Alabama Loses Three Juniors to NFL: Barron, Maze, Upshaw Stay

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) With a midnight Saturday deadline to declare for the NFL draft, only the expected shoes dropped for Alabama with Julio Jones, Mark Ingram and Marcell Dareus being the three to leave early.

There was widespread speculation on others, but the remaining junior stars have all decided to stay and come back for their senior season.

Marquis Maze was seen as a long shot to leave, but a good post season game did add fuel to the speculation over him to leave with Jones.

But Jones was seen as a sure first-round pick, and Maze's outlook was much further down.

With a crowded class of receivers this year entering the draft, it may have been wise for Maze to stay and bolster his stock and take as much of Julio's spotlight as he can.

Mark Barron stayed, but may not have had it not been for a late season injury that meant he couldn't present himself well in the upcoming combines.

"It played an important role in a big decision. That made it even more frustrating. It was frustrating, but I feel I made the right decision in doing what I'm doing." Barron said of the decision at a press conference today.

With Robbie Green potentially coming back for a big year and the emergence of Robert Lester, Alabama should be very solid next year at safety.

Courtney Upshaw had a lot people worried that he may leave, and his play leading up to and including the bowl game had many NFL scouts wishing he would turn pro this year.

But Upshaw told me following the Capital One Bowl Game that he wanted to "come back and prove that this team can win it all again."

He also said the bowl win just shows what this team is capable of next year.

So at least for Upshaw, it was the challenge of leaving on top.

Jones and Ingram had nothing left to prove at this level and everyone knew it was a forgone conclusion they would leave early.

In years of interviewing both, Jones is usually shy and a man of few words and said little about his decision, but Ingram has always been forthright.

"Leaving would be hard. I love this team, the coaches and the fans, it's been the best experience I could have possibly had, but the other running backs here have shown that they can carry on at the same pace they always have," he said after the Capital One Bowl.

As for Dareus, he didn't have the season that many thought he could or would have. With no forced fumbles, few sacks and few tackles for loss, the overall feeling is that his draft stock went down from what it was projected to be after an electrifying BCS game last year.

Still, most services have him a late first-round draft pick to a high second. Much will depend on his work at the combines.

Losing three junior stars is never easy for a team to overcome, but if any team can, it will be this talent-laden Crimson Tide team.