The Denver Broncos selected Missouri cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine at No. 145 in the NFL Draft on Saturday.
The fifth-round pick was a standout at Spanish Fort High School.
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Abrams-Draine enters the NFL after earning All-SEC honors and receiving second-team All-American recognition from The Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation in 2023, when he intercepted four passes.
Abrams-Draine came home for the Reese’s Senior Bowl, played in Mobile across the bay from where he starred in high school, then ran a 4.44-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Abrams-Draine became an all-star cornerback with the Tigers after going to Missouri as a wide receiver. His freshman season in 2020 consisted of five games at a wide receiver, but he was a 10-game starter in the Missouri secondary in his second season.
Abrams-Draine had been an All-State wide receiver at Spanish Fort in 2018. He also earned All-State recognition in 2017 and 2019, when he was picked in the athlete slot.
As a senior with the Toros, Abrams-Draine shifted to quarterback and accounted for 30 touchdowns – 19 runs, nine passes and two interception returns.
In the 2019 AHSAA Class 6A playoffs, Abrams-Draine ran for 1,089 yards and 12 touchdowns in five games. That included 295 yards and three touchdowns as Spanish Fort rallied for a 27-24 victory over Opelika in the state semifinals.
Oxford downed the Toros 14-13 in the 6A championship game, during which Abrams-Draine sustained a torn meniscus.
Abrams-Draine won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Back of the Year Award for the 2019 season.
Abrams-Draine also might get a look as a kickoff returner in the NFL. In 2021, he had 21 kickoff returns for an average of 22.4 yards, including a 100-yard touchdown runback in Missouri’s 62-24 loss to Tennessee. He returned only eight kickoffs over the previous two seasons.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.