re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Breaking down the recruiting rankings: How in-state prospects stack up

Recruiting rankings are one of the most discussed, and usually criticized, facets of college football recruiting coverage.

Thousands of hours of breaking down film and evaluating prospects goes into the rankings, yet they are usually quick derided with calls of homerism and complaints about where players are ranked. For the most part, though, recruiting rankings are a good barometer for future success.

What is interesting is how each recruiting network's rankings can differ. AL.com decided to take a look at how the four major recruiting networks -- 247Sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN -- ranked Alabama prospects. The point was to find outliers i.e. the players that the networks disagree on.

Below is the 247Composite top 10 for the state of Alabama. This is a good starting point because it takes into account all of the major services and averages them out to come to a ranking.

Rank Name Position School
1 Daron Payne DL Shades Valley
2 Kerryon Johnson RB Madison Academy
3 Lester Cotton OL Central-Tuscaloosa
4 Desherrius Flowers RB Vigor
5 Tyler Carr OL Southside-Gadsden
6 Darrell Williams LB Hoover
7 Richard McBryde LB Charles Henderson
8 Brandon Kennedy OL Wetumpka
9 Nick Gibson RB Pinson Valley
10 Bradrick Shaw RB Hoover

Here is 247Sports' individual top 10:

1 Daron Payne DL Shades Valley
2 Lester Cotton OL Central-Tuscaloosa
3 Kerryon Johnson RB Madison Academy
4 Desherrius Flowers RB Vigor
5 Amonte Caban LB Smiths Station
6 Darryl Williams OL Bessemer City
7 Richard McBryde LB Charles Henderson
8 Jauntavius Johnson DL Lincoln
9 Nick Gibson RB Pinson Valley
10 Darrell Williams LB Hoover

Within the 247Sports rankings, three names stuck out:

Anfernee Jennings, DE, Dadeville

247Sports is lower on the Alabama commit than any of the other major recruiting services. He is just outside the Top 10 on the other websites, but is all the way down at No. 30 on 247Sports. That low rating brings his composite ranking down to No. 21 in the state.

Tyler Carr, OL, Southside-Gadsden

Carr is rated No. 5 in the composite rankings, but he is No. 19 in 247Sports' own ratings. He is still ranked No. 5 in the composite rankings because of high rankings elsewhere. Carr is expected to make his college decision soon and is down to Auburn and Alabama.

Amonte Caban, LB, Smiths Station

247Sports is higher on Caban than any of the other recruiting services. 247Sports ranks him as the state's fifth-best prospect, but he is only No. 16 on the composite rankings. If you watch Caban's highlight tape, it's easy to see why 247Sports is high on him.

Here is Rivals' top 10:

1 Daron Payne DL Shades Valley
2 Kerryon Johnson RB Madison Academy
3 Lester Cotton OL Central-Tuscaloosa
4 Tyler Carr OL Southside-Gadsden
5 Desherrius Flowers RB Vigor
6 Darrell Williams LB Hoover
7 Nick Gibson RB Pinson Valley
8 Bradrick Shaw RB Hoover
9 Brandon Kennedy OL Wetumpka
10 Christian Bell DL Hoover
Two Rivals rankings that are interesting:

Darryl Williams, OL, Bessemer City

Rivals ranks Williams, who picked up an Auburn offer in May, No. 19 in Alabama. Williams is in the top 10 for ESPN and 247Sports, but his Rivals ranking, the lowest of any of the services, keeps him out of the composite top 10.

Traveon Samuel, ATH, Central-Phenix City

Rivals is a bit down on Samuel compared to some of its peers. Samuel is No. 13 in the 247Composite, and as high as No. 7 in ESPN's rankings, but checks in at No. 24 on Rivals.com. There are concerns about Samuel's height -- he's only 5-foot-7 -- which could have impacted his Rivals ranking.

Here is Scout's top 10:

1 Daron Payne DL Shades Valley
2 Kerryon Johnson RB Madison Academy
3 Desherrius Flowers RB Vigor
4 Lester Cotton OL Central-Tuscaloosa
5 Tyler Carr OL Southside-Gadsden
6 Darrell Williams LB Hoover
7 Richard McBryde LB Charles Henderson
8 Amonte Caban LB Smiths Station
9 Mario Osborne DL Daphne
10 Jauntavius Johnson DL Lincoln
Within the rankings, here are two outliers spotted:

Mario Osborne, DL, Daphne

Osborne is nowhere to be found in the top 20 of any of the other recruiting rankings, but Scout has him at No. 9 in the state. Osborne has some legitimate offers -- he has four SEC offers -- but not a whole lot is known about Osborne at this point.

Nick Gibson, RB, Pinson Valley

Gibson, who has offers from Alabama and Mississippi State, is in every service's top 10 besides Scout.com. Scout ranks him No. 18 in the state, while the 247Composite puts him at No. 9.

Brandon Kennedy, OL, Wetumpka

Kennedy, who recently picked up offers from Alabama and Auburn, is in the composite top 10, but ranked No. 22 on Scout.com. Rivals recently rated Kennedy as the nation's top center, but Scout has him behind four other in-state linemen.

Here is ESPN's top 10:

1 Kerryon Johnson RB Madison Academy
2 Daron Payne DL Shades Valley
3 Richard McBryde LB Charles Henderson
4 Lester Cotton OL Central-Tuscaloosa
5 Brandon Kennedy OL Wetumpka
6 Desherrius Flowers RB Vigor
7 Traveon Samuel ATH Central-Phenix City
8 Christian Bell DL Hoover
9 Tyler Carr OL Southside-Gadsden
10 Darryl Williams OL Bessemer City

ESPN's rankings vary greatly from the rest of the group, but here are three that stick out:

Kerryon Johnson, RB, Madison Academy

ESPN is the only of the four recruiting services to rank someone other than Shades Valley defensive lineman Daron Payne as the state's top player. Johnson, who is committed to Auburn, is consistently in the top three, but only No. 1 in ESPN's rankings.

Amonte Caban, LB, Smiths Station

Caban is nowhere to be found in ESPN's rankings. ESPN not ranking Caban drags his 247Composite all the way down to No. 16, despite being ranked as high as No. 5 in the state in one ranking. This could be a case of ESPN just not seeing his film yet.

Richard McBryde, LB, Charles Henderson

McBryde is No. 7 in 247Sports' Composite ranking, but is all the way up to No. 3 here. McBryde, an elite linebacker, has multiple SEC options, but has Auburn as his top school.

Three major takeaways from all the rankings:

Plenty of OL disagreement:

It was interesting to see how the services ranked Tyler Carr, Darryl Williams, and Brandon Kennedy. Central-Tuscaloosa's Lester Cotton, who is committed to Alabama, was the consensus top linemen in the state, but there wasn't much agreement after that. It makes sense because the offensive line is generally considered the toughest to project, and every analysts and/or coach likes something different in his linemen.

Amonte Caban is the most interesting recruit:

From not ranked at all (ESPN) to top five in the state (247Sports), Caban is the most interesting recruit in this class based on the rankings. Scout has him in the top 10 (No. 8), while Rivals has him just outside at No. 13. He has blown up in recent months, but his rankings don't fully reflect that. Caban is one to watch in the post-summer rankings.

Payne is the guy:

Daron Payne isn't the consensus top player in Alabama, but three out of the four services have ranked him as such. ESPN is the only service to not rank the 6-foot-2, 330-pound defensive lineman No. 1 in the state. Payne has struggled at times this spring, but none of the major services have dropped him down because of it.

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For Alabama, it's more about which commitments have not been invited to The Opening. It starts with 5-star cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is the top player in the Crimson Tide's class.

He will be joined at the event by 4-star 'Bama commits such as guard Lester Cotton, defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, safety Deionte Thompson, receiver Calvin Ridley, tackle/guard Richie Petitbon and guard Dallas Warmack.

Montrell Custis, a 3-star cornerback, is also headed to The Opening. Top targets for Alabama who will be at the event include 5-star offensive tackle Martez Ivey, 5-star linebacker Malik Jefferson, 5-star defensive lineman Daron Payne, 5-star cornerback Kendall Sheffield and 5-star defensive tackle Tim Settle.

Plus, 4-star quarterback Travis Waller is also a prospect wanted in Tuscaloosa.

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Found this little gem:

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Scout asked 5 of their Midlands reporters which kids they think are most likely to switch their commitment. They all said they think the kids are solid, but 4 of 5 picked Deionte Thompson, and one picked Teuheuma.

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Scout can DIAF.

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Best Recruiting Classes of the Power Five Conferences

When Nick Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide was historically mediocre. NCAA probation and the short, controversial tenures of Dennis Franchione and Mike Price left one of the nation’s most powerful programs stuck in a major rut, and Mike Shula did little to pull it out.

Saban muddled through a 7-6 debut season that featured an ugly home loss to Louisiana-Monroe, but help was on its way.

Was it ever.

Alabama signed the nation’s No. 1 class in 2008, per Rivals.com, and it paid immediate dividends. The Crimson Tide reached the SEC title game before falling to eventual national champion Florida in 2008, and then vanquished the Gators in 2009, beating Texas for the program’s first national title since 1992.

The Tide followed that up with national titles in 2010 and 2012. A fifth-year senior from this group would have been around for three national championships, and any four-year senior (staying from 2008 to 2011) would have been a part of a pretty darn impressive two.

The star power in this group is hard to underrate. Tailback Mark Ingram won a Heisman Trophy in 2009, and center Barrett Jones won the Outland Trophy (given to college football’s top lineman) and the Rimington Trophy (given to its top center).

Wideout Julio Jones was one of college football’s most explosive players and has backed it up as a top-10 overall pick of the Atlanta Falcons. In addition, Defensive tackle Marcel Dareus and safety Mark Barron were also top-10 NFL draft picks. Massive defensive tackle Terrance Cody and linebackers Don’ta Hightower and Courtney Upshaw were extremely productive players and high draft picks.

Along with the Tide’s 2009 class, this group re-launched Alabama into college football’s stratosphere. Despite last season’s disappointing finish, it shows no sign of descending anytime soon.

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'Bama vs. Auburn: Which School Gives Stud DT Daron Payne Best Chance at Success?

Daron Payne is one of most explosive defensive tackles in the 2015 class. While still uncommitted, he has narrowed his list to a few of the top programs in the country.

At 6’2”, 330 pounds, Payne will be a struggle for opposing offensive lines at the collegiate level. The Birmingham, Alabama, native has many options on his plate, which in-state powerhouse will get his commitment?

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The link has the B/R expert breaking down where Payne would fit best. Pretty interesting.


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Pros and Cons for 4-Star QB Travis Waller's Top Schools

Pros

Perhaps the top all-around program in the nation is Alabama. Like him or not, Nick Saban is arguably the best coach in college football.

'Bama has a roster full of future NFL draft picks, plus it is a member of the mighty SEC. Fans are intense and passionate about their Crimson Tide, and the facilities in Tuscaloosa are exceptional. Waller would put himself in position to win a ton of football games here.

Cons

Alabama has several quarterbacks on its roster, so Waller may not see the field anytime soon. The culture in the South is very different from life in Orange County.

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Do yourself a favor and watch this video. Blake Barnett nails a 50 yard target. LINK

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My 17 y/o can ring a basketball goal with a football from about 40 yds consistently. 6'2 225 and runs like a deer. If only I could convince him to give football another try.

BOL has been slacking lately and Im thinking about cancelling my subscription and just keeping Rivals.

Of course they are. We are all rasict in Alabama. Duh.

I've been screwing with the Class Calculator on 247 and if we land Waller, CeCe Jefferson, Malik Jefferson, Daron Payne, Drew Richmond and Damien Harris (some longshots in there ) we would finish with 320.88 points.

We scored a 319.58 last year.