October cannot get here soon enough. Through the four games of September, Alabama has yet to play a major opponent inside the realm of Bryant-Denny Stadium. On October 2, the Ole Miss Rebels will visit in what should be a Top 10 blockbuster. As Alabama fans saw last weekend, such a game is huge for recruiting purposes. Despite losing to the Tide, the Gators’ home stadium was rocking and undoubtedly made big impressions on their visiting recruits - some of whom are also considering Alabama as their college destination.
A similar occurrence happened in Tallahassee earlier this month when the Seminoles had a loud raucous crowd and almost came back to defeat Notre Dame. However, the FSU bandwagon wheels have fallen off and the carburetor is two blocks back. Even still, Florida State and Alabama are battling for a few recruits. But losing to an FCS school can change that.
STILL RECOVERING
Last year’s recruiting circuit was one of the most difficult and challenging ones ever. Many programs struggled with the NCAA-imposed visitation restrictions. The residual difficulties continue as so much concentration last year was spent on the Class of 2021, that later classes had to be somewhat set aside for the time being. Coaching staffs as well as the recruiting services are just now catching up. Thus we see a good deal of lower rankings for unknown and lesser known prospects.
Of Alabama’s 14 committed players, three of them are judged as 3-star. WR Kobe Prentice is ranked as the #561 player but he has been tearing it up for Calera (AL) this season. Safety Jake Pope is also a 3-star and #375. Yet, he was wanted by Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, LSU, Southern Cal, and 30-some other P5 schools. There will be some ranking adjustments coming henceforth.
Another overlooked recruit ranked 3-stars is DT Isaiah Hastings (6’4”/290) playing out of Clearwater, FL. Originally out of Toronto, Canada, he has seemingly come out of nowhere with no recruiting profile up to #633. Despite that number, Alabama wants him and extended a “committable” offer to Hastings on Sunday. Georgia and Florida are heavy on him as well.
ANNOUNCEMENTS?
5-star CB Denver Harris of North Shore, TX has flirted with the possibility of announcing today, Wednesday, but may be backing off that. If he does announce, it will most likely come through social media. The #9 overall player appears to be favoring Alabama over Texas, LSU, and TAMU.
4-star OT Elijah Pritchett (Columbus, GA) is expected to announce on Tuesday, September 28. He is one of those recruits that I mentioned is believed to be down to Alabama or Florida State. However with FSU’s season already in turmoil and their coach on the hot seat, this choice might seem like a slam dunk. However, you never know with 17-year olds.
TE/WR hybrid Jaleel Skinner is scheduled to commit on October 9th. Originally from Greer, SC, the 6’5”/210 prospect transferred to IMG for his senior season. Alabama already has commitments from similarly built TE/WR Amari Niblack (6’4”/220) and pure tight end Elijah Brown (6’5”/230). However, there is a good deal of buzz around Skinner picking the Tide. Current Bama tight ends Jahleel Billingsley and Cameron Latu are juniors. The other tight ends on the Tide roster do not seem to have the same skill sets at those two or Skinner and Niblack. It may just depend on whether Saban wants three tight ends in this class at the expense of another position. But there may be a fix for that dilemma. Read on...
MOAR CROOTS
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported last month the NCAA will likely pass a one-year waiver to expand the football signing class limit. SI reported last week that the waiver is set to pass next month with schools allowed to replace up to seven players who leave for the portal. The max signing number moving to 32. This is a one-year waiver until a new policy is created.
Alabama had nine scholarship players transfer after the 2020 season... The move will allow Alabama to sign additional players to its class, but must remain at 85 players on scholarship. Rivals.com
Saban warned of the dangers of the free agent transfer portal. But since the NCAA went forward with it anyway, he has taken great advantage of the new rules by picking up two top-shelf athletes in Jameson Williams and Henry To’o To’o and inserting them right into the starting lineup. Expect to see much more of that from Alabama in the coming years... until they come up with yet another Saban Rule.
2023 VISITING THIS WEEKEND
Normally, having visitors for a cupcake game is not a good sign. And for a 2023 recruit, even more so. In the case of Jayden Wayne, it might be a good one. The 5-star DL is visiting with his parents from Tacoma, WA because this was the best date for their schedule. Wayne camped at the Capstone earlier this summer and fell head over heels in love with the place (do ya blame him?). Tacoma is about as far as one can get from T-town in the continental U.S., making this unofficial visit vital to securing his commitment.
Phenix City 5-star 2023 cornerback AJ Harris is also expected in town this weekend. (Alabama seems to do well with guys named “Harris”: Najee, Damien, Christian) He has already announced January 11 as his commitment date which seems mighty early for a guy who cannot sign until the following December.
Both of these visits are of the unofficial variety as juniors cannot take officials until the new year. Alabama has no 2023 commits as of yet, which is perfectly fine and probably preferred.
IDA
Many southern Louisiana recruits have put their processes on hold while they deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. With things getting back to normal, we should see more actions from these prospects. Among them are high 4-star WR Shazz Preston, the #5 ranked WR for 2022.
JTT
Remember all the hype surrounding 2021 5-star DE J.T. Tuimoloau? He finally picked Ohio State and all the coaches went to the airport to bow down to him. He has played in two of the Buckeyes three games, collecting one solo tackle (vs Tulsa) and two assists. Maybe he’ll work out but had Alabama signed him, they probably could not have taken punter James Burnip.
ARCHMAINIA
Do yourself a favor and ignore all the chatter about the Manning kid (2023) until the end of the season.
Comments
Thank you!
CB, I always look forward to your articles and especially the recruiting ones. YOU are my primary source for Alabama recruiting news and you never let me down. PLEASE, keep up the good work! THANK YOU!
By RealDangeresque on 09.22.21 10:34am
I don't get too caught up in early recruiting since I have enough trouble keeping up with current players...
but these articles are equivalent to window shopping or, as a kid, reading the Sears (RIP) catalog before Christmas. So thanks for this, CB.
By UtahBammer on 09.22.21 11:24am
Loved the Sears catalogue
By Callonas on 09.22.21 12:32pm
Did you know
That Sears discontinued the catalogue and laid off 50,000 workers (almost entirely in fulfillment) in 1993?
Another fun fact: Amazon started in 1994.
With just a little foresight, Sears could have pivoted its existing fulfillment system and infrastructure and had the success that Amazon had to build up towards.
By Patrick LaFollette on 09.22.21 3:38pm
Seriously, that’s pretty interesting though.
By CrimsonRon on 09.22.21 4:00pm
It would've taken a lot more than a little foresight
Malls we’re already going in the tank by the mid 90’s. Sears was a very poorly run business with a terrible product line other than their Craftsman tools. Their Kenmore appliances were a more expensive version of someone else’s product. Their solution…open Sears hardware stores and take everyone out of your mall anchor stores. Great idea. They would have never turned it around.
The Christmas Catalog was cool though.
By WIIStL on 09.22.21 11:52pm
All true.
But if they’d had just the right leadership, they could’ve taken advantage of a big opportunity.
By Patrick LaFollette on 09.23.21 8:21am
That said, parting out the Craftsman line to Lowe’s was a great idea.
Manufacturing 90% of them in Taiwan was not.
By Erik Evans on 09.23.21 8:50am
It was so awesome.
By Erik Evans on 09.23.21 8:48am
For some of us...
…it was a…
By NiceLittleSaturday on 09.23.21 3:05pm
Once my #Refund $ comes in
I’m totes gonna roll with one of these
By PiperTJ on 09.23.21 5:00pm
Interested the line players.
Really looking to rekindle the magic of a few years ago when we were scoring constantly on defense. That starts with line play/pressure, and run-stopping. Mistakes ensue.
By Law Abiding Citizen on 09.22.21 1:26pm
Want all the cruits we are in on. I think I know a good bit about the game, but I’ll defer to the when it comes to players we need to keep the train rolling on.
By George111480 on 09.22.21 1:58pm
Would love to see us sign some serious talent on the dline
But the overreactions in recruiting cam wait until December
By Bamaburgh on 09.22.21 3:50pm
We overreact to a standard here, sir.
By BamaBone on 09.23.21 8:40pm
Which one?
Sims or Robinson?
By NiceLittleSaturday on 09.23.21 9:15pm
I long for the days of the Ashawn Robinsons and J. Allens on defense
Was hoping to see Damon Payne already this year.
By cbdavis on 09.22.21 5:58pm
Those guys also got torched once or twice a season and we all longed for the days of Dareus or whoever.
By cecil.honeychurch on 09.23.21 10:13am
Can’t wait to show off Lane Kiffin’s explosive offense in our house
As he becomes the first Saban assistant to beat the sensei, en route to an SEC west title.
But the upside is that hopefully some defensive linemen who give a shit will be impressed by the abundant playing time they can have by merely be competent 80% of the time.
Nope. Still not over Saturday night. That stank is gonna linger.
By Erik Evans on 09.23.21 3:58am
...
By NiceLittleSaturday on 09.23.21 6:38am
Maybe that was the game that did it!
And kifs kittens will get fkd
And the refs might call holding- cause a lot of s and m happened Saturday
Keep ya head up!
By zappa for president on 09.23.21 7:31am
You get a gold star for consistency.
What if Ole Miss loses, though? Who will you root for then?
By Vault boy on 09.23.21 9:36am
@I’m sure Gelding has a plan@
By BamaBone on 09.23.21 8:42pm
Arch Manning is going to Clemson or Ole Miss
Saved everyone the hassle
By RTRonan on 09.23.21 9:33am