Da'Ron Payne

Defensive tackle| Alabama| Junior 

Height:6-foot-2 | Weight: 311 pounds

College Stats

2017: played and started in all 14 games; recorded 53 total tackles (21 solo, 32 assisted) along with a tackle for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery and four passes defensed; selected as the Defensive MVP of the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game; earned Second-Team All-American honors from the AFCA; named as a First-Team All-SEC selection by the media and a Second-Team All-SEC selection by conference coaches

Career: played in 44 career games; recorded 102 total tackles (39 solo, 63 assisted) along with 5.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and five passes defensed; selected as the Defensive MVP of the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game; earned Second-Team All-American honors from the AFCA; named as a First-Team All-SEC selection by the media and a Second-Team All-SEC selection by conference coaches

Combine Results

40-yard dash: 4.95 seconds

Bench press: 27 reps of 225 pounds

Broad jump: 8 feet, 11 inches

Vertical jump: 28.5 inches

3-cone drill: 7.58 seconds

20-yard shuttle: 4.71 seconds

Profile

Summary:Payne is the latest in a long line of dominant Alabama defensive linemen. The junior might not have racked up gaudy statistics, but Payne was a force against opponents' ground games, recording 45 of his 53 total tackles in 2017 against the run. Payne was a key defensive piece that helped the Crimson Tide claim the College Football National Championship as Alabama held Georgia to just 3.0 yards per carry in the title game.

**Lance Zierlein of NFL.com** wrote Payne is a force to be reckoned with in the trenches because he is "built like a wall of granite with exceptional lean muscle mass" who has "tremendous natural strength." Zierlien noted Payne's ability to play the run as he wrote that he is a "run-stuffer deluxe with elite contact balance and body control."

Stacking up: NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock had Payne as the No. 2 interior defensive lineman before and after the combine. ESPN draft expect Mel Kiper, Jr., listed Payne as the top defensive tackle in his most-recent rankings. NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks has Payne as his fourth defensive tackle in the draft.

Double trouble: Payne scored on both sides of the ball in college. He had a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 2016 before hauling in a 1-yard touchdown catch in 2017.