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Alabama Football: Ranking the Top 10 inside linebackers of the Nick Saban era

By Matt Melton

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: C.J. Mosley #32 of the Alabama Crimson Tide stands on the field during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: C.J. Mosley #32 of the Alabama Crimson Tide stands on the field during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Dont’a Hightower (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images) /

4. Reuben Foster

Career Stats: 223 tackles, 24 TFL, 7 sacks, 9 PD across 45 games

Sitting at No. 4 is Foster, who originally came to Alabama as a five-star prospect, one who was the nation’s No. 1 inside linebacker in the 2013 class, out of in-state Auburn High School, and would immediately make a name for himself on special teams for the Crimson Tide as a freshman. Foster would go on to play four seasons in Tuscaloosa from 2013-16, finishing his collegiate career with 223 tackles, 24 TFL, seven sacks, and nine PD.

A one-time national champion in 2015, Foster’s career at Alabama is likely headlined by his 2016 senior season as well, where he would rank No. 2 in the SEC with 115 tackles, along with owning 13 TFL and five sacks to be named Consensus All-American, as well as win the Butkus Award. The former five-star would also be selected with the No. 31 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

3. Dont’a Hightower

Career Stats: 234 tackles, 21 TFL, 5 sacks, 1 INT, 7 PD, 1 FR, 2 FF across 44 games

Coming in at No. 3 is a name that you could certainly make an argument for as potentially being higher on this list in Hightower, who came to Alabama in the Crimson Tide’s 2008 recruiting class as a four-star prospect out of Marshall County High School in Tennessee. A four-year player with the Crimson Tide, Hightower would conclude his Alabama career with 234 tackles from 2008-11, along with 21 TFL, five sacks, one INT, seven PD, one FR, and two FF.

Hightower would win two national championships with the Crimson Tide in 2009 and 2011, with his best single-season in Tuscaloosa likely being his 2011 senior campaign, where he amassed 85 tackles with 11 TFL and four sacks to be named a Consensus All-American. Hightower would be selected with the No. 25 overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft after that season as well, and would go on to win three Super Bowls with two Pro Bowl selections as a member of the New England Patriots.

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