bama to Bama, but I'm not surprised either because we knew how we wanted to build our football team, and those guys have been a stalwart powerhouse in the top college football conference for a very long time."
Terrion Arnold posts appropriate photo of he and Brian Branch
The Lions' Twitter account has been rolling out pictures of players in uniform lately, and Arnold posted one showing him by himself.
Arnold and Brian Branch (the fourth Alabama player the Lions have taken over the last three drafts) notably shared the Crimson Tide secondary in 2022. Arnold became a starter that year, while Branch showed himself as the versatile secondary piece he also proved to be as an NFL rookie last year.
Back together now to lock things down in the Lions' secondary, it'd only be right if Arnold and Branch posed for a photo. They did, and Arnold shared it on Friday with the sub-tweet caption "BAMA BOYZ", with a flex emoji and a tag of Branch's Twitter handle.
Here's a sampling of the reaction to the picture from fans on Twitter.
