Alabama Football Recruiting: National Signing Day 2017 Recap

Nick Saban never ceases to amaze. It seems like very year his recruiting classes get better. It may sound like rhetoric, but this may just be his best class - or anyone's class - ever. To put it into perspective, 247sports comp has only 32 5-stars. Alabama got six of them. That is 18.75%. There are 128 FBS schools and most of them will not get any 5-stars.

Alabama 6
Ohio State 5
Florida State 4
Stanford 3
UCLA 2
Michigan 2
Southern Cal 2
Clemson 2
Iowa 1 (Defensive End A.J. Epenesa of Edwardsville, IL)
Georgia 1 (Safety Richard LeCounte, Riceboro, GA)
LSU 1 (Safety JaCoby Stevens, Murfreesboro, TN)
Tennessee 1 (OT Trey Smith, Jackson, TN)
Auburn 1 (OT Calvin Ashley, Washington, DC)
115 other FBS schools 0

Yes, Alabama got more five stars than the Big XII (0) and the rest of the SEC (4) combined. Not impressed? Consider the fact that of the Tide's 26 signees, all but three of them are 4-stars or higher. Among those three is a long snapper, a position that almost never gets more than 2-stars. In addition, it looks like Bama will sign a 4-star greyshirt. FOUR stars. For a greyshirt!

Even with the 2-star long snapper, Alabama still corralled the number one class for the seventh straight year.

National Ranking Average:

The chart below is based on the Team Rankings for the Big 4 in recruiting services plus the 247sports Comp.

Rank	Team	ESPN	Scout	Rivals	247 Comp	247	Total
1	Alabama	1	1	1	1	1	5
2	Ohio State	2	4	2	2	2	12
3	Georgia	3	2	3	3	5	16
4	Michigan	6	3	4	5	3	21
5	Southern Cal	5	5	6	4	4	24
6	Florida State	4	8	5	6	6	29
7	LSU	7	7	8	7	7	36
8	Oklahoma	8	6	7	8	9	38
9	Auburn	9	11	14	9	8	51
10	Texas A&M	11	9	10	12	12	54
11	Florida	13	10	9	10	14	56
12	Notre Dame	16	13	13	11	13	66
13	Miami	12	17	11	13	15	68
14	Tennessee	15	15	15	17	11	73
15	Penn State	17	14	12	15	21	79
16	Stanford	14	24	19	14	10	81
17	Maryland	20	12	17	18	22	89
18	South Carolina	19	19	16	21	17	92
19	Clemson	10	26	22	16	18	92
20	Oregon	23	16	18	20	20	97
21	UCLA	18	21	21	19	26	105
22	Nebraska	21	18	20	23	24	106
23	Washington	22	23	23	22	23	113
24	Virginia Tech	25	20	30	25	16	116
25	Mississippi State	24	25	27	24	19	119
26	Arkansas	26	27	24	28	25	130
27	North Carolina	28	32	29	27	28	144
28	Kentucky	30	35	26	29	27	147
29	Texas	33	28	31	26	29	147
30	Louisville	29	31	28	32	32	152
31	Michigan State	32	22	33	34	37	158
32	Colorado	27	30	32	35	35	159
33	Ole Miss	36	29	39	30	31	165
34	Baylor	39	36	34	39	30	178
35	Utah	41	33	25	37	44	180
36	Pittsburgh	31	42	38	33	36	180
37	TCU	37	37	42	31	33	180
38	Oklahoma State	35	41	37	38	43	194
39	Iowa	43	40	40	41	34	198
40	Wisconsin	40	51	35	40	38	204
41	Arizona State	38	44	52	36	42	212
42	Arizona	45	46	36	45	45	217
43	Duke	34	55	46	47	39	221
44	Washington State	46	39	50	43	46	224
45	Illinois	55	34	48	44	47	228
46	Rutgers	50	45	43	42	48	228
47	Georgia Tech	42	52	41	46	49	230
48	Missouri	54	46	49	50	41	240
49	Oregon State	52	43	45	49	55	244
50	Northwestern	44	48	54	48	50	244
51	Texas Tech	47	49	47	52	53	248
52	Iowa State	53	50	44	53	56	256
53	NC State	51	61	53	51	40	256
54	Minnesota	58	38	58	57	61	272
55	West Virginia	56	53	51	56	57	273
56	Virginia	48	57	56	54	58	273
57	Syracuse	49	54	64	55	51	273
58	Indiana	57	56	65	61	52	291
59	Memphis	64	63	60	58	54	299
60	Kansas State	66	59	61	62	65	313
61	Boise State	69	60	66	60	59	314
62	Vanderbilt	60	71	63	63	64	321
63	UCF	68	73	59	59	62	321
64	BYU	70	58	62	65	68	323
65	Boston College	63	67	67	66	63	326
66	Cincinnati	75	62	57	67	66	327
67	Wake Forest	65	72	74	64	60	335
68	Kansas	67	69	55	70	85	346
69	Purdue	59	77	68	69	73	346
70	Houston	62	70	77	68	69	346
71	Cal	61	64	75	72	78	350
72	FAU!	72	78	76	71	67	364
73	Colorado State	74	65	83	73	75	370
74	UT San Antonio	73	91	69	76	71	380
75	South Florida	71	96	73	75	70	385
76	Toledo	999	66	80	74	72	1291
77	San Diego St	999	68	71	79	82	1299
78	East Carolina	999	89	70	78	74	1310
79	Southern Miss	999	81	72	80	80	1312
80	Navy	999	87	78	82	77	1323

(ESPN only does the top 75. Rivals only goes up to 100. Therefore, for teams that did not make their lists, I gave them a value of 999, just because. Refunds.)

National Notes:

#19 CLEMSON - You would think a National Championship would gain the Tigers a better class. Dabo Swinney clearly neglected recruiting this past year. Note that South Carolina was one notch above them.

#4 MICHIGAN - Jim Harbaugh seemed to have less antics this year and still had a top five class.

#17 MARYLAND - What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is a-going on here? The short answer is that the Mid-Atlantic region is blossoming as fertile ground for football players. Bama has gotten some gems out of that area (Minkah Fitzpatrick, Trevon Diggs, Jonathan Allen, etc.) and even promoted Mike Locksley to tend to that area. This year, the Terps dominated the region.

#8 OKLAHOMA - The Sooners rebounded from last year's disaster (#22) with a pretty solid class that includes nine Texans.

#29 TEXAS - There's a whole lotta "consarnits" coming out of the Lone Star State. A bad first impression by Tom Herman, being whooped by not only TAMU bit Oklahoma as well.

BIG XII - Speaking of Tejas, they had the second highest rated class in their endangered conference. It was a terrible showing for the rest of the group.

#5 SOUTHERN CAL - The Men of Troy still have the luster of a big time program. If Clay Helton can prove the second half of this past season was not a fluke, the Trojans might be back... and dangerous.

#20 OREGON - Not a great class for the Ducks but not as abysmal as last year (#28). They missed out on two 5-stars you may have heard of: Najee Harris and Tua Tagovailoa.

#70 HOUSTON - So much for riding the Greg Ward and Tom Herman. Major Applewhite signed nobody over 3-stars and finished behind Memphis, Cincinnati, and UCF in the AAC.

#59 MEMPHIS - Who needs Justin Fuentes? The Tigers have the highest rated non-P5 class.

#69 PURDUE and #71 CAL were the two lowest ranked P5 teams.

#72 FAU! - Lane Kiffin did alright for himself. Quran Hafiz 3-star CB (Jacksonville, FL) decided to stay rather than go to Nebraska. He also snagged 3-star safety Ahman Ross who at one time had offers from FSU, Louisville and others. Juco and former FSU QB De'Andre Johnson was the big get.

EssEeSee:

The SEC again put eight teams in the top 20. They improved by one the number in the top ten at five.

Rank	Team	ESPN	Scout	Rivals	247 Comp	247	Total
1	Alabama	1	1	1	1	1	5
3	Georgia	3	2	3	3	5	16
7	LSU	7	7	8	7	7	36
9	Auburn	9	11	14	9	8	51
10	Texas A&M	11	9	10	12	12	54
11	Florida	13	10	9	10	14	56
14	Tennessee	15	15	15	17	11	73
18	South Carolina	19	19	16	21	17	92
25	Mississippi State	24	25	27	24	19	119
26	Arkansas	26	27	24	28	25	130
28	Kentucky	30	35	26	29	27	147
33	Ole Miss	36	29	39	30	31	165
48	Missouri	54	46	49	50	41	240
62	Vanderbilt	60	71	63	63	64	321

Georgia - This is why UGA fans wanted Kirby Smart back home. He has erected a wall around the Peach State, signing 18 in-staters, eleven of the top 16. He did, however, miss out on Aubrey Solomon (Mich), AJ Terrell (Clemson), Xavier McKinney (BAMA), and Jamyest Williams (S Car).

LSU - Ed Orgeron put together a pretty good class in Baton Rouge but some fans are not pleased with Nick Saban's pilfering. Coach O did steal one of his own out-of-staters getting 5-star safety JaCoby Stevens our of Murfreesboro, TN. One key component was getting a quarterback, and the Tigers got two in 4-star dual-threat Lowell Narcisse and 4-star pro-style Myles Brennan.

Texas A&M - A decent haul for the Aggies. They picked up two QBs, 4-star dual Kellen Mond and 3-star pro Connor Blumrick, who will both start as freshmen and then transfer.

Florida - Wow, quite a finish for Jim McElwain. The Gators were languishing down in MAC-country in the weeks leading up to NSD. From 247: A rumor about Florida coaches trying to pay a couple South Florida prospects being caught on video and sent to the NCAA surfaced, and in-state Miami seemed poised to take full advantage. Until it blew up and was exposed as fake. UF turned it around with the NSD commits and signings of 4-stars Tedarrell Slaton, James Robinson, Christopher Henderson, and more. No Cece Jefferson in this class but a solid one still.

Auburn - The Tigers put together a decent class but the top heavy is what boosted their rankings. Twelve of their 23 signees are 3-stars.

Tennessee - Early enrollee 5-star OT Trey Smith is the highlight of this class with many of the state's top prospects going elsewhere.

South Carolina - Again, not a bad class for Coach Boom. Eighth in the SEC is nothing to sneeze at. Snagging top 75 player Jamyest Williams out of Loganville, GA was quite the coup.

Mississippi State - Despite landing 5-star Jeffery Simmons, the Bullies were outdistanced by many. Dan Mullen committed a cardinal sin by not signing a quarterback.

Arkansas - Does it feel like Arky has just been running in place for the last decade? They always seem to be right on the cusp of moving the program up a tier, but when you can't convince top recruits to come to godforsaken northwest Arkansas, it is kinda hard.

Kentucky - Four of Mark Stoops' top five hail from Ohio. Breaking news just in: The Wildcats will take on the Florida Gators on Saturday on ESPN. Tipoff is at 8:15pm ET.

Ole Miss - Remember the "Dream Team" of 2013? That is but a distant memory as the Rebs struggled mightily to persuade anyone to come to Oxford with so many dark clouds hovering overhead.

Missouri - Ugh.

Vanderbilt - Vandy's gonna Vandy.

Alabama by Position:

(Including the "shirts")

OFFENSE (15):

Quarterback (2)
Running Back (2)
Wide Receiver (4)
Tight End (2)
Offensive Tackle (3)
Offensive Guard (1)
Center (1)

DEFENSE (12):

Weak-Side Defensive End (1)
Strong-Side Defensive End (2)
Defensive Tackle (1)
Inside Linebacker (1)
Outside Linebacker (3)
Cornerback (1)
Safety (3) *
* Chadarius Townsend is an ATH but his likeliest landing spot is safety.

Alabama by State:

Alabama (8) Ray, Ruggs, Benton, Robinson, Chadarius, Randolph, Kyriq, Brannon
California (2) Najee, Baker
Florida (6) Leatherwood, Jeudy, VanDarius, Wright, Jones, Parks*
Georgia (1) McKinney
Hawaii (1) Tua
Kentucky (1) Wills
Louisiana (6) Moses, Buggs, Devonta, Phidarian, Allen, Buvolas
Texas (3) Shavers, Tennison, James
Washington (1) Fletcher
* Pending.

• According to 247 Comp, Alabama signed the top three in-state recruits and six of the top nine.
• Counting Dylan Moses, originally from Baton Rouge, the Tide secured the pledges of FOUR of the boot-shaped state's six best. Chris Allen is also from Baton Rouge. OUCH!
• It is the second time in three years that the Crimson Tide lassoed the top player out of Kentucky. Damien Harris is the other
• Despite playing his senior season in Bradenton, FL, Thomas Fletcher grew up in Vancouver, WA. Maybe someone with better memory can correct me, but I believe that is the first Bama signee, Saban has signed out of that state.
  

A Few Others of Interest:

• Gary Johnson (Birmingham, AL/Juco) signed with Texas.
  
• Jhavonte Dean (Homestead, FL/Juco) goes home to Miami.
  

The Sleeper

There is so much to gush over in this class that little attention has been given to OT Jedrick Wills. The Lexington, Kentucky native is ranked the 25th best player in the nation by Rivals. 247sports has him at #56 while their Comp puts him at #34. Scout has him as the 64th best. The returning Alabama offensive linemen better watch their backs with Wills, Alex Leatherwood, and Elliot Baker coming in.

The University of IMG

Might as well put these guys in the Sun Belt Conference:

Name	Pos	Stars	RR	Ht	Wt	School
Dylan Moses	LB	5	6.1	6'2"	225	Alabama
Jordan Anthony	LB	5	6.1	6'1"	220	Michigan
Kellen Mond	QB	5	6.1	6'3"	199	Texas A&M
Josh Kaindoh	DE	5	6.1	6'5"	241	Florida State
Jhamon Ausbon	WR	4	5.9	6'4"	214	Texas A&M
Santino Marchiol	LB	4	5.8	6'3"	223	Texas A&M
Kahlee Hamler	WR	4	5.8	5'9"	152	Penn State
Marcus Williamson	DB	4	5.8	5'10"	175	Ohio State
Grant Delpit	DB	4	6	6'1"	180	LSU
Cesar Ruiz	OL	4	6	6'3"	313	Michigan
Isaiah Pryor	DB	4	5.9	6'2"	195	Ohio State
Robert Hainsey	OL	4	5.9	6'5"	276	Notre Dame
Dante Sparaco	DE	3	5.6	6'5"	265	Colorado
Christian Pluchino	LB	3	5.5	6'2"	231	undecided
Broc Bando	OL	3	5.5	6'4"	279	Nebraska
Tre McKitty	TE	3	5.7	6'4"	225	Florida State
Elvis Hines	DB	3	5.6	5'10"	172	Kent State
Jack Camper	TE	3	5.5	6'4"	225	Michigan State
Emmanuel Greene	WR	3	5.7	5'9"	170	UCF
Elijah Watson	DT	2	5.3	6'4"	275	Miami (OH)
Thomas Fletcher	ATH	2	5.2	6'1"	215	Alabama

Key & Peele All-Stars

Clearly Illinois State OL Kobe Buffalomeat won the day. The following All-Stars are 4-stars are higher:

Donovan Peoples-Jones WR Michigan
Deommodore Lenoir ATH Oregon
Hamsah Nasirildeen DB Florida State
Addison Gumbs LB Oklahoma
Luiji Vilain DE Michigan
Charleston Rambo WR Oklahoma
OrTre Smith WR South Carolina
K'Lavon Chaisson DE LSU
Yetur Matos DE Penn State
Osiris St. Brown WR Stanford
Jamyest Williams ATH South Carolina
Chaz Ah You DB BYU
Alijah Vera-Tucker OL Southern Cal
N'Kosi Perry QB Miami (FL)
Deejay Dallas ATH Miami (FL)
TyJuan Garbutt DE Virginia Tech
Obinna Eze OL Memphis
Kai-Leon Herbert OL Miami (FL)

79 Days til A-Day Kickoff.

Roll Tide