Alabama does a fairly decent job poaching other state's top prospects, but that hasn't affected the Crimson Tide's ability to play defense in its own backyard. Only five top-five prospects in the state of Alabama have left the state during the last six recruiting classes.
This week BamaInsider is examining Alabama's recruiting success in some of the most important states in the country by reviewing which programs excel at signing the top-five prospects year-after-year in each state since 2015.
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The cream of the crop
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Alabama's success rate with the state's top-five prospects is the Crimson Tide's ability to bring home Alabama's No. 1 prospect in four of the last six years.
Of those four, inside linebacker Ben Davis was the highest ranked prospect both nationally and at his position. Obviously things haven't gone as Davis hoped when he signed with the Crimson Tide, but his lack of production shouldn't diminish what Alabama accomplished by signing such a highly ranked player.
Strongside defensive end LaBryan Ray was the lowest rated No. 1 prospect at 45th overall in 2017. Outside linebacker Mack Wilson ranked behind Davis in 2016, but he's still the third-highest ranked in-state player to sign with Alabama since 2015 at 26th overall.
Surprisingly enough, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and wide receiver Henry Ruggs were two of only five guys on the list to rank outside the top 100 nationally.
Two of the others, cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis and athlete Kristian Story profile as up and coming members of the secondary. It's quite possible those four could end all up being more successful than the 10 guys that finished inside the top 100 during their respective years.
2015
1. DT DaRon Payne- Ranked 19th nationally entering.college. Drafted 13th overall by Washington in 2018.
2. OG Lester Cotton- Ranked 46th overall entering college. Went undrafted in 2019.
2016
1. ILB Ben Davis- Played 13 snaps on defense in 2019.
3. OLB Mack Wilson- Ranked 26th overall entering college. Drafted 155th overall by Cleveland in 2019.
4. DT Quinnen Williams- Ranked 106th overall entering college. Drafted third overall by the New York Jets in 2019.
5. WR T.J. Simmons- Ranked outside the top 250. Transferred to West Virginia in 2017. He's started 15 games for his new team during the last two seasons.
2017
1. SDE LaBryan Ray- Ranked 45th nationally. Recorded nine tackles, four solo, in three games before suffering a season-ending injury in 2019.
2. RB Brian Robinson- Ranked 82nd nationally. Carried the ball 96 times for 441 yards and five scores in 2019.
5. WR Henry Ruggs- Ranked 125th overall entering college. Drafted 12th overall by Oakland in 2020.
2018
4. CB Jalyn Armour-Davis- Ranked 123rd nationally. Played 59 snaps on defense in 2019.
2019
4. OT Pierce Quick- Ranked 82nd overall entering college. Played 19 snaps on offense in 2019.
2020
1. ILB Demouy Kennedy- Ranked 34th overall and fourth at his position. Recorded 69 tackles, eight for loss in 2019. Also scored three times out of the wildcat formation.
3. RB Roydell Williams- Ranked 90th overall and seventh at his position. Rushed for 1,289 yards and 24 touchdowns despite limitations due to injury.
4. WDE Quandarrius Robinson- Ranked 94th overall and fifth at his position. Injury cut short his final season, but he recorded 13 tackles for loss and eight sacks as a junior.
5. ATH Kristian Story- Ranked 163rd overall. Story set the Alabama High School Athletics Association's record for career touchdowns at 175.
