After a star-making 2020 season at Alabama, quarterback Mac Jones is going to the NFL draft along with three of his teammates.

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, cornerback Patrick Surtain II, defensive lineman Christian Barmore and Jones all announced Thursday that they have declared for the 2021 NFL draft, per ESPN's Field Yates.

Jones was an unheralded recruit when he committed to Alabama in 2017. The Jacksonville, Florida, native was a 3-star recruit and 18th-ranked pro-style quarterback in his recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. 

The Crimson Tide also had Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa on the roster during Jones' first year with the program. He played sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 2018 behind those two, throwing 13 passes in six games. 

When Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending hip injury against Mississippi State on Nov. 16, 2019, Jones became Alabama's starter for the rest of the year; Hurts had transferred to Oklahoma that year. He showed promise with 1,503 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions with a 68.8 completion percentage in 11 games. 

After Tagovailoa left for the NFL following the 2019 season, Jones was given the keys to the Crimson Tide's offense as a junior. He exploded onto the scene in a shortened regular season. 

He led Bama to an 11-0 regular season and the SEC championship before being named a Heisman Trophy finalist and winning the national championship over Ohio State. Altogether, he threw for 4,500 and 41 touchdowns with a 77.4 completion percentage this season.

B/R's Matt Miller projected Jones to go No. 15 overall to the New England Patriots in a December mock draft:

"Bill Belichick tabs his quarterback of the future. Jones' deep ball is a thing of beauty, and he is more agile in the pocket than given credit for. In fact, you could argue he shows a lot of the traits with which Jimmy Garoppolo intrigued the Patriots early in his career. A younger, cheaper and potentially better version of a quarterback this front office loved."

Alabama is riding a hot streak of developing quarterbacks for the NFL. Tagovailoa was a first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins last year. Hurts showed promise with the Philadelphia Eagles after taking over for Carson Wentz late in the 2020 season. 

Waddle collected 591 yards and four touchdowns this season before fracturing his ankle at the end of October. He did not see the field again until the national championship game, when he tallied 34 yards on three receptions in limited playing time. 

In the two seasons leading up to his injury, he was earned multiple SEC honors, including freshman of the year in 2018, when he collected 848 yards and seven touchdowns on 45 receptions. In 2019, he was named the league's special teams player of the year after scoring on a kickoff return and a punt return while snagging 33 passes for 560 yards and six touchdowns.

Surtain, whose father Patrick was a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Miami Dolphins, was a major cog in Alabama's defense en route to the title, posting 38 tackles and an interception while breaking up a career-high 12 passes. 

Barmore, a 6'5", 310-pound sophomore, tallied eight sacks and three pass breakups with 22 tackles and three forced fumbles this season while dealing with a knee injury.