re: Class of 2019 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: That's a Wrap Edition

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There are many college football stars headed off to the NFL as we saw at the NFL Combine. But who will replace these stars? Here is Part 2 of Replacing The Stars, led by the freakiest linebacker in the draft.

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ALABAMA WR CALVIN RIDLEY

The skinny: It is somewhat silly to say that it will be easy to replace someone of Ridley’s production and talent, but with the young wide receivers Alabama has stockpiled, it really shouldn’t be a lingering issue. Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs III all flashed last season, including in the national playoffs where they showed everyone that the Tide wide receiving corps can actually improve in the next two seasons. It is difficult to pick one above the other two, but we’ll continue with the Florida trend and go with Jeudy, who follows Amari Cooper and Ridley in becoming the next great Dade/Broward receiver in Tuscaloosa.

Farrell’s take: This will be more of a committee approach to replace Ridley and with Alabama’s improved passing game, the ball should be distributed more evenly. Jeudy has the skill to be the next guy from Florida, but there is an embarrassment of riches here and ‘Bama will be just fine at wide receiver despite Ridley’s ability to dominate.

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Nakobe Dean just can't get anything done these days. Coaches from over two dozen schools are contacting the student-athlete out of Horn Lake (Miss.) daily — that's right, daily.

Dean has tried to be respectful and speak with as many coaches as he can, but he still has to take care of business.

"Nakobe has cut his list to reduce the number of calls and text messages he receives every day. His academics are his first priority and recruiting is cutting in to homework time," said Horn Lake head coach Brad Boyette.

The 6-foot-1, 215 pound linebacker cut his list down to 15. He has cover 30 offers, so quite a few schools have been eliminated.

The schools that made the cut are Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Stanford and Texas A&M.

Dean feels better after the cut.

"It has been hard the last few months, but I think I have managed it well and not let it control me," said Dean. "I feel great now. I feel like I can be more focused on the schools that I see myself going to."

The No. 1 prospect in the state of Mississippi does not know when the next cut will, but he did say it will likely happen "sooner than later".

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Alabama wrapped up its 2018 recruiting class with 19 signees, which was the seventh-ranked class in the country and second-best in the SEC, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Full attention now turns to the 2019 class. Over the next two weeks, SEC Country will look at each position group for the Class of 2019.

Here is a look at outside linebackers.

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The breakdown: Alabama was riddled with injuries at the outside linebacker position in the 2017 season. Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis both missed the majority of the season after getting injured in the season-opener against Florida State. Anfernee Jennings also got hurt in that game, causing him to miss a few games. He then got hurt in the Sugar Bowl and had to miss the national championship.

This outside linebacker group is loaded with talent. Alabama also signed one of the best prospects in the 2018 class in 5-star Jack LB Eyabi Anoma. He was easily one of the most impressive players I saw play in person in the 2018 cycle. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get lots of playing time as a freshman.

As for the 2019 class, the Tide are firmly in the mix for Marcel Brooks and Ani Izuchukwu. Alabama is considered in the top 2 for both prospects. Brooks is down to Bama and LSU. He’ll make his commitment on June 25. Izuchukwu has Bama sticking out with Ohio State. He doesn’t have a commitment date set, but he’s likely going to make his decision before the summer is over. I like where the Tide stand for both.

Pappoe has Auburn and Georgia in his top 2. He’s a major target for the Tide, but they have to get him back on campus this spring to have any chance. For now, I think he’s Georgia bound.

Smith is committed to UGA but still strongly considering Alabama. He has a good relationship with defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi. The Tide have him thinking, but he’s one of those players who grew up in Georgia and has dreamed of winning a championship for the Bulldogs. It’s going to be a tough flip.

Diabate is an in-state prospect. He got an offer from the Tide last month. He’s high on Alabama, but I think they'll wait to see what some of the guys mentioned above do first. The same goes for Summerall and McClendon.

Alabama has a commitment at outside linebacker from King Mwikuta, who will be one of the vocal leaders of this class. He’s one of the most personable kids I’ve met.

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They're two of nearly every major programs' top targets.

And they are looking to be the top targets for one of those program's quarterbacks in 2019.

"We've been talking about it," said Kentwood receiver Trey Palmer. "We are family so let's go to the same school and ball out at the same school and finish where we started."

Palmer and Amite receiver Devonta Lee been best friends since they played youth basketball together and now the state's top ranked receivers are looking to be teammates again at the next level.

"The hype is going to be crazy," Lee said.

With both prospects holding offers from LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M and Auburn among several others, Lee's prediction won't be far off.

Both Lee and Palmer are ranked in the top 100 of most recruiting services but perhaps more importantly to college programs their games complement each other.

Lee said Palmer is fast and has the ability to stretch the field while he likes to go up and high-point balls. Palmer however made it clearly that both players are elusive.

"One dude ain't gonna tackle us," Palmer said.

The duo see benefits to playing at the same college going beyond just the football field though.

"We could help each other work. We could stay in the same dorm room. We could go to class at the same time if we have the same classes," Lee said before adding that the both have the same goal. "And we could win a national championship with each other."

The two already push each other during their high school careers.

"He'll call me every now and then and be like 'What you did brother?' and I'll be like "I balled out. I had two touchdowns and two interceptions, a couple tackles' and stuff like that," Lee said. "We just check on each other."

Palmer added: "We look at each other and see what we did wrong and what we can fix and what we can improve on the next weekend."

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Sopsher doesn’t have Alabama in his top 12, but I can’t care any less about a recruit’s top whatever list this far out from National Signing Day. Top schools lists that have more than a handful of schools are pointless. Recruits may say they are still considering more than 10 schools, but in reality they likely aren’t.

Sopsher is the nation’s No. 1 defensive tackle in the 2019 class. He’s a former teammate of DeVonta Smith and his current teammate, Devonta Lee, is also a major target for the Tide. The Tide are strongly recruiting Sopsher and likely will be a major player in the end.

Tuitele doesn’t have an offer yet, but that likely will change when he visits in early April. He’s a former teammate of Tua Tagovailoa and told SEC Country that seeing the quarterback have the success he did as a freshman makes him realize that he can leave Hawaii for the East Coast and have a similar path.

Dale is an in-state prospect who is high on the Tide.

Pickering and Young are both from Mississippi. Pickering has visited several times. Young visited last month and left with Alabama as his leader.

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Ideally, Wease wants to make his decision around August. Once he makes his decision, he said, it will be final. He won’t take visits to other schools.

What Alabama also has going for itself is his relationship with Tide wide receiver signee Jaylen Waddle. Waddle told Wease that when he visits Tuscaloosa it will change his mind on everything he thinks about the school.

“Jaylen and I are basically cousins. We’re really close,” Wease said. “We grew a bond around two years ago and we’ve been tight ever since. We have talked about how he’s a slot receiver and I’m an outside guy and how we can do damage in the SEC.

“In my opinion, he was the best receiver in Texas. Him and [Southern Cal signee] Amon-Ra St. Brown were the top guys in their class, in my opinion. Jaylen is so explosive. He’s little, but he plays like he’s big. Nobody can guard him. He’s too fast. He’s so much fun to watch.”

While it’s good for the Tide to have an in with the nation’s No. 5 wide receiver, that’s not going to be enough to get Wease on board. He’s looking to be comfortable in the city of the school he chooses and wants to have a family-like bond with the coaching staff. Right now, the two teams that seem to have an edge in those categories are Oklahoma, the school he was once committed to, and Texas A&M. Alabama has some catching up to do, but the team will be in good position if he follows through and takes those two trips in the coming months.

Alabama also improved its status with Wease before it even offered him. Back in January, Wease was watching the National Championship Game in which Tua Tagovailoa led the Tide to a comeback victory over Georgia. He saw a total transformation in the Tide’s offense.

“They were throwing that ball around,” he said. “I was loving that. I think Tua is a really good player. I saw him at The Opening [in 2016]. I knew he had the capability to do what he did.

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