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

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Welcome to SEC Country’s daily Roll Tide-ings, a rundown of everything happening in Alabama Crimson Tide recruiting with Chris Kirschner. Today, we talk the latest with the first day of the early signing period.

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Alabama sees former staffers Jeremy Pruitt and Kirby Smart steal key recruits

Alabama showed some vulnerability on the recruiting trail on Wednesday. First, 4-star quarterback Emory Jones, a longtime Alabama target, ended up flipping from Ohio State to Florida. That wasn’t a surprise.

Then, a few hours later, the Tide lost out on 5-star defensive end Brenton Cox to Georgia. Again, not all that surprising. There was a glimmer of hope there but not much.

Fast-forward to Dominick Wood-Anderson‘s decision, and this was truly the first player Alabama had a very good chance of landing. Wood-Anderson was all over the place in his recruitment. He silently committed to Alabama, Louisville, Texas and Oregon, at least, at different points in his recruitment. There was truly no way of knowing what he actually was going to do until he signed his letter of intent.

SEC Country was told by an SEC assistant on Tuesday that he believed Wood-Anderson’s decision was going to come down to Alabama and Texas A&M, but Tennessee would try for a late surge before he announced. It worked. Wood-Anderson was expected to announce his commitment on a San Diego television station at 11 a.m. ET. He canceled. He ended up delaying his decision until the evening.

Truthfully, Alabama may have dodged a bullet with Wood-Anderson because I don’t see his personality meshing with how the Tide operate. But he was a major target for the Tide and they lost him to former defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee. That part stings.

Wood-Anderson is a pretty special talent, and hindsight is always 20/20, but I think Alabama should have focused harder on 4-star tight end Luke Ford, who, at one point, considered the Tide his leader.

Then, Kirby Smart comes in a few hours after Wood-Anderson’s announcement to flip and sign 4-star defensive back Nadab Joseph. SEC Country learned, however, that Joseph wasn’t sent a letter of intent by Alabama on Wednesday, which meant he could not sign with the Tide. There were concerns with his academics. Alabama didn’t want to take a risk knowing how important signing defensive backs are to this class and if it signed him, that’s one less scholarship.

Now, Smart and UGA have the top-ranked class. The Bulldogs did a remarkable job on the recruiting trail on Wednesday, but remember, it’s not over yet for Alabama. Lots of major targets are still out there.

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Alabama lands important prospects

It wasn’t all bad news for Alabama on Wednesday. The Tide landed two of the nation’s best prospects in 5-star Jack linebacker Eyabi Anoma and 4-star defensive tackle Christian Barmore.

As a senior, Anoma recorded 98 tackles, 22 sacks and forced 4 fumbles. He explained why he chose the Tide.

“I mean, it’s the [Nick] Saban era,” Anoma said live on the ESPN2 broadcast. “Time in and time out, he just produces top-notch players that compete at a high level. I want to go there and compete at a high level. Nothing is going to be given to me and I like competing against the top people in the country. So, that’s where I’m going to get top-notch competition.”

Barmore told SEC Country why he chose Alabama.

“When I visited them, it felt like home,” Barmore said. “I love their academic support, how they prepare you for not just football but for life. Lastly, it’s Bama. So many great players came from there.”

Both of these guys were major priorities for the staff. Don’t be surprised to see both make an impact next season.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When it comes to the 2018 University of Alabama football team there’s one position group that clearly stands out as a concern — the secondary.

The Crimson Tide could potentially return no starters. That’s not just among the four players in the base defense, but the two that regularly play in the nickel and dime packages, as well.

It’s a huge amount of turnover, which Nick Saban is hoping to offset with this latest recruiting class.

“We’re probably going to lose five, maybe more, so we would like to replace that many guys,” he said. “Whether that’s going to be possible or not, I don’t know. I know that we’re recruiting several other guys who are very good players that may be able to contribute to it.”

Specifically, cornerbacks Anthony Averett and Levi Wallace are both seniors, as are nickel- and dime-package players Tony Brown and Hootie Jones. Junior strong safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is probably going pro and junior free safety Ronnie Harrison is obviously considering it.

Combined, they’ve played in 231 games with 123 starts.

As for who might have the best shot at replacing them, sophomore cornerback Trevon Diggs started the season opener against Florida State, but it was Wallace who established himself during that game. At safety, sophomore Deionte Thompson will likely have a role during the College Football Playoff in Jones’ absence after he suffered a knee injury against Auburn.

Thompson’s played in all 12 games this season, with 18 tackles and 1 interception.

“We have a lot of confidence in Deionte,” Saban said. “He’s really improved a lot throughout the course of the year in terms of his knowledge and experience and understanding of what’s expected of him. He has really good range. We need him to play well for us and we certainly feel like he’s capable of doing that.”

There is also Jared Mayden, Xavier McKinney, Daniel Wright, Shyheim Carter and Keaton Anderson, plus Nigel Knott is on the recovery path from having a knee injury.

Alabama is also feeling good about this week’s addition, Saivion Smith, a junior college transfer who initially played at LSU. Not only did he come in looking ready to step in, but Saban singled him out for praise on Wednesday: “We can see with our own eyes that he’s going to be a good player.”

“He just has to learn the system, obviously,” Averett said.

Having played 10 games at LSU, the former 5-star recruit could have as much experience as anyone else in the secondary when Alabama opens next season against Louisville in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 1.

“I think anytime you get a guy that’s played in major college football games before, probably knows a little more about what it takes, probably has a little more maturity, I think that’s always probably a positive for a guy in terms of his readiness to come in and play,” Saban said. “We’re excited he’s here and excited to have the opportunity to work with him even in this time, which is a little more difficult now that we’re working on an opponent, but he’s still out there getting reps and we’re still trying to coach him and teach him what he needs to know to make a contribution.”

Alabama also landed highly rated cornerbacks Jalyn Armour-Davis and Josh Jobe on Wednesday, but lost a commitment when Nadab Joseph signed with Georgia.

“Jalyn-Armour Davis is a really skilled guy,” Saban said. “Josh Jobe was one of the target guys we’ve had all year long. Like I said, there are still other guys out there that we think are very good that could help us in the secondary as well.”

Adding a couple more defensive backs will remain a priority as Alabama moves forward toward the regular signing day in February, with eight overall spots remaining in the class (although that, too, can fluctuate depending on early departures for the NFL and transfers).

According to the 247Sports composite rating, four of the top 10 defensive backs in this cycle are still unsigned: cornerbacks Patrick Surtain Jr., Isaac Taylor-Stuart and Tyson Campbell, and safety Kelvin Joseph. Alabama is in the mix for each, but not considered the favorite for any.

In other words, the coaching staff has its work cut out.

“There are still other guys out there that we think are very good that could help us in the secondary,” Saban said.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — One of the most glaring concerns on the University of Alabama roster this season was quarterback depth. The Crimson Tide had just three players at the position and two of them were freshmen.

However, it’s something that Nick Saban may not be able to fix until 2019 as Alabama wasn’t able to sign a quarterback during the first day of the early signing period.

Ideally, he’d like to have four, but the coach admitted during his news conference Wednesday, “That may or may not be possible.”

“We have tried to recruit a quarterback and we’re going to continue to try to do that,” he said. “If we can get somebody that we feel can be a positive in the organization, we would like to get a quarterback. I would always like to have four on the roster.”

Among the top 50 quarterbacks listed on the 247Sports composite, only two remain unsigned. No. 3 Tanner McKee of Corona, Calif., is likely heading to Stanford. The other is an in-state dual-threat quarterback, No. 24 James Foster of Lanier High School in Montgomery.

He de-committed from Missouri earlier this fall and plans to take official visits next month. LSU may be the team to beat for him; Texas A&M is in the mix as well.

Foster grew up an Alabama fan, but the Crimson Tide will have Jalen Hurts going into his junior season, Tua Tagovailoa pushing as a sophomore and Mac Jones a redshirt freshman.

The other part of the equation is need at other positions as Alabama only has eight remaining spots to fill. So far, the signing class includes four linebackers, three defensive backs, two defensive linemen, two offensive linemen, one punter, one running back, one wide receiver and one athlete.

“We’ll have to make that decision based on how recruiting continues to go,” Saban said.

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1.We could use a 6-4 wr run after catch type deep threat in our WR core.
2.We could use red zone fade threat 6-4 wr type.
3.But mainly a 6-4 wr thats top rank state player and nation is a must get to keep away from the likes of Clemson or AU.

I would normally agree 1000% that a DT over a WR all day.If we we had one big WR that's been a difference maker.
This is a club we need in our bag.!

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Brian Perroni, one of the Texas A&M mods, has Jaylen Waddle and Isaac Taylor-Stuart in his mock class for the Aggies

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