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

Posted on 8/22/17 at 9:12 am to TideSaint

Posted by TideSaint

Hill Country

Member since Sep 2008

75997 posts

Posted on 8/22/17 at 9:12 am to TideSaint

Alabama outpacing foes for R100 TE Luke Ford

quote:
After stepping away from an Arkansas commitment in June, Carterville, Ill., tight end Luke Ford visited six schools across the country this summer. One of those visits stood out among the rest for the four-star.

“If I had to put in into a 40-yard dash term, I’d say Alabama is running a 4.3 and everybody else is running a 4.4,” Ford said.

Ford and his family traveled to Tuscaloosa on June 17, just a week after he de-committed from Arkansas.

“It was just talking with Brian Daboll and him being the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, coaching Gronk (Rob Gronkowski), Martellus Bennett, Aaron Hernandez and all the rings he got with the Patriots," Ford said. "He’s obviously going to bring that offense to Alabama, with the tight end usage, that’s intriguing to me.”

Ford has tickets to attend Alabama’s season opener against Florida State in Atlanta on Sept. 2. He is also looking to schedule an official visit to Tuscaloosa, but that may take place after his senior season is complete. No other official visits have been scheduled, and Ford would prefer to take those after the college football season is complete.

Other schools Ford visited this summer include Auburn, LSU, Michigan and Texas. While other schools could enter the mix in the coming months, the schools he has made prior visits to are the ones Ford is most closely following at this point in his recruitment and he could name a top 10 during the fall.

Although he de-committed from Arkansas, Ford is still interested in the Razorbacks and keeps in regular contact with assistant Barry Lunney Jr. He was also looking closely at the home-state Illinois Fighting Illini prior to his original Arkansas commitment, and made a return visit to see head coach Lovie Smith in Champaign on July 28.

“It was another great visit. I love all the coaching staff and everybody there,” Ford said. “The facilities need work, but that will come later on. For me to buy in and play for the flagship (school) in-state, I just have to see them win games and use the tight end.”

In the recent update of the Rivals100, Ford emerged as the No. 1 ranked tight end prospect in the 2018 class. His senior season kicks off this coming weekend. The four-star expects to line up mostly in the slot, but also in-line in some sets. Ford doubles as an outside linebacker on defense for Carterville.

Please sweet baby Jesus let us land this kid.

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Posted by TideSaint

Hill Country

Member since Sep 2008

75997 posts

Posted on 8/22/17 at 9:14 am to TideSaint

Take two: Alabama's slow start to 2018 recruiting

quote:
Take Two returns this week as a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape.

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

Storyline: For eight of the last 10 years, Alabama has won the Rivals.com team recruiting title. It’s been an incredible run as the Crimson Tide have absolutely dominated the recruiting landscape.

That streak could be in serious jeopardy this cycle if current trends continue.

Alabama is currently No. 31 nationally in the team recruiting rankings and ninth in the SEC rankings ahead of only Auburn, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Other than the Rebels, Alabama, with 10 pledges, has the fewest commits in the conference.

No team ranked ahead of Alabama in the national team rankings has as few commits as the Crimson Tide. And that number increased dramatically just in the last few weeks for Alabama with half of its class committing since July 1. No five-stars are currently pledged to Alabama.

So what’s going on? Are players choosing other programs for a specific reason? Or is this really a sign of Alabama’s strength, that coach Nick Saban and his staff can wait until later in the recruiting process and then pick and choose – even if top prospects are committed elsewhere – to fill out the Crimson Tide's recruiting class?

First take: “Alabama is expected to have a small class this year. The slow start is more about waiting for top targets to decide instead of taking guys who are ready to commit to Alabama. The Crimson Tide also have a few major targets who are committed elsewhere who may jump on board down the road. There is zero concern in Tuscaloosa at the present time. Alabama will get several of its top targets down the road. Nick Saban has always been known as the ultimate closer. He will close on big targets during official and in-home visits.” – Andrew Bone, BamaInsider.com

Second take: “It’s not an issue, and I’m not concerned. They are recruiting a lot of guys and they don’t want to go to Plan B. Whether the guy is committed and they’re going to try to flip him or whether they want to take their time, Alabama is going to get theirs in the end. I don’t think Saban is in any hurry or gives really a bit of care what anybody thinks about the start of this recruiting class, because we know they’ll probably finish in the top five.” - Farrell