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

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Several of Alabama’s commits, signees and top targets are in Orlando practicing for the Under Armour All-America Game, which kicks off on Thursday.

Here is what we learned on Day 4 from the majority of players Alabama is interested in at the game:

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Nicholas Petit-Frere, who has arguably been the best offensive lineman in attendance, watched the Alabama game. Petit-Frere, a 5-star prospect, has been the Tide’s top target on the offensive line for months. Here’s what he had to say about Alabama’s offensive line performance against Clemson: “They really played together. They came together and played as a team. I saw a lot of them pointing and figuring out exactly what they had to do. When teams are doing well, there’s a lot of communication on the offensive line. I saw that from them.”

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Justin Watkins getting a lot of CB's to Florida

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1. Sights and sounds from practice field, Day 3

Day 3 of practice was held in much better conditions than rainy Day 2, but the wind was still a factor. Here are some thoughts from Day 3.

The quarterbacks looked a bit better today despite the windy conditions, although Florida signee Emory Jones still struggled. I can’t figure out what’s wrong with Jones, but his feet are the main culprit as his footwork is inconsistent. He’s either overstriding and sailing the ball or not stepping into his throw and skipping it in the dirt. And on short passes, the Florida signee isn’t showing much touch. He got more reps today because Jacob Sirmon was injured and sat out practice, but it didn’t seem to help.

The other quarterback on his team, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, had a much better day. In fact it was the UCLA commitment’s best day yet as he looked solid for the most part throwing from the pocket and on the run. On the other side of the field, Adrian Martinez remains the most consistent quarterback, Joey Gatewood (Auburn) showed more patience today while Jack West continued to struggle.

The best running back by far has been Ricky Slade as the Penn State commitment will be a big part of his team’s offense. Second best is probably Keaontay Ingram, who has shown some good ability to catch the ball.

Guys who can get open but drop passes are Alontae Taylor and Xavier Williams. Both have great speed but lack natural ball skills.

Offensive lineman Daniel Faalele had a good day as the Minnesota signee showed good patience and footwork. The teams crossed over and went one-on-one against each other and Jordan Davis, an Alabama signee, went from being handled by Nick Petit-Frere to being handled by Faalele. Davis hasn’t had a great week at defensive end so far. KJ Henry continues to be the best defensive end at the event.

Asante Samuel, the Florida State signee, is having a good week and has been very consistent. The same can be said for UCLA commitment Olajiah Griffin, who recently mentioned that Tennessee is his top school despite his UCLA commitment. Both players have excellent instincts, things that can’t be taught, at the cornerback position.

Tyreke Smith had a good day in team rushing the passer and is one of those guys who has an amazing ceiling. I might do a “high ceiling” list from this event because there are so many guys just scratching the surface of their potential like Faalele, Smith, Eyabi Anoma and more.

The linebackers don’t get a ton of love because there is no tackling to the ground, but it appears to be a good group and they have excellent size. In addition to guys like Terajda Mitchell and Jack Lamb that I have mentioned, Quay Walker is about as good looking a linebacker prospect as you can find and Xavier Peters is huge as well. And all of them can move.

Justin Shorter is far and away the biggest receiver at the event and a freak of nature. We haven’t pulled the string on his fifth star yet, but that could be changing. Brevin Jordan is the best tight end at the event hands down and the Miami commitment will be discussed as well.

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2. Ten players who have raised their stock

Here are 10 guys that have raised their stock so far (these are just my opinions and don’t reflect that of the entire analyst team).

OT Nick Petit-Frere – Is he a five-star offensive tackle? Time will tell and we’ll see how he does in the game, but he has been very impressive all week.

WR Justin Shorter – Is he a five-star wide receiver? He’s built like one and sure looks like one, so we’ll see if he continues to impress.

CB Olajiah Griffin – He’s long, he’s fast, he plays the ball well and he has a chance to be in the five-star discussion.

CB Trey Dean – Dean has been the most physical cornerback at the event and hasn’t been beaten much. He is probably a little undervalued.

DB DeMarvion Overshown – I like this kid, his ball skills are off the charts and he’s showing he could be ranked a bit higher if he has a good game.

TE Brevin Jordan – He’s not that long, but he’s athletic and the perfect flex tight end who can stretch the field and he has some great hands.

DT PJ Mustipher – I came in skeptical of his ranking thinking we might have him a little high, but he’s been in the backfield constantly and has been excellent all week.

QB Adrian Martinez – He’s been more consistent than some quarterbacks ranked ahead of him and if he has a good game, he could be in for a bump. When the lights come on and it’s live action, that’s where we will see how the quarterbacks stack up.

OL Kwatrivous Johnson – The three-star has been playing like a four-star and has great size along with length and some surprising footwork.

DB Quindarious Monday – I like his ball-hawking skills and his instincts in coverage. He could be a Rivals250 prospect if he continues to ball out and has a big game.

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Another day of practices is in the books at the Army Bowl, with the East and West teams joining together for a session that saw plenty of action on the field. But what about on the recruiting trail? Today we look at five more prospects and make predictions about where they will end up signing coming February.

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College football fans around the country were glued to their TVs on Monday night as games between Georgia and Oklahoma and Alabama and Clemson played for a spot in the College Football Playoff Championship Game. Whether it was at the games live, in sports bars around the country or social media, everyone had a take on how things played out.

But how about at the two major high school all-star games, where some players will be on campus for the playoff teams as soon as next week? Well, there was plenty of opinions and trash talking between the participants.

In San Antonio, a large contingent of Georgia signees had an extra bounce in their step as they celebrated the Bulldogs victory over Oklahoma. Five-star signee Jamaree Salyer said that while the future Dawgs had no official watch party on Monday night, once things became final they started their celebration.

“I was watching with [fellow Georgia signee] Trey Hill and as soon as the game ended we ran out in the hall celebrating,” Salyer said. “We went straight to [Oklahoma] signee Brey Walker’s room and started banging on the door.”

Salyer said several the Sooners faithful took it in stride, even though Walker claimed the Sooners were “cheated.”

“The Georgia guys have been on my case this whole trip,” Walker said. “You’ve got to rep your team and they won so what can you say? Hopefully next year we are back in there again and we can see them and change it.”

One of the guys giving Walker the hardest time was recent Georgia tight end signee Luke Ford. Because Ford is on the West team with Walker, running back T.J. Pledger and Oklahoma defensive line signees Ronnie Perkins and Ron Tatum, he had to hear plenty of Sooner talk over the past few days. On Tuesday it was his chance to gloat.

“There was a lot of trash talk this week,” Ford said. “So you know I had to give it back to them once we won. We were talking a lot during the game but I knew Georgia was going to come back. Now it’s my turn to celebrate.”

In Orlando, Alabama signee Xavier Williams said the future Tide players gathered to watch the game in the players lounge and were also communicating via phone calls and text messages.

“"I watched a lot of the game and I was on the phone talking with other commitments during it,” Williams said. “ I knew Alabama was going to win, but we got out of our game a little in the second half. The defense was great all game. We will have to play better against Georgia.”

With the final set, Salyer said he expects there to only be more trash talk between now and Monday’s game.

“We are going to be ready,” Salyer said. “We’ll be letting the Alabama guys know that we’re coming for them.”

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Quay Walker

COMMITTED TO: Alabama

THE SITUATION: Walker has been committed to Alabama since June and the odds of him staying with the Tide do not look to be great. Auburn, Florida and Georgia will receive official visits in January and Tennessee could receive one as well. He does not plan to take one to Alabama. He saw his former teammate, Markaviest Bryant, sign with Auburn in 2017, he grew up a fan of the Gators and the Dawgs are the home-state team, so Nick Saban has a lot to worry about here.

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TEXAS SWITCH UP?

There could be a lot of heated debate and discussion about the top players in Texas when it comes time to rework the rankings because Jaylen Waddle is having a time here at the Army Bowl, Brennan Eagles was excellent on Day 2 and five-star cornerback Anthony Cook struggled in the morning. Waddle is standing out the most as the undersized receiver from Houston Episcopal has proven to be nearly unguardable in space. The uncommitted four-star gets open against everybody and he’s such a dynamic playmaker. Eagles made some big-time catches and showed off excellent speed as one of the best outside receivers in this game. Cook had a tough time defending the elite West receivers - namely St. Brown - and his ability to turn and run seemed a step behind at least on this day.

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