Joe Judge was a member of Nick Saban’s coaching staff when Alabama was recruiting Bob Jones High School star Reggie Ragland. But the Crimson Tide’s special-teams assistant left for the NFL before Ragland arrived for his first college season.
Ten years later, Judge and Ragland are on the same team. Judge is preparing for his second season as the New York Giants’ head coach, and Ragland has joined the NFL team via free agency, the Giants’ website reported on Thursday night.
Ragland received a one-year contract. The value of the deal has not been reported.
Ragland also changed teams in free agency last offseason, moving from the Kansas City Chiefs to Detroit Lions. Ragland played in every game with six starts for the Lions in 2020. He played 511 defensive snaps (49 percent of Detroit’s total) and made 52 tackles, including one sack and four tackles for loss. He also registered three quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one pass breakup.
2020 NFL SEASON FEATURES 64 ALABAMA ALUMNI ON THE FIELD
Inside linebacker Blake Martinez hardly came off the field for the New York defense in 2020, and he made 151 tackles. But the Giants used several players at the other inside-linebacker spot, with rookie Tae Crowder finishing the season as the starter. He played 37 percent of the defensive snaps and made 57 tackles.
At Bob Jones in Madison, Ragland earned All-State recognition three times (once as a tight end, twice as a linebacker), won the Class 6A Lineman of the Year Award in 2011 and received Under Armour All-American recognition. The Patriots did not lose a 6A Region 8 game in Ragland’s final three seasons. He also helped Bob Jones win the AHSAA 6A boys’ basketball championship in 2010.
In four seasons at Alabama, Ragland played on two national championship teams and earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award and unanimous All-American recognition in 2015.
After being selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Ragland suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament at the Buffalo Bills’ training camp as a rookie, and the knee injury caused him to miss the entire season.
During the 2017 preseason, the Bills traded Ragland to Kansas City. He was ready to play by the third game and started half of his 14 appearances in 2017.
In 2018, Ragland was a regular for the Chiefs. But for 2019, Kansas City changed its base defense from a three-man front to a four-man look, taking a linebacker off the field. And with the Chiefs often using five defensive backs, they typically had only two linebackers on the field at a time. Ragland played less than half as many snaps in 2019 as he did in 2018, when he started 15 games and made 86 tackles.
In 58 regular-season games, Ragland has collected 212 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits, one interception, two passes defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Ragland also has played in six NFL postseason games, including the Chiefs’ 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, Ragland had 31 tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception, which came in the end zone off New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game for the 2019 season.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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