From mac & cheese to lean meats: How Evan Neal changed his diet to become top NFL Draft prospect

Evan Neal’s side profile photo that emerged during the 2022 NFL Combine drew attention.

Here the Alabama football offensive lineman was, more than 300 pounds but looking remarkably trim.

"Evan Neal at 337 pounds. Wow," ESPN's Field Yates tweeted in response.

"Carries 337 pounds like it's 250," FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd tweeted. "Lord. Pick him number one (with) no reservations at all."

It was even slimmer than the weight at which he was listed on the UA roster this past season: 350.

Being 6-7½ and 337 pounds is not small by any means, but Neal makes it look lean.

That physique didn’t happen by accident. He’s put in the work, whether it be through workouts and training or how he changed his eating habits. Those adjustments have him in line to be a top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Neal has always been big. He was born 11 pounds, 22½ inches, he said while being featured on The Big Boys Club: O-line Draft Academy. By eighth grade, he was 378 pounds. At one point, Neal's weight reached 390 pounds.

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In high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, Neal crossed paths with NFL offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga. Then a Packers player, Bulaga told him if he was a general manager, he wouldn’t draft him, Neal recalled. Neal was too big.

Neal, whose NFL dreams escalated when he was about in eighth grade, had to edit his eating habits.

“When he was younger, like most kids, not really into the vegetables,” his mom, Sheila Neal, told The Tuscaloosa News. “But certainly when he became health-conscious probably around 16, that is when he started to actually ask for vegetables. Before then, the dude was meat and high-carb sides.”

His mom’s macaroni and cheese is among Neal’s favorite dishes. Sweet potato pie that she makes around Thanksgiving and Christmas is another.

Neal and his brothers, Eddie and Edrick, all ate big growing up, their mom said. The two brothers are each 6-4 or taller and Neal has two sisters who are 6-2. The family was full of athletes, each playing basketball and the boys all playing football.

Sheila Neal eventually got smart and made daily grocery trips. Whenever she tried to make only one or two big grocery runs per week, the food always disappeared and she would have to go back anyway.

“We ate so much, I don’t really see how my parents did it, having to feed that many large humans every day,” Neal told The Tuscaloosa News.

Neal still eats more than most. He has to provide the fuel he needs to be a top NFL Draft prospect on the offensive line. He consumes about 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day, but the menu consists of healthier items.

"I like to eat lean meats like rotisserie chicken and rice and steak," Neal said at his pro day. "I’m allergic to seafood, so I can’t eat fish or anything like that, which is a bummer. So I eat turkey. Things like that. A lot of beans. Protein."

That eating regimen has helped him become the lean 337 he is now. He does indulge occasionally, though. His cheat meal is the spicy deluxe meal combo at Chick-Fil-A.

“Back in the day, I might have ordered two of them,” Neal said. “But can’t do that these days.”

It all comes back to the reality check Bulaga gave Neal before he came to Alabama and started all three years. Now, plenty of general managers would be willing to draft a trim, athletic and powerful Neal.

“That (conversation) kind of scared me a little bit and it resonated with me,” Neal said on The Big Boys Club. “I took it serious.”

Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Evan Neal, Alabama football OL, changed diet to become NFL prospect