3-2-1: Alabama Football recruiting is in high gear
The Alabama Crimson Tide football coaching staff landed their 10th commitment for the Class of 2021 on Wednesday, July 1 when Dallas Turner announced his verbal pledge to the Tide. Turner is the fifth commitment from the state of Florida.
Today, we provide you with three things we’ve learned about the Class of 2021, ask two questions recruiting wise, and make one bold prediction about what is shaping up as a very talented class.
Three Things We've Learned
1. Five commitments from the state of Florida
The Sunshine State continues as a key recruiting pipeline for Alabama with the Tide already having five committed prospects from Florida. Since the month of April, Alabama has gained a commitment a month from Florida starting with Rivals four--star receiver Agiye Hall out of Valricio who committed on April 18. Then on May 8, it was the No. 18 overall player in the nation Jacorey Brooks announcing his pledge to the Tide. Brooks is currently the Tide’s highest ranked committed prospect out of Miami. The Crimson Tide landed Rivals 100 offensive tackle JC Latham on June 12, Latham is originally from the state of Wisconsin, but recently transferred to the IMG Academy in Bradenton.
On June 16, the fastest player in the country Christian Leary out of Orlando committed. Leary’s film screams electrifying speed, and he was the third receiver from Florida to jump on-board. The most recent commitment from Florida is Dallas Turner out of Ft. Lauderdale who committed to Alabama on July 1. Turner is a Rivals four--star outside linebacker standing 6-foot-4, 245 pounds.
2. Charles Huff and Agiye Hall have been Alabama’s lead recruiters
Alabama’s running backs coach Charles Huff is responsible for recruiting the state of Florida and the reason why Alabama has already earned commitments from some of the best the state has to offer. Only in his second year at Alabama, Huff has displayed tremendous recruiting ability as well as contributing at a high level on the coaching staff under Nick Saban. Alabama commitment Agiye Hall has also played a key role in recruiting fellow class of 2021 targets and continues to lead the social push to get key targets to Roll Tide.
3. Several high caliber targets are trending to Alabama
When we take a closer look at the Rivals Future Cast (predictions of where prospects will commit) we see several high-caliber targets are trending to Alabama. Starting with Tommy and James Brockermeyer out of Fort Worth, Texas. Tommy, a 6-foot-6, 288 pound offensive tackle who is a Rivals five-star and ranked as the No. 10 overall player in the country, has a Rivals Future Cast of 70% committing to Alabama. James Brockermeyer a Rivals four-star offensive lineman has a Rivals Future Cast of 86% committing to Alabama. Xavian Sorey a Rivals four-star athlete out of Graceville, Florida has a Rivals Future Cast of 100% committing to Alabama and key in-state corner target Ga’Quincy McKinstry also a Rivals four-star has a Rivals Future Cast of 100% committing to the Tide.
Rivals Future Cast % to commit to Alabama
Ga’Quincy McKinstry - Four-star - DB - 100%
Xavian Sorey - Four-star - ATH - 100%
Khyree Jackson - Three-star - DB - 100% (JC prospect)
Kendrick Blackshire - Four-star - LB - 92.3%
Damon Payne - Four-star - DT - 88.9%
James Brockermeyer - Four-star - 86%
Tommy Brockermeyer- Five-star - OL - 70%
Jeremiah Williams - Four-star - LB - 50% (tied with Auburn)
Brian Thomas - Four-star - WR - 42% (LSU leads)
Two Questions
1. Who’s next to commit?
All signs continue to point to Kendrick Blackshire. Blackshire out of Duncanville, Texas is a Rivals four-star who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds. According BamaInsider.com recruiting analyst Andrew Bone, Blackshire could commit to Alabama at any moment and recently on social media, Blackshire himself said he will make an announcement soon. If and when Blackshire commits, the favorite is without a doubt Alabama which would make Blackshire the fourth linebacker commitment in the Class of 2021.
2. Which Five-stars is Alabama still in play for?
As mentioned, Alabama looks in the lead for the No. 10 overall player in the country Tommy Brockermeyer at the tackle position, but who are some additional five-stars who Alabama is still in the mix? Rivals five-star tackle Amarius Mims has a current Rivals Future Cast of 100% favored to Georgia, but the recruiting battle is far from over. Mims is a massive 6-foot-7, 300 pound offense tackle out of Cochran, Georgia.
Five-star Maason Smith out of Houma, Louisiana is ranked as the No. 1 overall defensive tackle in the country who Alabama still stays very much in contact with though he has a Rivals Future Cast of 100% to LSU. The nation’s No. 1 running back Camar Wheaton out go Garland, Texas is another five-star who Alabama continues to recruit and five-star defensive end Tunmise Adeleye who is currently committed to Ohio State remains a very high priority for the Alabama coaching staff.
One Prediction
1. This class finishes in the top 5 in the nation
This might seem like an obvious, but considering Alabama’s recruiting class was ranked No. 71 in the month of March after losing quarterback commitment Drake Maye and corner Latrell McCutchin in the same week, the coaching staff has done an excellent job recruiting despite not having any prospects on campus for visits because of Covid-19. When you look at the Rivals recruiting rankings, you’ll see that Alabama is currently ranked No. 17 overall, but if you sort the rankings by star ranking average you’ll see that Alabama has a 3.8 star average, which is fourth in the country behind Ohio State (3.94), Georgia (3.89), and Clemson (3.86).
So if Alabama continues its trajectory of landing highly rated prospects, which is the case, you’re going to continue to see Alabama make another run to the top of the Rivals recruiting rankings. Also, don’t forget Rivals has not updated its rankings recently, so expect a few players who are ranked four-stars to move to five-stars and players who are ranked three-stars to move to four-stars which will also help the overall recruiting ranking.
Kyle Henderson is the Managing Editor of BamaInsider.com. Follow Henderson on twitter @Rivals_Kyle or email him at Kyle@BamaInsider.com