Alabama Football 2019: Summer enrollees get their numbers

The second half of the 2019 recruiting class has arrived on campus and have received all of their jersey numbers on the RollTide.com official roster. On top of that, we get their official heights and weights... which often differs dramatically from what was reported on their recruiting sites.

Here’s the list, numerically:

• #2 RB Keilan Robinson 5’9” 184
• #6 DB Jordan Battle 6’1” 201
• #8 LB Christian Harris 6’2” 244
• #14 DB Brandon Turnage 6’1” 185
• #19 TE Jahleel Billingsley 6’4” 228
• #26 DB Marcus Banks 6’0 170
• #26 RB Trey Sanders 6’0” 214
• #29 DB DeMarcco Hellams 6’1” 213
• #30 LB King Mwikuta 6’5” 243
• #47 DL Byron Young 6’3” 295
• #52 DL Braylon Ingraham 6’4” 291
• #95 DL Ishmael Sopsher 6’4” 344

Notably, Keilan Robinson is an inch shorter than he was listed in high school, and that was pretty short already. Trey Sanders took #26. It was totally unfair of me to think this, but I really thought Sanders would be a single-digit kind of guy. Jahleel Billingsley is almost 15 pounds heavier than his high school weight, which is important, as Alabama NEVER plays tight ends under 220.

Also, Ishmael Sopsher is HUGE. Don’t forget, he can rush the end just as well as he can play nose tackle. It’s a terrifying sight to see a 340-pound dude outrunning tackles on speed rushes.

There were also a number of updated weights of current players. I always like to look for any major gains/losses for individual players of course, but also for position-wide trends that might indicate a coaching philosophy change.

This time, most of the defensive backs gained around 5 pounds, other than Shyheim Carter (who’s been dealing with injury and lost about 5 pounds). Trevon Diggs led the way with 7 pounds gained and is now a stocky 207. Eddie Smith gained 6 pounds, Jared Mayden gained 5, Xavier McKinney gained 4, and Josh Jobe gained 3.

We also saw some bulking up along the defensive line. Stephon Wynn was the biggest change on the team as he jumped from 295 to 311. You have to think he’s making the attempt to move from a hybrid end/tackle to a full nose tackle. Early enrollee Justin Eboigbe gained 11 pounds, and LaBryan Ray gained 7 in preparation for what should be his first season as a starter.

The offensive line went the opposite direction was we saw three players lose over 10 pounds. Emil Ekiyor dropped from 338 to 327, Amari Kight dropped from 313 to 302, Kendall Randolph really shed some pounds to drop from 311 to 296.

Some other notable changes include Ben Davis dropping back down 15 pounds to 243. This is about where he was before a sudden huge increase early this spring, so I have to wonder if Davis either had something going on, or there was just a typo on the website.

Running back Jerome Ford continues to gain weight and is up to 212 now. He’s gone from an undersized receiving back a solid size that fits the Alabama prototype. Not bad for only one year on campus.

Tight end Miller Forristall is up to 242, which is a far cry from the sub 220 freshman that was only a year removed from being a skinny QB when he arrived on campus.

Lastly, Chadarius Townsend is back to being listed as a wide receiver rather than a running back. The coaches must be happy with Sanders and Robinson coming in to add depth.