Alabama Football Recruiting 2014: Visits for This Weekend

It's a big Bama commit reunion. Florida is one of Alabama's biggest home games this year, and the list of recruits in attendance is a mile long. The coaches only have so much time to spend with recruits, especially on game day, so they bring in future commits in the same weekend to help sway those that haven't seen the light yet.

Leading the charge of players already committed for this class are quarterback Blake Barnett, safety Deionte Thompson, defensive end Mekhi Brown, and the two best friends from Florida, Shawn Burgess-Becker and Calvin Ridley. These guys have consistently been advertising Alabama over the last few months, especially during the 7-on-7 tournament at Nike's "The Opening" in Oregon.

The trio of of offensive line commitments, Lester Cotton, Dallas Warmack, and Brandon Kennedy will also be at the game, as will linebackers Keaton Anderson and Joshua McMillan. One important visitor is cornerback commit, Rico McGraw. There have been a couple of rumors here and there about him possibly flipping to Georgia, so it will be good to have him back in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

2015 Targets

There are quite a few high tier targets visiting this weekend, including former commitment (and one of my favorite players), linebacker Leo Lewis. Miniature three-star slot receiver and Miss St. commit Keith Mixon will be on campus, and while he doesn't hold one yet, expects an offer from Bama soon.  We're also in a battle with Auburn for the highly touted tight end, Jalen Harris, and four-star linebacker Daryl Williams.

The elite pass rusher, Adonis Thomas will be in attendance, but most likely just to watch Florida, the team holding his plege... Though maybe some crazy fan support in BDS might help change his mind. Four-star athlete Terry Godwin (who I admittedly know nothing about), is also said to be on the list.

Edit: Just learned Terry Godwin is actually a stud 5-star athlete/receiver who is committed (but looking around) to Georgia.

The main target, though, is the nation's top running back, Damien Harris. The 5'10" 210-pound bell cow back popped a 4.40 flat forty time, and has some really outstanding tape. The common consensus is that he is between Alabama and Florida State. He would be absolutely huge for this recruiting class.

2016 Targets

The class of 2016 also has a strong showing this weekend, led by Hoover teammates, linebacker Jeremiah Moon and cornerback P.J. Hall (not to be confused with our old favorite D.J. Hall). In state linebacker, Ben Davis, the four-star player from Gordo-- the hometown of our old favorite walk-on, Ben Howell-- is considered a strong Alabama lean and will be at the game.

A trio of players that I really have no info on but have really cool names and would therefore be great additions for the future are also coming: safety Joejuan Williams, running back Lamical Perine, and cornerback Shyheim Carter, who is already committed to Bama. A duo of top-notch pass rushers, Marlon Davidson and Lyndell Wilson are in attendance.

Defensive tackle, Benito Jones, a former Bama commit, will be around... As will current DT commit Raekwon Davis, a 6'7" 320-pound mammoth.

My favorite of the 2016 players in attendance, however, is top FB/LB Malik Miller. He put up an 86.67 SPARQ score as a sophomore in high school, and will likely improve on that next year. He looks to be a threatening fullback at the next level (and I have a bit of a man-crush on any fullback).

2017 Targets

Okay, these kids were freshmen in high school last year. Recruiting is going way too far in my opinion. However, linebacker Markail Benton was given a four star rating, which is extremely rare for a player that young. He has the making to be exceptional talent. Some skinny athlete named Malcolm Askew will be there too.

Obviously, this may not be a complete list, as these are all unofficial visits. We are really depending on some of our most vocal recruiters, guys like Blake Barnett, Calvin Ridley, and Shawn Burgess-Becker to do some solid selling this weekend, and hopefully we can pull a commitment out of it.

This will be my first time attending a game against Florida since the '05 game... So hopefully there are no broken legs or anything like that for either team this time. Roll Tide!