Does Nick Saban ever cease to amaze you? It seems like every recruiting class he brings in is better than the last. Let's take a look at this year's class and how they compare nationwide:
THE CLASS OF 2014
- Cameron Robinson OT (West Monroe HS) West Monroe, LA (6-5/330)
- Rashaan Evans, LB (Auburn HS) Auburn, AL (6-3/220)
- Tony Brown CB (Ozen HS) Beaumont, TX (6-1/185)
- Da'Shawn Hand DE (Woodbridge HS) Woodbridge, VA (6-4/262)
- Marlon Humphrey CB (Hoover HS) Hoover, AL (6-0/174)
- Bo Scarbrough ATH (IMG Academy) Bradenton, FL (6-2/234)
- Dominick Jackson OT (College of San Mateo) San Mateo, CA (6-7/315) *
- J.C. Hassenauer C (East Ridge HS) Woodbury, MN (6-3/290)
- Ross Pierschbacher OG (Cedar Falls HS) Cedar Falls, IA (6-5/270)
- Christian Miller OLB (Spring Valley HS) Columbia, SC (6-3/215)
- Laurence "Hootie" Jones S (Neville HS) Monroe, LA (6-1/210)
- Jake Coker QB (FSU/St. Paul's Episcopal School) Mobile, AL (6-5/235) *
- David Cornwell QB (Norman Hs North) Norman, OK (6-5/230)
- Josh Frazier DT (Har-Ber HS) Springdale, AR (6-3/230)
- Ronnie Clark OLB (Calera HS) Calera, AL 06/03/13
- Cameron Sims WR (Ouachita Parish HS) Monroe, LA (6-4/200)
- Johnny Dwight DT (Wilcox County HS) Rochelle, GA (6-3/295)
- Keith Holcombe OLB (Hillcrest HS) Tuscaloosa, AL (6-3/213)
- Derek Kief WR (La Salle HS) Cincinnati, OH (6-5/195)
- Jarran Reed DT (East Mississippi/Goldsboro) Goldsboro, NC (6-4/225) *
- D.J. Pettway DE (East Mississippi/Pensacola Catholic) Pensacola, FL (6-3/255) *
- Joshua Casher C (St. Pauls Episcopal School) Mobile, AL (6-1/280)
- Shaun Hamilton MLB (Carver Senior HS) Montgomery, AL (6-1/240)
- Ty Flournoy-Smith TE (Georgia Military College/Colquitt County) Moultrie, GA (6-3/230) *
- Montel McBride OG (Plant City HS) Plant City, FL (6-4/305)
- O.J. Smith DT (Airline HS) Bossier City, LA (6-2/320)
- JK Scott P (Mullen HS) Denver, CO (6-5/185)
* Two years eligibility remaining.
BY POSITION
This class could field an entire team and finish fourth in the SEC West (Gump'n; only 4th cuz of the lack of depth):
| Name | Pos |
| Ronnie Clark | LB/S |
| Tony Brown | CB |
| Marlon Humphrey | CB |
| Laurence Jones | S |
| D.J. Pettway | DE |
| Da'Shawn Hand | DE |
| Jarran Reed | DT |
| Johnny Dwight | DT |
| Josh Frazier | DT |
| O.J. Smith | DT |
| Rashaan Evans | LB |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton | LB |
| Keith Holcombe | LB |
| Christian Miller | LB |
| Cameron Robinson | OT |
| Ross Pierschbacher | OT |
| J.C. Hassenauer | C |
| Joshua Casher | C |
| Dominick Jackson | OT |
| Montel McBride | OG |
| David Cornwell | QB |
| Ty Flournoy-Smith | TE |
| Derek Kief | WR |
| Cameron Sims | WR |
| Bo Scarbrough | ATH |
| JK Scott | Punter/Kicker |
GEOGRAPHICALLY WHERE THEY COME FROM:
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi (Pettway & Reed came from East Mississippi CC but Pettway is from Florida), North Carolina (Reed is originally from Goldsboro, NC) Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia.
COMPOSITE PLAYER RANKINGS
Alabama has 6 of the Top 20 players. 15 are heading to SEC schools.
| # | Player | 247sports | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | School | Average |
| 1 | Leonard Fournette | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | LSU | 1.75 |
| 2 | Jabrill Peppers | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Michigan | 2.75 |
| 3 | Myles Garrett | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | Texas A&M | 3.25 |
| 4 | Da'Shawn Hand | 5 | 1 | 12 | 6 | Alabama | 6 |
| 5 | Cameron Robinson | 4 | 17 | 2 | 3 | Alabama | 6.5 |
| 6 | Adoree' Jackson | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | SoCal | 7 |
| 7 | Quin Blanding | 6 | 5 | 15 | 10 | Virginia | 9 |
| 8 | Tony Brown | 9 | 25 | 4 | 8 | Alabama | 11.5 |
| 9 | Speedy Noil | 8 | 21 | 19 | 7 | Texas A&M | 13.75 |
| 10 | Kyle Allen | 10 | 7 | 7 | 35 | Texas A&M | 14.75 |
| 11 | Sony Michel | 19 | 13 | 13 | 19 | Georgia | 16 |
| 12 | Marlon Humphrey | 12 | 9 | 30 | 15 | Alabama | 16.5 |
| 13 | Dalvin Cook | 13 | 18 | 16 | 21 | Florida State | 17 |
| 14 | Bo Scarbrough | 16 | 16 | 25 | 12 | Alabama | 17.25 |
| 15 | Jalen Tabor | 14 | 10 | 41 | 11 | Florida | 19 |
| 16 | Malachi Dupre | 17 | 15 | 27 | 17 | LSU | 19 |
| 17 | Racean Thomas | 23 | 12 | 14 | 28 | Auburn | 19.25 |
| 18 | Jamal Adams | 13 | 38 | 8 | 18 | LSU | 19.25 |
| 19 | Joe Mixon | 8 | 8 | 18 | 53 | Oklahoma | 21.75 |
| 20 | Rashaan Evans | 15 | 14 | 9 | 52 | Alabama | 22.5 |
COMPOSITE TEAM RANKINGS
Bama is consensus #1, LSU #2. Seven SEC teams in the Top 9.
| Avg | Scout | Scout | Rivals | Rivals | 247 | 247 | ESPN | ESPN | Total | |||
| 1 | 1 | Alabama | 1 | Alabama | 1 | Alabama | 1 | Alabama | 4 | |||
| 2 | 2 | LSU | 2 | LSU | 2 | LSU | 2 | LSU | 8 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Florida State | 4 | Florida State | 4 | Florida State | 3 | Florida State | 14 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Ohio State | 3 | Ohio State | 3 | Ohio State | 7 | Ohio State | 18 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Tennessee | 5 | Tennessee | 7 | Tennessee | 5 | Tennessee | 21 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Texas A&M | 6 | Texas A&M | 5 | Texas A&M | 4 | Texas A&M | 22 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Auburn | 9 | Auburn | 6 | Auburn | 8 | Auburn | 31 | |||
| 7 | 9 | Florida | 7 | Florida | 9 | Florida | 6 | Florida | 31 | |||
| 9 | 12 | Georgia | 8 | Georgia | 8 | Georgia | 9 | Georgia | 37 | |||
| 10 | 6 | Notre Dame | 11 | Notre Dame | 10 | Notre Dame | 11 | Notre Dame | 38 | |||
| 11 | 11 | Miami (FL) | 12 | Miami (FL) | 12 | Miami (FL) | 10 | Miami (FL) | 45 | |||
| 11 | 10 | So Cal |
10 | So Cal | 11 | So Cal | 14 | So Cal | 45 | |||
| 13 | 13 | Oklahoma | 15 | Oklahoma | 14 | Oklahoma | 13 | Oklahoma | 55 | |||
| 14 | 15 | Stanford | 14 | Stanford | 13 | Stanford | 15 | Stanford | 57 | |||
| 15 | 16 | Texas | 20 | Texas | 17 | Texas | 17 | Texas | 70 | |||
| 16 | 18 | Ole Miss | 19 | Ole Miss | 16 | Ole Miss | 18 | Ole Miss | 71 | |||
| 16 | 28 | Clemson | 13 | Clemson | 18 | Clemson | 12 | Clemson | 71 | |||
| 18 | 24 | South Carolina | 16 | So. Carolina | 15 | South Carolina | 19 | South Carolina | 74 | |||
| 19 | 20 | Kentucky | 17 | Kentucky | 22 | Kentucky | 20 | Kentucky | 79 | |||
| 20 | 17 | Arizona State | 21 | Arizona State | 23 | Arizona State | 21 | Arizona State | 82 | |||
| 21 | 19 | UCLA | 18 | UCLA | 19 | UCLA | 27 | UCLA | 83 | |||
| 22 | 27 | Michigan | 31 | Michigan | 20 | Michigan | 16 | Michigan | 94 | |||
| 23 | 22 | Oregon | 26 | Oregon | 21 | Oregon | 26 | Oregon | 95 | |||
| 24 | 25 | Penn State | 24 | Penn State | 24 | Penn State | 24 | Penn State | 97 | |||
| 24 | 14 | Oklahoma State | 27 | Oklahoma St | 28 | Oklahoma State | 28 | Oklahoma State | 97 | |||
| 26 | 24 | Michigan State | 22 | Michigan State | 25 | Michigan State | 29 | Michigan State | 100 | |||
| 27 | 23 | Baylor | 34 | Baylor | 26 | Baylor | 22 | Baylor | 105 | |||
| 28 | 30 | Arizona | 28 | Arizona | 31 | Arizona | 23 | Arizona | 112 | |||
| 29 | 31 | North Carolina | 23 | North Carolina | 29 | North Carolina | 32 | North Carolina | 115 | |||
| 30 | 29 | Wisconsin | 33 | Wisconsin | 22 | Wisconsin | 34 | Wisconsin | 118 | |||
| 31 | 37 | Virginia Tech | 25 | Virginia Tech | 27 | Virginia Tech | 31 | Virginia Tech | 120 | |||
| 32 | 33 | Arkansas | 29 | Arkansas | 30 | Arkansas | 30 | Arkansas | 122 | |||
| 33 | 26 | NC State | 30 | NC State | 34 | NC State | 38 | NC State | 128 | |||
| 34 | 32 | Missouri | 35 | Missouri | 39 | Missouri | 33 | Missouri | 139 | |||
| 35 | 34 | Nebraska | 32 | Nebraska | 35 | Nebraska | 40 | Nebraska | 141 | |||
| 36 | 49 | Virginia | 40 | Virginia | 32 | Virginia | 25 | Virginia | 146 | |||
| 37 | 40 | West Virginia | 38 | West Virginia | 36 | West Virginia | 37 | West Virginia | 151 | |||
| 38 | 39 | Miss State | 41 | Miss State | 38 | MissState | 36 | MissState | 154 | |||
| 38 | 35 | Texas Tech | 43 | Texas Tech | 41 | Texas Tech | 35 | Texas Tech | 154 |
* Kentucky finishing at #19 is pretty amazing. Louisville finished #45, 46, 47, 53.
WALKING ON
C.J. Mosley's brother, linebacker Jamey Mosley, turns down offers from Tulane, UAB, WKU to walk-on at Bama.
JK Scott will battle Hoover HS punter Tuck Borie to take over the punting job from graduating Cody Mandell.
Here is a story you won't hear from the national press. They only put out stories about how Nick Saban is just an evil uncaring automaton. Maybe it is because they cleverly noticed that "Saban" is one letter away from being "Satan". Maybe it is because he does not do stupid things like Les Miles or make cute little smart-ass comments like Steve Spurrier. Most likely it is because he doesn't give them anything controversial to write about.
A year ago, Elisha Shaw was a 4-star defensive tackle from Atlanta-area powerhouse Tucker High School. At 6-4.5/295, he was well on his way to a scholarship with a SEC school. But then tragedy struck when a severe neck injury suffered in the pre-season of 2013 prematurely ended his senior season.
Most schools did not stop recruiting Shaw but when doctors came back with a diagnosis that he would probably never play football again, every single school backed off on their offer (including a certain holier-than-thou in-state program which will go unnamed). Surely, mean ol' Nick Saban would turn his back on Shaw too, right? Nope. Saban kept on recruiting Shaw even inviting him up for an official visit on January 24. Shaw will probably never don the helmet and pads again but he will get a full-ride scholarship to the University of Alabama.
This young man will be able to attend Alabama on a football scholarship but it will be on a medical hardship. He did not sign an official letter of intent and medical scholarships do not count toward official recruiting numbers.
You won't see ESPN or the Wall Street Journal reporting this story but if Saban looks sideways at a reporter who asks him an idiotic question, be sure it will be front page news.
Igive all my thanks to god for making all things possible and for letting me be strong and for all his blessings #rt pic.twitter.com/GGzkWnZ1N8
— Elisha shaw (@elisha_shaw) February 6, 2014
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nick Saban is entering his EIGHTH season at the Capstone winning 83% of his games. The unknowledgeable critics continue to say he is going to the NFL or the University of Texas or the Winnipeg Eskimos and they continue to be wrong.
Alabama is officially taking back the following names:
- Cam
- Bo
Roll Tide!
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