Alabama is not RBU, WRU, LBU or any other <insert position>U. We are NFLU.

{Special Note: I don't usually state the obvious, but for some reason I feel compelled.}

The praise that we get from NFL analysts never ceases to amaze me--nor does it get old. It seems like any time draft time rolls around, Bama players get bumped up a bit higher solely because of where they play, who they play, and who our coach is.

Take this most recent example from NFL.com's Mike Mayock...

LINK

It's about midway down, but he devotes a paragraph to Alabama players and how he views them. The publicity we get from stuff like this is priceless. Over the past couple of years we've seen this sentiment shared by many in the NFL (analysts, coaches and GM's alike) and it only continues to get better as the years go by.

I would love to see a "highlights" tape of NFL analysts discussing how NFL ready our players tend to be. I would bet the media department at UA has something along these lines that they show recruits. If it included everything, I wonder how long that tape would be...

That sort of publicity that is earned and cannot be bought has got to be a nightmare to recruit against. This was generally contained to a few specific positions that UA guys have been excelling at. Namely, RB, LB, DB and OL. Things are about to get even better though. Soon it won't matter what position. They will all get the benefit of the doubt when going up against another player of equal talent.

I don't think I've ever witnessed anything like this in college football. Sure there have been schools that get a lot of media attention in the past (Flroida, USC, Miami, Ohio State, Texas, and, of course, Notre Dame, etc). But I do not ever recall media professionals openly stating on air to the general public (which obviously includes the kids in high school across the country), "If you want to get into the NFL, the best place to go is Alabama." Maybe it has, but if so, I don't think it was ever to the level it is with Bama right now.

An unbiased analyst openly stating these things is about as good a recruiting tool that you can ever have. I'm not sure there is anything better to be honest. And that shite can't be bought.

If you look at the last two years recruiting classes, this effect has probably been most evident at the RB position, LB position, WR, DB/S and the OL. We seem to be recruiting better players than the previous years at each of those spots. The great thing about this is that other positions are about to be added to the list (TE, QB, DL, and hopefully even kickers/punters).

I strongly believe that AJ will benefit greatly from this. This will lead to signing even more talented QB's coming out of high school. Getting OJ Howard was huge from the TE perspective. He's going to open our offense up like no one else can from his spot. Our DL recruits from the last few years continue to get better. All of these guys play great against the run, but one of them is eventually going to become that great pass rushing threat that we all covet. It will happen sooner, rather than later.

This cycle of success and praise from the media is a self-perpetuating juggernaut that is not easy to compete against. It obviously can be beaten occasionally. These are all still 19-21 year old human beings we are talking about. But it will never be easy to beat Alabama. Not as long as this cycle continues.

Commence to fapping.