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2017 Alabama Football Recruiting News & Update: DE LaBryan Ray Commits to Alabama

The five-star from Madison, AL was a critical in-state pickup.

Ray (1) is relentless in devouring the run
Student Sports

You can’t win the regional or national recruiting battles without first winning your state. LaBryan Ray is the state of Alabama’s No. 1 overall recruit and a consensus 5-star defensive end in a draft year that has excellent d-linemen prospects.

Ray, a James Clemens teammate of Alabama DB early enrollee Kyriq McDonald, was long thought to be an Alabama lean. However, he remained mostly tight-lipped in a recruiting process that went down to the wire, taking his final OV to Florida a week before NSD. LaBryan had narrowed his finalists to Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, and Tennessee — the latter had pursued him doggedly.

As his body has grown, Ray’s projections from the next level have change as well: He has gone from a weakside- to a strongside-DE, and there is speculation that at his size (6’4”, 260) he could very well be moved inside. A move inside may be the best for Ray, who, like A’Shawn Robinson, carries his strong frame explosively and devours the run, but is not a gifted pass rusher. His pure physical strength, consistently high effort, and ability to set the edge make him an instant contributor on standard downs.

Roll Tide, LaBryan