Recruiting: National Signing Day Recap and Wind-Down

After much hand-wringing through January, the Crimson Tide quelled the fears of their fans with yet another top rated recruiting class. Anchored by 5-stars Ben Davis, Lyndell "Mack" Wilson, Jonah Williams, the nation's top running back B.J. Emmons, and the #2 juco player Charles Baldwin.

When it comes to recruiting coverage, there are four who cover it the best. They are 247sports, Rivals, Scout, and in a distant fourth ESPN. I am not just saying ESPN is "distant" because they picked Alabama second behind Florida State. They truly do trail the other three when it comes to insight. But they are the almighty four-letter network, so they do deserve some credit.

National Ranking Average:

The chart below is based on the Team Rankings for the Big 4 in recruiting services. The 247sports is their rankings, and not the composite rankings they compile whose exact algorithm and sources are not completely divulged. So, back to the basics: (a+b+c+d)/4.

#	TEAM	247	Scout	Rivals	ESPN	AVG
1	Alabama	1	1	1	2	1.25
2	Florida State	2	3	2	1	2.00
3	Ohio State	3	2	3	5	3.25
4	LSU	4	4	6	3	4.25
5	Michigan	5	6	4	6	5.25
6	Ole Miss	7	5	7	4	5.75
7	Clemson	8	14	5	8	8.75
8	Georgia	9	9	10	7	8.75
9	Southern Cal	6	11	8	11	9.00
10	Auburn	10	12	9	9	10.00
11	Texas	13	8	13	10	11.00
12	UCLA	11	7	11	15	11.00
13	Florida	14	10	14	12	12.50
14	Notre Dame	12	13	12	16	13.25
15	Tennessee	15	17	15	14	15.25
16	Stanford	17	15	18	13	15.75
17	Baylor	19	19	17	17	18.00
18	Texas A&M	16	21	16	20	18.25
19	TCU	18	16	21	22	19.25
20	Michigan State	21	18	20	21	20.00
21	Penn State	20	22	23	18	20.75
22	Oklahoma	23	20	19	23	21.25
23	Miami (FL)	22	37	22	19	25.00
24	Nebraska	24	28	25	26	25.75
25	South Carolina	28	26	26	27	26.75
26	Arkansas	25	32	32	24	28.25
27	North Carolina	33	23	24	34	28.50
28	Pittsburgh	26	27	30	31	28.50
28	Oregon	35	24	28	32	29.75
30	Duke	34	33	31	28	31.50
31	Wisconsin	27	25	33	41	31.50
32	Arizona State	32	36	34	25	31.75
33	Kentucky	28	38	29	35	32.50
34	Washington	36	29	38	28	32.75
35	Mississippi State	31	35	36	33	33.75
36	California	37	39	27	40	35.75
37	Utah	30	41	35	38	36.00
38	West Virginia	41	34	39	37	37.75
39	Louisville	39	40	37	36	38.00
40	Iowa	38	31	42	49	40.00
41	Texas Tech	46	30	45	42	40.75
42	Houston	44	51	44	30	42.25
43	Oklahoma State	42	43	46	46	44.25
44	Maryland	43	54	40	43	45.00
45	Virginia Tech	40	56	49	39	46.00
46	NC State	57	47	43	44	47.75
47	Northwestern	47	45	47	52	47.75
48	Minnesota	45	42	50	55	48.00
49	Arizona	51	44	51	47	48.25
50	Oregon State	52	55	41	45	48.25
51	Iowa State	50	46	54	54	51.00
52	BYU	49	53	48	57	51.75
53	Missouri	56	57	53	51	54.25
54	Washington State	59	50	52	56	54.25
55	Indiana	55	52	55	58	55.00
56	Vanderbilt	48	68	59	48	55.75
57	Wake Forest	54	63	61	50	57.00
58	Boise State	62	48	57	68	58.75
59	Syracuse	65	59	56	62	60.50
60	Virginia	61	62	60	60	60.75
61	Georgia Tech	58	66	67	53	61.00
62	Temple	53	74	63	59	62.25
63	Marshall	67	58	68	65	64.50
64	Illinois	70	60	66	71	66.75
65	UCF	71	75	58	66	67.50
66	Colorado State	73	64	62	73	68.00
67	Memphis	60	69	71	72	68.00
69	South Florida	63	78	69	63	68.25
70	SMU	74	61	72	67	68.50
71	Kansas State	69	73	75	70	71.75
72	Rutgers	79	71	79	64	73.25
73	Cincinnati	75	72	74	75	74.00
74	Boston College	77	70	81	74	75.50
75	Purdue	96	82	73	61	78.00
76	Colorado	72	67	64	999	300.50
77	San Diego State	90	65	65	999	304.75
79	East Carolina	66	89	77	999	307.75
80	UNLV	82	80	70	999	307.75
82	Miami (OH)	92	81	80	999	313.00
84	Tulsa	88	85	85	999	314.25
85	Navy	76	92	92	999	314.75
88	Arkansas State	84	90	89	999	315.50
89	Kansas	80	93	91	999	315.75
90	Tulane	89	97	84	999	317.25
91	Toledo	98	88	87	999	318.00
92	Western Kentucky	95	86	96	999	319.00
95	Troy	91	98	94	999	320.50
96	UAB	64	79	999	999	535.25
98	Connecticut	85	99	999	999	545.50

(ESPN only does the top 75. Rivals only goes up to 100. Therefore, for teams that did not make their lists, I gave them a value of 999, just because.)

National Notes:

FLORIDA STATE - As much as things change, the more they stay the same. Despite a "down" year by their standards, the 'Noles still dominated the ACC and put together a good solid class. FSU pulled in recruits from nine states and Washington DC but missed out on several in-state players. They got one 5-star in Levonta Taylor, the only cornerback to unanimously earn that many stars.

CLEMSON - The Tigers did pretty good but not as good as you might expect from this past season's runner-up and favorite for next season. 5-star DT Dexter Lawrence was their big catch.

OHIO STATE - The Buckeyes had a pretty quiet but successful NSD having the class basically sewn up before the crack of dawn on Wednesday.

MICHIGAN - Jim Harbaugh's antics were enough to trick convince recruits from 13 different states to sign but only three from Michigan. There is something to be said for players who are unfamiliar with each other. It will be interesting to see if he can get them to coalesce.

BIG TEN - Aside from Ohio State and Michigan, the rest of the conference was pretty lacking. If they are not careful, the B1G could fall into that ACC hole of two up top with a bunch of Participation Award recipients.

TEXAS finished strong as always but will it translate to the field?

OKLAHOMA - Wow, what happened here? The Sooners got some good players up top but the back end hurt them.

USC - Despite another coaching change, the University of South Central L.A. still got a good haul.

OREGON - Not a great class for the Ducks. You have to wonder if the sheen of too many failed season endings is starting to effect recruiting.

POWER 5 DOGS
#71 Kansas State, BIG XII
#72 Rutgers, B1G
#74 Boston College, ACC
#75 Purdue, B1G - 247 ranked them #96 while ESPN had them at #61.
#76 Colorado, PAC - The Buffs shared the MNC back in 1990.
#89 Kansas, B1G - Eight years ago, this team was playing in the Orange Bowl

EssEeSee:

Eight teams in the top 20 and half of the top ten.

SEC	NATL	TEAM	247	Scout	Rivals	ESPN	AVG
1	1	Alabama	1	1	1	2	1.25
2	4	LSU	4	4	6	3	4.25
3	6	Ole Miss	7	5	7	4	5.75
4	8	Georgia	9	9	10	7	8.75
5	10	Auburn	10	12	9	9	10.00
6	13	Florida	14	10	14	12	12.50
7	15	Tennessee	15	17	15	14	15.25
8	18	Texas A&M	16	21	16	20	18.25
9	25	South Carolina	28	26	26	27	26.75
10	26	Arkansas	25	32	32	24	28.25
11	33	Kentucky	28	38	29	35	32.50
12	35	Mississippi State	31	35	36	33	33.75
13	53	Missouri	56	57	53	51	54.25
14	56	Vanderbilt	48	68	59	48	55.75

LSU - A great class but where is the quarterback? After months of scrambling and being left at the altar, Les Miles settled for 5'11" barely 3-star Lindsey Scott who chose the Tigers over Rutgers and Tulane.

Ole Miss - Another good class for the Rebs but they missed out on three of the state's top five (Jeffery Simmons, Nigel Knott, Raekwon Davis).

Georgia - You've learned well young Jedi. Kirby Smart has one of the best UGA classes in many many moons. Bama fans have to be a little concerned about the fence he is erecting around the Peach State.

Auburn - A disappointing class was saved by Derrick Brown's last minute decision and WR Nate Craig-Myers.

Florida - Gators lost a few players to flips on NSD but hung on to QB-of-the-future Feleipe Franks.

Tennessee - The Vols made some headlines but the back end is not so great.

Texas A&M - Alumni have to be fuming after Tejas stole the spotlight on NSD.

South Carolina - Honestly, this is not a bad class for the crater Steve Spurrier left behind. 4-star QB Brandon McIlwain is a good start.

Arkansas - An okay class for Bert but he is not getting them to the top of the heap anytime soon. He could've used another running back and some more OL help.

Kentucky - bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce-DUNK! Hooray!

Mississippi State - Despite landing 5-star Jeffery Simmons, the Bullies were outdistanced by many. Dan Mullen committed a cardinal sin by not signing a quarterback.

Missouri - This is why Gary Pinkel retired. Expect some dark days ahead for Mizzou.

Vanderbilt - Vandy's gonna Vandy.

Alabama by Position:

Offense (11):
Dual-Threat Quarterback
All Purpose Back
Running Back
Wide Receiver
Tight End
Tight End
Offensive Tackle
Offensive Tackle
Offensive Tackle
Offensive Guard
Offensive Guard

Defense (13):
Weak-Side Defensive End
Strong-Side Defensive End
Defensive Tackle
Defensive Tackle
Defensive Tackle
Inside Linebacker
Outside Linebacker
Cornerback
Cornerback
Cornerback
Cornerback
Safety *
Safety *

Special Teams:
Kicker (preferred walk-on) 
Long Snapper(preferred walk-on)

*  The safeties refer to Trevon Diggs and Shawn Jennings who are listed as Athletes but most likely end up at safety.

Alabama by State:

Alabama (6)
California (1)
Connecticut (1)
District Of Columbia (1)
Florida (1)
Georgia (1)
Louisiana (2)
Maryland (1)
Michigan (1)
Mississippi (3)
North Carolina (1)
Oklahoma (1)
Texas (4)

The Decommits

Alabama had four 3-star recruits decommit this past week. In case you are curious as to where they landed:

Riley Cole LB South Alabama
Joshua Perry S Memphis
Brendan Scales TE Mizzou
Tyler Simmons WR Georgia (see below)

The Sleepers

This is going to sound awfully Gumpy, but three of the lowest rated pick-ups from Wednesday may be the most underrated.

Joshua Jacobs (McLain HS, Tulsa, OK) APB 5-10/200 - A few months ago, this running back was only getting looks from New Mexico State and Wyoming. He didn't even have the attention of home state schools Oklahoma, Okie State, or even Tulsa. My guess is his coach did not know how to promote his players. For more, read this good article from the Tulsa World.
Jamar King (Mendocino CC, Ukiah, CA) SDE 6-5/285 - This lineman has been overlooked for years. Originally from Detroit, he got no offers out of high school and landed at this middle-of-nowhere northern California juco where he grew into himself. King also played for his juco's basketball team.
Aaron Robinson (Deerfield Beach HS, Deerfield Beach, FL) CB 6-1/178 - This flip from Florida took all of us at RBR by surprise. The Tide staff loves this kid's talent and believe he could be the steal of this class, much like like Eddie Jackson was three years ago. The story of his offer can be read below.

What Could've/Should've Been

It is hard to be upset with what Nick Saban did on NSD. If you listened to his press conference, he was happy but you can tell that it wasn't perfect (at least by Saban's definition). He mentioned that they were hoping to get another "edge rusher" defensive end and another wide receiver. As you know, Saban rarely lets details that he can control go bad. He has no control of people who are less than honest with him. I believe I can fill in some blanks.

The following narrative is unsubstantiated but came from a good source and makes some sense.

The defensive end Bama missed out on was 5-star DE Jeffrey Simmons who made the surprise commit of the day to Mississippi State. Coming into the day, it was thought to be a tight race between Ole Miss and Alabama. The story goes that Simmons gave a silent commit to Alabama about two weeks ago and he even told the Tide staff early Wednesday morning that he would be signing with Bama. Because of this, the Alabama staff turned their attention elsewhere and missed out on someone else who could have replaced him.

The second part of this involves 3-star WR Tyler Simmons who committed to Alabama back in early January. However, he started looking around, listening to overtures from Kirby Smart, taking an official visit to Miami, etc. The Tide staff was not happy with these activities but Simmons convinced them he was still committed to Alabama. He even went as far as telling Nick Saban on NSD eve that he would be signing with the Tide. And then he flipped to Georgia.

You may be thinking that the Crimson Tide is better off without guys who do this sort of thing. However, the real damage is that Alabama misses out on other recruits who they had to back off on. However, the Tide made a great recovery in grabbing Aaron Robinson almost as soon as Simmons teeter-tottered over.

Bama is still missing that second wide receiver that they had wanted. As you may know, 5-star WR Demetris Robinson did not sign on Wednesday and may take a visit to Alabama. If Saban can convinced him to make the trip, you have to like his chances with the top ten player. All of this is depending on whether there is a scholarship waiting for him.

Also of interest, 3-star DE Sci Martin, who took an OV to Tuscaloosa on Jan. 15, has not signed anywhere either. He was committed to TCU and has considered LSU and Oklahoma as well as Alabama.

Quote of the Day:

"Florida is kind of the new Ole Miss. They're doing some things in recruiting that just kind of shocks you a little bit."

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema made this quip during a live interview with ESPN. While most people took these comments as a shot at both Florida and Ole Miss, Bielema later insists that he was complimenting both schools.

Key & Peele All-Stars

FIRST TEAM

• RB Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Texas - This gives us hope that there could be a recruit named Lil'Penny after the Nike Penny Hardaway commercials of the 1990s.
• WR Ralphlauren McCauley, undecided ...

I didn't have time to share all the wonderful terrific names with you but check this great post from Yahoo.

Roll Tide