re: Saban Working His Magic To Trim Roster......

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Taylor's injury is the X-factor in this case. Had Alabama planned to grayshirt Taylor immediately after he got hurt, Taylor might have had more time to find a school willing to take him. Getting the bad news in January puts Taylor in a more difficult situation because most schools have already filled their classes. By the same token, no other schools recruited Taylor hard after his injury. Alabama continued recruiting him. Georgia fans were among the most vociferous critics of Saban when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Carvell published a lengthly interview with Taylor Sunday -- probably because Georgia has been at a disadvantage because it doesn't oversign -- but the Bulldogs haven't exactly rushed to offer a scholarship to an in-state player. Alabama is offering for '13. (The argument that other schools shied away because of Taylor's commitment to Alabama doesn't hold water. Nothing short of a restraining order will stop most SEC coaches from recruiting a player they want.)

Thanks to the new rule, Taylor will have options. If he finds a school he likes that will offer him a scholarship for '12, he can sign the NLI and be done with the recruiting process. If he truly wants to go to Alabama, he can wait and enroll next year. But if Taylor chooses that option, and in June or July, Auburn or South Carolina or Georgia Tech or N.C. State suddenly has an opening because a signee didn't qualify academically or chose to play professional baseball or chased his lifelong dream of joining the circus, then those schools can recruit Taylor. They can let him know they have a scholarship available immediately. Taylor still has his leverage, even if he doesn't have his scholarship at the moment.

As of Monday night, Taylor still plans to go to Alabama. "I'm still committed," he said. "That's what everyone has been asking me. Did I decommit? That was not true. I'm still committed." But if another school happened to call with a scholarship offer? "Would I talk to them?" Taylor said. "I mean, maybe."

In other words, Taylor is exactly as committed to Alabama as Alabama is committed to him.

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