Nick Saban: Jonathan Allen a 'steal' for Washington Redskins

The way Nick Saban sees it, other teams' fears about Jonathan Allen were the Washington Redskins' gain in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Allen, the former Crimson Tide star defensive lineman, was once considered a likely top-five pick, but slid all the way to Washington at No. 17 on draft night.

For Saban, that was a theft by the Redskins.

"The Redskins] got a steal because if everyone isn't afraid of his shoulder, which was never a problem, here, he would have been picked in the top five," Saban [told ESPN's John Keim.

Saban is referring to the concerns about Allen's surgically repaired shoulders, which are both moderately arthritic. That wasn't the only concern evaluators had about Allen, though, as one executive predicted a couple weeks before the draft that Allen would be a surprise slider, citing a lack of explosiveness.

Now, before anyone completely dismisses Saban's comment as just another college coach singing the praises of his former player, keep in mind that the Alabama coach doesn't think all of his players are steals.

In fact, Saban told Keim that another Tide player picked by the Redskins in the 2017 draft, second-round linebacker Ryan Anderson, "got picked where he should."

Time will tell if Saban, or the teams that passed on Allen, were right, but Saban's not alone in his thinking. NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock called Allen a steal after the Redskins' pick was announced in Round 1.

If he's still being called a steal years from now, a few GMs might be wishing they had such foresight.

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