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It was a long hot summer that bled deep into October. This past week, we here in the South finally felt a little nip of fall weather. Unofficially, this signifies the midway mark of college football. It also marks the real beginning of recruiting season. It is the time when high school seniors from around the nation get serious about where they want to play their college ball.
This year, Matthew Speakman joins Brent and myself to bring you all the crootin' morsels that you can devour.
RBR Composite Rankings
All recruiting rankings are unscientific. But if you get enough factors involved, you can round out the edges a bit. Below, I have taken the player rankings of the four major recruiting services and added 247sports' composite rankings to decipher an RBR Composite Rankings. The inclusion of 247sports' composite as an even factor is because the formula they use is an undisclosed nebulous one that factors in unknown entities. So, grain of salt and all that...
| Player | 247 Comp | 247 | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | Total | Commit |
| Najee Harris (Antioch, CA) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | ALABAMA |
| Dylan Moses (Bradenton, FL) | 4 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 33 | ALABAMA |
| Marvin Wilson (Bellaire, TX) | 3 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 33 | - |
| Jaelan Phillips (Redlands, CA) | 5 | 10 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 56 | UCLA |
| Jeffrey Okudah (Grand Prairie, TX) | 8 | 25 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 61 | - |
| Foster Sarell (Graham, WA) | 2 | 1 | 32 | 2 | 27 | 64 | - |
| Donovan Peoples-Jones (Detroit, MI) | 12 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 12 | 76 | - |
| Cam Akers (Clinton, MS) | 7 | 13 | 27 | 4 | 25 | 76 | - |
| Josh Myers (Miamisburg, OH) | 10 | 14 | 14 | 23 | 16 | 77 | Ohio St |
| Baron Browning (Kennedale, TX) | 9 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 82 | - |
| Darnay Holmes (Calabasas, CA) | 11 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 39 | 91 | - |
| Alex Leatherwood (Pensacola, FL) | 6 | 7 | 51 | 18 | 9 | 91 | ALABAMA |
I stopped the list at 12 players since the rankings get wildly inconsistent after the top 12.
As you can see, only five of the Top 12 are committed to a school. Three are pledged to the Crimson Tide. Feeling good? Read on.
Of the seven uncommitted, only Peoples-Jones from Detroit and Holmes from the left coast are not seriously considering Alabama. Of the five who do have Bama on their list, only Okudah has not planned an official visit to Tuscaloosa as of yet.
COMMITTED
So, who is on board, all-in, rolling with the Tide? Alabama has 22 verbally committed players for 2017. In my humble opinion, all 22 of these young men are solid commits as of now. You may have heard chatter contrary to that statement on some of them. One main reason that makes me think this way is that, thanks to unexpected attrition, Alabama has ELEVEN players planning on enrolling in January including 5-stars Harris, Moses, Leatherwood, and Jeudy. These early enrollees can practice with the team in December. Therefore, their window for flipping is closing faster than others. Basically, they will need to firm up in about two months.
| Name | Pos | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Early Enrollee | 247 Comp | 247 | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | Avg. |
| Najee Harris | RB | Antioch, CA | 6'2" | 222 | EE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Dylan Moses | LB | Bradenton, FL | 6'2" | 225 | EE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Alex Leatherwood | OL | Pensacola, FL | 6'5" | 298 | EE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Jerry Jeudy | WR | Deerfield Beach, FL | 6'2" | 175 | EE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | QB | Honolulu, HI | 6'1" | 185 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.6 | |
| Vandarius Cowan | LB | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | 6'4" | 218 | EE | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.2 |
| Markail Benton | LB | Phenix City, AL | 6'2" | 227 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Elliot Baker | OL | San Francisco, CA * | 6'7" | 295 | EE | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | - | 4 |
| Chadarius Townsend | ATH | Tanner, AL | 6'0" | 180 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Gary Johnson | LB | Birmingham, AL * | 6'2" | 225 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | - | 4 | |
| Kendall Randolph | OL | Madison, AL | 6'5" | 285 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Brian Robinson | RB | Tuscaloosa, AL | 6'1" | 218 | EE | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Mac Jones | QB | Jacksonville, FL | 6'3" | 181 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 | |
| Tyrell Shavers | WR | Lewisville, TX | 6'6" | 200 | EE | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Akial Byers | DT | Fayetteville, AR | 6'4" | 260 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 | |
| Major Tennison |
TE | Bullard, TX | 6'6" | 235 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.6 | |
| Kedrick James | TE | Waco, TX | 6'5" | 245 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.6 | |
| Jhavonte Dean | DB | Florida City, FL * | 6'2" | 180 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | 3.5 | |
| Brandon Ruiz | K | Gilbert, AZ | 5'10" | 165 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Hunter Brannon | OL | Cullman, AL | 6'4" | 290 | EE | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Kyriq McDonald | DB | Madison, AL | 5'11" | 185 | EE |
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Thomas Fletcher | LS | Vancouver, WA | 6'1" | 215 | EE | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 2 |
* Juco transfer
How good is this class? ESPN, 247 and the 247 composite rate Bama as the #2 class behind Ohio State. Scout has them at #3 behind Oklahoma (???) and OSU. Now before you get outraged and dial up 1-800-PAWWWLL, understand that the overall number ebbs down because of a 3-star placekicker and a 2-star long snapper, both of whom are #2 in the nation at their position. In addition, the ratings of juco players tend to scale down for some reason. As of now, 247sports has no juco players with five stars.
JUCO
Junior college recruiting is a little harder to gauge. Not all of the recruiting services track it, and those that do evaluate it differently. Therefore, I will defer to the 247sports juco composite:
| 247 Comp Rank | Player/Juco/Hoetown/Position | Commit |
| 1 | Elliot Baker, City College of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) OT | ALABAMA |
| 2 | Isaiah Buggs, Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. (Ruston, LA) DE | - |
| 3 | Gary Johnson, Dodge City C.C. (Birmingham, AL) ILB | ALABAMA |
| 4 | Jeremy Patton, Arizona Western College (Indianapolis, IN) TE | Arkansas |
| 5 | Teair Tart-Spencer, ASA College (Philadelphia, PA) DT | - |
| 6 | Chauncey Rivers, East Mississippi C.C. (Stone Mountain, GA) DE | - |
| 7 | Brandon Martin, Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. (Dallas, TX) WR | - |
| 8 | Badara Traore, ASA College (Brooklyn, NY) OT | - |
| 9 | Micheal Clemons, Cisco College (Sachse, TX) DE | - |
| 10 | Jhavonte Dean, Blinn College (Homestead, FL) CB | ALABAMA |
I am starting to see a pattern here...
STILL WORRIED?
I understand some of you are concerned that some of these guys will flip. They very well could, and do so for reasons we will never understand. That said, I want to quell a few fears you may have.
Najee Harris - I am sure many of you heard about Jim Harbaugh's trip to Antioch, California last week where he put on a little show. It looked something like this. The thing to know about Harris is that he is not into superfluous stuff. He is a serious level-headed kid who is focused on greatness. He has no interest in doing a live commitment announcement or even talking to reporters. He is all business. Harris and Nick Saban are clearly cut from the same cloth.
Tua Tagovailoa - In Tagovailoa, we have another excellent athlete and person as well. He is a good kid who comes from a loving family. When he and his family traveled from Hawaii to visit Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss, they ended up staying two extra days in Tuscaloosa because they loved it so much. They did not prolong their stays at any other place they have visited. Tua's parents have said that they would likely move in order to be closer to wherever their son signs. Therefore, location is not a factor.
Alex Leatherwood - The nation's #2 offensive tackle will visit Tuscaloosa for Iron Bowl weekend. It will be his last official visit. He has stated that he will be signing his papers to his school of choice on Dec. 16. He is an early enrollee.
Dylan Moses - I am not sure what he will do.
NEEDS
This class is filling up really fast. Due to attrition from this past season's NSD, there is a possibility that the Tide could be allowed to sign more than 25. Look for Alabama to add some defensive linemen and defensive backs.