Good problem to have.

how does Alfy Hill compare to Craig Sanders? Are they similar players or is one more talented than the other? Any info from anybody would be appreciated.

Auburn is still really thin, so playing time is what Chizik is offering. It’ll be interesting to see how they do in recruiting once they have more depth vs. Saban, as compared to offering a lack of depth now.

…is a fine football player, and he seems like a fine young man as well. I hope he’s 0-4 vs. Bama, but otherwise I wish him well.

First and foremost, I’ll reiterate that Sanders is a fine prospect. Saban and company clearly wanted him and recruited him very hard, and he could have went to any school in the SEC. He’s no worse of a player now simply because he de-committed from ’Bama, and no one should spin it that way.

All that said, exactly what happened here?

As I previously said, I think this one is clearly a depth issue. Sanders was a pretty heavy ‘Bama lean for well over a year before he committed to Alabama, and his commitment came as no real surprise to most objective observers. And, thus, his de-commitment after five months from being committed to the Tide does represent a very unusual case, and in those cases there is usually some specific factor forcing the hand. In this particular case, I think it’s clear that the issue here is the logjam we have at Jack linebacker, and particularly the recent commitment of Alfy Hill.

Now did Saban and company run Sanders out of town, so to speak? I think the answer there is clearly no. Again, he’s a fine player and you certainly wouldn’t want to see him playing for your in-state rival.

With that point established, though, Saban and company surely had to know that this was a very possible side effect of their recruitment of Alfy Hill. We knew that depth concerns at Jack linebacker were an issue for Sanders to begin with, and that those issues would only become much more grave to our chances of hanging on to Sanders if we picked up another highly-touted prospect.

However, the staff clearly saw that we had an opportunity with Alfy Hill, and they felt the need to pursue him as well. And in all fairness, Hill is actually a good bit more highly-touted than Sanders by most of the recruiting "experts" — both Rivals and ESPN have Hill rated significantly higher than Sanders, whereas Scout.com has Sanders rated slightly higher than Hill — so he’s every bit as much of a prospect as Sanders is, and possibly.

My guess? Saban and company knew that getting Hill may very well ultimately cost them Sanders, but they ultimately decided that Hill was a good enough of a prospect to justify the possibility of Sanders reneging on his commitment.

All in all, again, you hate to see him heading to Auburn, but again in many ways it’s really a moot point. We’re already loaded at Jack linebacker, period. And so we need to add another top-end Jack linebacker prospect in the 2010 class, right? Well, to that end, we get Alfy Hill. It’s basically the same thing with what happened when JuWuan James de-committed… no you don’t like to hear it, but between James Stone, Damien Robinson, and Arie Kouandjio, it’s really no big deal. You lose a great prospect, but you replace him with another great prospect, and the recruiting train keeps on rolling.

Best of luck, Craig.

Bamaonline.com that his stepfather said that Craig looked at our depth chart for his position and decided to switch to Auburn. If you have a rivals account you can read this article on bamaonline.com

from some crappy barner board

I guess Bynes, Stephens, Freeman and the others are going to step aside and say: “Here’s you a job, Mr. Sanders” ? I think he came to his senses and realized that Auburn’s a better place. Playing time is a good bamzo excuse though.

from another pathetic pack of barners

My buddy (who is the biggest turd fan I know and an “insider” ) says that the coaches at the crapstone told CS he would have to leave because of Alfy Hill and some others they have in sight. Why cant they stand to lose a guy to AU without having to make up excuses?

from some joke of a vol board

Dropping like flies…no one wants to play for a cheater!

and i’m not saying anything bad about these guys cause they prolly all have guns

I’m waiting for the Bama excuses and the inevitable star drop on all the recruiting websites.

It looks like he will red shirt. Where else would that happen? I can’t wait to see his mass on the field—thighs like the Bankhead Tunnel.

As for the web site about not saying bad stuff about people with guns, I resemble that remark!

…from today’s Birmingham News:

“When I told Coach Chizik, he said he was riding by Gold’s Gym and he was so pumped he was going to stop and go lift some weights.”

Stay classy, San Diego.

Don’t hate the program, hate the process….. not rebuilding, just reloading.
With the depth that we have a RB, does anyone see that as a possible drawback to highly touted recruits also?

if you want to find a barner who can explain what happened with a minium of bullshit and a maximum of insight, you can rely on jerry formerly of JCCW and now of the war eagle reader.

is this kid a good player? yep
is this a recruiting coup for the barn? yep
is this going to seriously affect Bama’s prospects? not in the least.

and, most importantly, the man knows a good thing when he’s got it.

A 4-0 start and recruits forsaking crimson for orange-and-blue? These are the good times, folks. Better enjoy them.

you can’t argue with that logic even if you hate it with every fiber of your being.