re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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Some "insider" on BOL is claiming Saban wants Napier. Napier, Locksley, or Godsey. Bunch of meh candidates.

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5-star LB to visit Alabama

In case you missed Wednesday’s edition of Roll Tide-ings, we talked about the nation’s No. 1 inside linebacker, Teradja Mitchell. I mentioned how Mitchell hasn’t visited Tuscaloosa yet but was hoping to change that. On Wednesday night, we got that answer.

Teradja Mitchell is one of Alabama’s most important targets in the Class of 2018. (Chris Kirschner/SEC Country)

Mitchell, a 5-star prospect from Bishop Sullivan High School (Virginia Beach, Va.), announced that he will visit Alabama during the weekend of Feb. 25, which is when the Crimson Tide will have one of their junior day events.

Mitchell has been a longtime lean to Florida State, but Alabama will have its chance to change that if he follows through with the visit.

The 6-foot-2, 232-pound prospect told SEC Country that he’s been in contact with Lupoi and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt over the past few weeks.

“It’s a school I am definitely interested in, and over the past few weeks, I’ve been developing a higher interest in them after talking to them more,” Mitchell said. “I’m just excited to continue building a relationship with the coaches and hopefully get a visit in soon.”

Pruitt and Lupoi have been selling Mitchell on becoming another cog in the Alabama machine.

“Come to ‘Bama and keep winning national championships,” Mitchell said of Alabama’s message. “At first, I was just like, ‘Yeah.’ But now I see that they are all about developing players to be top notch.

“That’s one thing I look for in a program — somewhere that can develop me into the best player I can be to help me get to the league.”

Mitchell is planning on making a commitment in either November or December.

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Alabama plays part in prospect’s best day ever

Feb. 8, 2017, was the best day of Andres Fox’s life.

Fox, a 3-star defensive end from Mobile (Ala.) Christian School, picked up an offer from Alabama on Wednesday. It certainly was a meaningful offer for the in-state prospect.

“It’s the best day of my life,” Fox told SEC Country shortly after being offered by Alabama. “It’s been a dream of mine just watching them growing up, and now I have a chance to play for them.”

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound prospect grew up a Crimson Tide fan and admits that the emotions were running high after Pruitt extended a scholarship offer his way. So, was commitment on his mind as soon as he was presented an opportunity to play for Alabama?

“I just have to talk it over with my family,” Fox said.

It’s as simple as this — if the Crimson Tide want Fox in their Class of 2018, he will be in it.

Fox is rated as the nation’s No. 27 defensive end and No. 21 prospect in the state of Alabama.

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With the 2017 recruiting class now safely in our rearview mirror, it's time to focus in on the next crop. To do that, we're bringing you a reset of the Top247 for the class of 2018. This is a list that will begin to change on a weekly basis as we learn more, see more and fully engage in the class of 2018 evaluation process.

In addition to the updated list, here's a cheat sheet that should help get you caught up on a quickly-accelerating 2018 class that's already started with spring camps and events.

The 5-stars

We start slow on the five-star front and build up to a list that will eventually be 32 names long. Earning a five-star grade doesn't guarantee a prospect keeps that fifth star throughout the process but we are careful not to throw that top billing out flippantly. To date, only seven have earned that elite status.

The group is lead by probably the best quarterback we've ever seen on paper in Trevor Lawrence out of Cartersville, Ga. The 6-5 pocket-passer is 42-1 as a starter with two state championships and more than 10,000 passing yards to his credit. He's a Clemson commit and the early face of the class.

Every five-star group has its quarterback but it's always got its edge rushers too and there are two great ones in this class in Xavier Thomas and Micah Parsons. Thomas is a South Carolina native considering South Carolina and Clemson among others while Parsons is an early Penn State commit out of Pennsylvania.

North Carolina native Zamir White has running back traits that would put him in the conversation as the top back in any of the recent loaded years at the position. Texas cornerback Anthony Cook has taken the early lead as the lock-down cornerback of the 2018 cycle, there's a nasty linebacker out of Bishop Gorman named Palaie Gaoteote that will give you nightmares if you watch his film too late in the day and there's an Oklahoma offensive tackle commit in Brey Walker that is all upside at 6-foot-7, 300 pounds.

The position you want to need

Every year there's a position or two that have college-ready talent all over the country. Last cycle it was offensive linemen and running backs. Before that we saw elite defensive tackles crawling all over the country in high school that went on to impact the college game in Year 1 (hello, Dexter Lawrence and Ed Oliver). This year if you've got a hole in your roster, you'd better hope it's at linebacker or defensive back.

Early in the process, linebackers are popping up everywhere. There's the long, rangy Payton Wilson out of North Carolina. There's the between-the-tackles thumper Ayodele Adeoye out of St. Louis, there's the raw, athletic outside linebacker Quay Walker out of south Georgia. And those are just the names blowing up of late.

The blue bloods in this linebacker class include Dallas Gant out of Ohio, Teradja Mitchell out of Virginia and we've already got the aforementioned Gaoteote as a rare five-star inside linebacker.

On the back-end, there's a new name popping up daily too. Guys like Josh Proctor out of Oklahoma, speedster AJ Lytton out of Maryland or recent Ohio State commit Jaiden Woodbey out of California have all been on the scene for a while. Now it's time to start talking about guys like Gurvan Hall out of south Florida, headhunter Demarvion Overshown out of Texas and Mario Goodrich out of Missouri.

The QBs

It's a good crop of quarterbacks in the 2018 class, particularly at the top. Lawrence is the bell cow of the group but Notre Dame commit Phil Jurkovec is right behind him and may have as much or more upside than any arm in the class.

USC commit Matt Corral looks like the elite arm out in California this cycle and he's probably as safe of a bet as there is in the class under center.

If you want to know why the Big Ten is trending up, look no further than the state of Georgia where Ohio State has landed an elite arm in Emory Jones but he'll have to hold off Penn State commit Justin Fields to keep his spot in the Georgia hierarchy.

Out West, Washington commit Jacob Sirmon is a big, strong-armed quarterback that is a first off the bus type while one-time Oregon commit Colson Yankoff may be the sleeper of the class.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be a first-year starter at national power Bishop Gorman after playing behind Ohio State signee Tate Martell the past two years but we think he may be just as good as his predecessor.

Setting the pace

Penn State is out of the gates first in 2018 with the nation's No. 1 class early in the process. James Franklin's group has reeled in 10 early commits which leads the nation but it's quality as well as quantity. The Nittany Lions are averaging well over a four-star rating per each recruit and pacing well to compete for the No. 1 class come next February.

Some familiar names are behind Penn State with Florida State, USC and Notre Dame all in the top five. If you follow Miami recruiting in recent years, it's no surprise to see the Hurricanes in the top five early as well but with Mark Richt manning the ship now, perhaps Miami will actually stay there.

The most interesting name on the list is Kansas hanging in the mix with the No. 9 class in the country. Among the 7 early commits for David Beaty's Jayhawks, six came from Louisiana and two were one-time LSU commits. Kansas looks like it has a chance to do something special on the recruiting trail this cycle.

You'll find Ohio State all the way down at No. 10 and Alabama circling the waters at No. 13 but don't get used to it. Those two recruiting powerhouses are just getting warmed up.

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