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

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Alabama signed 20 players during the 2018 recruiting cycle.

But head coach Nick Saban hinted that the Crimson Tide, which currently has the nation’s No. 7 recruiting class, might add more at two positions after Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

Alabama has yet to sign a quarterback after being finalists for a pair of West Coast quarterbacks toward the end of the 2018 recruiting cycle -- 4-star Brevin White and 3-star Brock Purdy.

But even with Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts and Mac Jones returning, Saban said he still wants to add a signal caller -- which would more than likely come in the form of a graduate transfer.

“I think that we’ll probably have a quarterback join us in some kind of way between now and then, which I don’t think I can comment about,” Saban said. “Look, when you have really good young players at a position, sometimes it’s hard to attract another guy at that particular position.

“I think you all know our circumstance at quarterback right now with the players that we have here and what grade they’re in and how much more eligibility they have. So, rather than reach for somebody, we would rather try to solve the issue maybe a different way with maybe a more experienced guy down the road and certainly think that next year we might be in position to get a really good player at that position who could be someone who could impact us in the future.”

Hurts will be a junior next season, while Tagovailoa will start his sophomore year and Jones will be a redshirt freshman. Alabama also added Braxton Barker, the son of championship-winning quarterback Jay Barker, as a preferred walk-on. But as he has said in the past, Saban wants to have four scholarship quarterbacks on his Tide roster, if at all possible.

The second position Saban mentioned Wednesday evening was on the defensive side of the ball.

UA signed two defensive linemen in 4-stars Stephon Wynn, who is already on campus as an early enrollee, and Christian Barmore during the early signing period. But four players, including starters Da'Ron Payne and Da'Shawn Hand, aren’t returning in 2018.

The Crimson Tide saw Bobby Brown, a 2-month commitment, flip and sign with Texas A&M, and in-state prospect Malik Langham chose Florida over Alabama. Multiple times during a news conference, Saban said he wanted to sign an additional defensive lineman this cycle. So, in order to have quality, and quantity, depth along the defensive, the search continues.

“We were actually hoping to get one more defensive lineman in this class,” Saban said. “We feel really good about the two guys that we got. Stephon Wynn is a really good player, a big power guy. Barmore is the same kind of guy.

“I think some of the outside ‘backer-type guys have become defensive linemen, so the fact that we got some really good guys at outside ‘backer that have really good size and really good size potential may grow into something else in their career here. But that’s something that remains to be seen. But we feel really good about those two guys.

“Again, if we had our druthers we’d have got one more guy at that position, and we’ll continue to maybe look and evaluate and see if there’s somebody out there that would help us.”

As for which players Saban and company will target, that remains to be seen.

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