Eighteen.

That’s how many Alabama players have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft since Nick Saban took over the program in 2007. That doesn’t even include the countless second-rounders or those who were taken in the later rounds.

If you play for Saban, you have a chance at playing professional football. Period.

And during his weekly radio show, Saban was asked an impossible question: Can you name some of the most talented players you’ve ever coached?

Shockingly enough, he obliged.

“I don’t like to make comparisons to players,” Saban responded, “but Amari Cooper probably had one of the more impactful years his last year he was here and catching like 115 passes for an unbelievable amount of yards and setting and setting a lot of records.”

Cooper finished with 124 receptions for 1,727 yards, 16 touchdowns and an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in 2014.

“Julio Jones would certainly fit into that category,” Saban continued. “I would first say the guys that can score touchdowns and have scored touchdowns that are dominant players at their position probably have the most impact on the game.”

So who else is on that short list?

“We’ve had some great running backs here, you know, Mark Ingram, Eddie Lacy, Trent (Richardson), T.J. Yeldon,” Saban concluded. “All those guys were — Derrick Henry — they were all really, really impactful players on our team here. We’ve been fortunate over the years, to not only have great players, but a lot of those players were really, really good people. When the best players on your team have great character, it makes it really fun to be the coach.”

It’s a bit surprising to see Saban take the all-offense route here, but you can’t argue the impact those players made during their time in Tuscaloosa.