re: 2020 FB Recruiting & Roster

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Elite is not the word I would use for Jones-Bell. He went to the all star game and did not stand out. He didnt look out of place but did not stand out. I think hes a good player but there are probably 10-15 receivers better than him this cycle. This is a deep year for WRs but i think hes probably just outside a top 100 player. So Elite is not the word I would use

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"Alabama was in position to be one of the top programs represented at Thursday's Under Armour All-America Game, but injuries kept Drew Sanders, Jase McClellan and Demouy Kennedy from participating. Still, the Crimson Tide have a quartet of guys in the game. I spent Tuesday's practice zeroed in on those players and here is what I saw:

Thaiu Jones-Bell, WR, Miami Carol City -- Tuesday was an extension of the first two days for the No. 20 WR in the 247Sports Composite. He catches the ball with ease and is comfortable making plays in traffic. He doesn't panic and he tracks the ball well into his soft hands. He was tight out of his breaks and he was able to get behind the defense. He was quick on slants and easily gained leverage. He will need to increase his strength so he can deal with physical DBs in the SEC, but that should be remedied quickly." - Brian Dohn, 247Sports

"WR Thaiu Jones-Bell has been good both days and was especially good today. Natural pass catcher, soft hands and showed very good down field speed. Slight frame, listed at 5-11, 183 pounds but looks leaner than that so will benefit from the Tide strength program to add some size and strength. Competes for the ball in 50-50 situations and gets good separation getting in and out of his breaks. Projects as a guy who can make plays down the field and is strong after the catch." - Greg Biggins, 247Sports

He's an All-American, ranked #20 out of 500 WRs in the composite rankings (top 4%) and ranked the #101 player in the country regardless of position. Jr stats: 38 catches for 853 yards, 17 TDs. Sr stats: 38 catches for 745 yards, 6 TDs. He was one of the Bama staff's top WR targets, which is a much better indicator of his potential than the recruiting site rankings, and is now a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, one of the top programs in CFB. So imo, "elite" doesn't seem like an inappropriate word to use. And, I'm very glad he chose to roll with the Tide.

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...he is not in the same category as boutte, Jarrett, Henderson, Arian Smith, EJ Williams, etc...Bell will be good, but not elite...

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So, your "elite" cuttoff is precisely between #19 WR EJ Williams and #20 WR Thaiu Jones-Bell.

When it comes to a skill position player and he's from South Florida chances are he can ball. If this kid wasn't good he wouldn't have made it this far because South Florida has a youth football scene that weeds out the scrubs well before they reach high school.

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Also rivals constantly had EJ Williams among top performers and have him aligned for a big bump. Also rivals did not have any mention of bell all week...again not knocking bell, he’s just not quite at the other guys level. The new rankings will prove it too... It’s okay to say that bama could have gotten some better players at that position, yet still be pleased with who we have man.

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Recruiting site player evaluations and rankings don't prove anything, especially rivals. How a player pans out in CFB and the NFL proves whether their evaluation of his future potential was good or not.

Bama also tried to get some of those other talented WRs you listed, but they chose to go elsewhere. So, I'm gonna be focused on rooting for Jones-Bell, Holden and Baker if he signs with Bama while you're focused on fretting about the other ones.

Also, I wouldn't trade having Smitty staying for 2020 in exchange for any "elite" 2020 WR recruit. I'm quite content with Bama's group of WRs for the 2020 season and confident we'll land some very talented -- and even some "elite" -- WRs in the 2021 class and beyond as needed.

247sports has Williams as the better performer that week too...

Calm down bud. If you want to melt because we signed the #20 player instead of #19 have at it.

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Way to edit your post 3 separate times...

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You should edit your posts. They're loaded with typos.

Tide signee wins Alabama's Mr. Football award (BamaOnLine)

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It's a storybook ending for Alabama signee  Kristian Story. After leading Lanett (Ala.) to a state championship win last month, the four-star athlete was named Alabama's Mr. Football on Wednesday. . .

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Well at the end of the day we whiffed on almost all our top WR & TE targets.
No denying that. Bell was the only one I think we went hard after.
Jarret,Fleming,Burton,Smith,Boutte,Henderson,EJWilliams,Gilbert,
Washington. We didn’t land anyone.
We’ll be ok next year, the year after is what we need to worry about.