Saban recaps Alabama's wild National Signing Day

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Leave it to a play-making receiver to save the day late for Alabama.

Facing what would have been its first recruiting class outside of the top 10 in the Nick Saban era, Alabama received a commitment from five-star receiver Jaylen Waddle boosting the Crimson Tide to a No. 7 ranking Wednesday on National Signing Day.

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The ranking marks the first time Alabama did not finish with a top 5 class since Saban’s first class in 2007 when the Crimson Tide finished No. 10 in the nation. Since then, Alabama has had the No. 1 recruiting class in eight of the past 11 years. Alabama signed five recruits Wednesday to finish with 20 signees.

"We're really excited about the players that we were able to attract in this recruiting class,” Saban said in his National Signing Day news conference. “This was a little bit different in terms of having an early signing date and finishing up today. We were pleased with the guys we were able to attract. I think in every recruiting class, there's always a guy that you get that you thought you might not get, and there's also a guy that you thought you might get that you didn't get. But overall, I think we solved a lot of needs in this class."

Here’s a look at how Alabama’s class was put together: