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

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Alabama likely won’t sign QB in 2018 class

The last time Alabama didn’t sign a quarterback on scholarship in a recruiting cycle was back in 2004 when John Parker Wilson greyshirted. That streak will likely come to an end this Wednesday when National Signing Day rolls around.

Brock Purdy, a 3-star quarterback from Perry High School (Gilbert, Ariz.), told SEC Country on Sunday that he eliminated Alabama from consideration. He’s now down to Iowa State and Texas A&M. A source close to the Alabama program told SEC Country that “we could not take him and we are not sending him scholarship papers.” What he means by “not taking Purdy” is just that the team didn’t want to use a scholarship on him.

That effectively ends the Tide’s search for a quarterback on scholarship in the 2018 class. The only quarterback left this cycle that Alabama has an offer out to is 4-star prospect James Foster, and as of Monday morning, he cannot commit to the Tide. The one thing that needs to be noted is that this could totally change by Wednesday. That’s just how recruiting goes, as teams figure out who is going to end up signing and who isn’t in the final few days before Signing Day.

It was always going to be difficult for the Tide to sign an elite-level quarterback in this class. Alabama came close to signing one twice this cycle. Jarren Williams, a 4-star quarterback who signed with Miami, was ready to flip from Kentucky to Alabama in early October. His high school coach told him to not rush anything, so he decided to wait. SEC Country had a story ready to go on Williams flipping to Alabama. It was that close.

Alabama also decided to make Emory Jones the priority quarterback target. Jones told SEC Country that he was leaning toward flipping to Alabama until Florida coach Dan Mullen aggressively pursued. Jones decided that Florida’s lack of quality quarterback depth was more enticing to him than Alabama’s, so he signed with the Gators.

Quarterback recruiting in 2018 was going to be a challenge with the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year, a 5-star prospect in Tua Tagovailoa and a 4-star prospect in Mac Jones. The path to early playing time isn’t there for a Class of 2018 quarterback. Hurts still has two years of eligibility, Tagovailoa has three and Jones has four. Expect the Tide to sign two quarterbacks in the 2019 class. Thankfully for the Tide, there are two high-end prospects in the state of Alabama who have major ties to the program in 4-star prospect Paul Tyson, who is Bear Bryant’s great-grandson, and 4-star prospect Taulia Tagovailoa, who is Tua’s younger brother.

I do think that Alabama will land a preferred walk-on quarterback in 2018. Look for Braxton Barker to be that player. Barker is the son of former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker. Braxton does have a preferred walk-on offer and was in Tuscaloosa this past weekend.

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Name to know for Wednesday

SEC Country was told that 3-star John Curtis (New Orleans) tight end Glenn Beal does, in fact, have a committable offer. He will be sent scholarship papers. Whether he chooses to sign them is another story.

Beal is down to Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M. His last visit was to Tuscaloosa. That’s always a good thing in recruiting because a lot of these recruits are swayed by what they see and hear last.

We’ll see what happens with Beal, but he’s a name to watch come Wednesday. Texas A&M and Tennessee are likely the biggest competitors for Beal right now. There may not be room for him at LSU.

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