Alabama Football Recruiting: National Signing Day 2017 Live Open Thread

Welcome to National Signing Day 2017. Last year was a crazy recruiting season with several recruits waiting until NSD2016 to commit and sign. This year should be an eventful day but with far fewer surprises. An unusually high number of Alabama targets have already enrolled.

One big question is how many prospects can Nick Saban sign this recruiting cycle. Hopefully my freshman treks to Gordon Palmer Hall many many moons ago are paying off and I correctly calculated that the Tide can sign 27, two over the SEC "limit" (everything has loopholes these days). However, that is just my wild blind guesstimate.

With the addition of kicker Joseph Bulovas last week, Phidarian Mathis on Tuesday minus the loss of Akial Byers, the Tide moved to 25 commitments.

SIGNED:

1. Isaiah Buggs (Rushton, LA/juco) DT 6'5"/290, 4.4-stars*  EE
   
2. Elliot Baker (San Francsco, CA/juco) OL 6'7"/295, 4.2-stars EE
3. Thomas Fletcher (Vancouver, WA/IMG) LS 6'1"/215, 2-stars EE
4. Najee Harris (Antioch, CA) RB 6'2" 222, 5-stars EE
   
5. Jerry Jeudy (Deerfield Beach, FL) WR 6'2" 175, 4.4-stars EE
6. Alex Leatherwood (Pensacola, FL) OL 6'5"/298, 5-stars EE
7. Kyriq McDonald (Madison, AL) DB 5'11"/185, 3.2-stars EE
8. Dylan Moses (Bradenton, FL) LB 6'2"/225, 5-stars EE
9. Tyrell Shavers (Lewisville, TX) WR 6'6"/200, 4-stars EE
10. Tua Tagovailoa (Honolulu, HI) QB 6'1"/185 4.4-stars EE
11. Major Tennison (Bullard, TX) TE 6'6"/240 3.8-stars EE
12. Chadarius Townsend (Tanner, AL) ATH 6'0" /180 4-stars EE
13. Vandarius Cowan (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) LB 6'4"/218, 4.2-stars EE**
14. Daniel Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL) DB 6'1"/167, 4-stars EE**
15. Mac Jones (Jacksonville, FL) QB 6'3"/181, 3.6-stars EE**
16. Xavier McKinney (Roswell, GA) S 6'1"/196, 4-stars EE**
17. Chris Allen (Baton Rouge, LA) LB6'4"/233 4-stars
    
18. Markail Benton (Phenix City, AL) LB6'2"/227 4-stars
    
19. Kendall Randolph (Madison, AL) OL6'5"/285 4-stars
20. Phidarian Mathis (Monroe, LA) DT 6'4"/287 4-stars - They are calling him "Phil".
    
21. Henry Ruggs III (Montgomery, AL) WR 6'0"/175 4.2-stars [See video below]
22. Brian Robinson (Tuscaloosa, AL) RB 6'1"/218 4-stars
23. LaBryan Ray (Madison, AL) DE 6'4"/265 4.4-stars
24. Devonta Smith (Amite. LA) WR 6'1"/160 4.4-stars
25. Kedrick James (Waco, TX) TE 6'5"/245 3.6-stars
26. Jedrick Wills (Lexington, KY) OL 6'4"/316 4.2-stars

* RBR Comp Stars are based on an average of Rivals, Scout, ESPN, 247, and 247 comp.
** Second enrollment period for the spring, Feb 13.

STILL ON THE BOARD

The days of ALL YOUR CROOTS ARE NOW BELONG TO US are sadly over. If it weren't for the crybabies out there, Alabama could sign all these guys. But Myles Brand didn't dedicate his life to parity in college football for nothing.

Aubrey Solomon DT Leesburg, GA 4.8 stars - Michigan
LaBryan Ray DE Madison, AL 4.4 stars- Alabama
Jarez Parks DE Sebastian, FL 4 stars - pending
Devonta Smith WR Amite. LA 4.4 stars - Alabama
Henry Ruggs WR Montgomery, AL 4.2 stars - Alabama
Todd Harris S Plaquemine, LA 4 stars - LSU
Christopher "CJ" Henderson CB Miami, FL 4 stars - Florida
Mystery Recruit?

ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE

9am but maybe as early as 8:45am CT due to ESPNU.
Aubrey Solomon - Signed with Michigan

9am CT
Todd Harris Signed with LSU
Mac Jones - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED
Kedrick James - Committed to Alabama. Signed, waiting for fax confirmation.

9:30am CT
Brian Robinson - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED

10am CT
Markail Benton - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED
Jarez Parks - Bama, FSU, Fla. - delaying announcement.

11am CT
Henry Ruggs - Bama, FSU. - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED!
Christopher "CJ" Henderson - Signed with Florida

11:40am CT
LaBryan Ray - Committed to Alabama

1:15pm CT (ceremony)
Kendall Randolph - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED!

1:30pm CT
Nico Collins - Signed with Michigan - Brrrrrrrrr!

2pm CT
Devonta Smith - Committed to Alabama

2:45pm CT (ceremony)
Jedrick Wills - Committed to Alabama.

4pm CT (ceremony)
VanDarius Cowan - Committed to Alabama. SIGNED!

IS THAT EVERYONE?

Knowing Nick Saban, he has an ace or two up his sleeve. You may recall last year the Tide picked up Joshua Jacobs in a whirlwind romance. They also convinced cornerback Aaron Robinson to flip from Florida on NSD.

Brent, Erik, Josh, and I will be updating this page as each commitment rolls in. So, you may need to hit refresh a few times. Also, we will attempt to answer your questions in the comments section, so fire away! Crazy comments are welcome too but please refrain from posting jpgs and gifs so the page has an easier refresh rate.

Note: there will not be a Jumbo Package today. All of the Tide articles are about recruiting, and you have us, so what more do you need, really? While you're waiting on the NLIs to come rolling in, you can always check out our projections for the large, undecided Signing Class of 2016.

TERMINIOLGY:

In case you are new to RBR and/or to crootin, here is a little cheat sheet of the terminology and abbrevs we use:

RBR - RollBamaRoll.com, y'all!
Crootin' - Our loving way of referring to recruiting.
NSD - National Signing Day, which is today, Feb. 1, 2017.
LOI - Letter of Intent, which recruits and their parent or guardian sign and fax - YES fax! - into the school of their choice to make it official.
EE - Early Enrollee, guys who graduate high school early and enroll in January so they can play Spring ball.
RS - redshirt.
Stars - We have come up with our own composite rankings which takes the average stars given out by the four big recruiting services, plus another factor. They are Scout, Rivals, ESPN, 247sports, and 247Sport Composite. Those last two are completely different animals.

+ Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban will hold his signing day press conference at 4pm CT.

** UPDATE: Reports that Xavier McKinney, Mac Jones, Daniel Wright and Brian Robinson will enroll on Feb 13. Apparently, there is a second enrollment period for the spring.

#NSD2017

#RollTide

For complete RBR Recruiting coverage, check out our Crootin Section. Always FREE!