Jumbo Package: Tide eyeing best class ever, SEC Championship

Happy Thursday, everyone. CB969 already has the best recruiting wrapup for you, but we have a few additional notes.

“We didn’t have a lot of guys that were vacillating,” Saban said. “These guys for the most part have been committed for quite some time now. They were very pleased and happy with the decisions they made so we didn’t have any issues.”

The a class includes six five-star recruits, most in the nation and the most for Alabama since 2017. The Tide signed three of the top eight prospects in 247 Sports’ composite rankings, seven of the top 50 and 13 in the top 100.

“I think both guys started several weeks ago sort of showing a little more interesting — maybe not being satisfied with where they were in their recruitment, or whatever,” Saban explained. “So we were pleased and happy to get both those guys. We think they’re both really, really good players. Really good people. Great families. We’re excited about those two guys for sure. Those are two guys that we’ve had discussions with in the last couple of weeks that were still up in the air.”

Alabama: As if the reclaiming of the No. 1 spot and the potential of the “highest-rated class in recruiting history” weren’t enough, a deeper dive on Alabama’s class showcases how Nick Saban is going to keep fielding explosive offenses. The group of Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle will be gone after this year, and they will be replaced not only by John Metchie III but also with five-star wide receiver Jacorey Brooks and four-star Christian Leary. There’s also two five-star offensive linemen (JC Latham and Tommy Brockermeyer) and the No. 2 offensive guard in the country (Terrence Ferguson) coming in to provide depth for a group that will be tasked with being the anchor for an offense that will highlight those playmakers on the outside. Saban asked if this is what we wanted football to be when he was questioning the up-tempo and high-scoring offenses at the beginning of the decade, but he’s ending it doing a better job recruiting offensive players than anyone in the country.

Look, I’m easy to get along with. I will link any article that calls Auburn a loser in the headline.

Butch Jones was introduced at Arkansas State yesterday and gushed about his time at Alabama.

“These past three years has been extremely rewarding in so many ways. I’ve been able to reflect and evaluate everything we’ve been able to accomplish in our three previous places: study football, study coaches, then work on a daily basis with the greatest football coach of all time.

You really should watch the video. He gets emotional and is clearly grateful to Nick, Miss Terry, and others in the program. His comments just further underscore that everything about this program is first class.

By contrast...

So this year they’ve had a brawl. lost a game in part because a moron threw a shoe, and now a guy who would be lucky to crack the two deep at Alabama is running his mouth. Dan Mullen is trash and his program reflects it.

Mac Jones is killing it.

Alabama’s coming off one of its more efficient third-down games, converting 10 of 14 at Arkansas or 71.4%. It’s also worth noting the quick-strike offense limits the number of third-down situations for the Tide. The 11 third-down attempts averaged per game is the fewest in the SEC while Auburn had 14.5 a game.

Quarterback Mac Jones played a role in that, completing 67.3% of his 52 third-down throws with 29 conversions. His efficiency is also leading a few all-time statistical measures.

Jones’ single-season 203.9 passer efficiency rating is No. 1 all-time in records dating back to 1956, according to sports-reference.com. He’s a nose ahead of Joe Burrow’s record of 202 set last year while Tua Tagovailoa finished the 2018 season at 199.4.

But you knew that.

Last, this is a nice piece on Landon Dickerson.

Dickerson earned a black belt in karate by 11 years old, the youngest in the history of his dojo. He was also an Eagle Scout who chose to work on a service project instead of enroll in college early.

When he first set foot on Florida State’s campus, Dickerson did not look out of place.

“Everyone’s first impression of Landon was, ‘Holy crap, this kid’s huge,’” said Eberle, who hosted Dickerson his official recruiting visit. “He was massive when he got to college. I mean, he looked like a college O-lineman when he came in as a freshman.”

Black belt at 11, eh? Impressive.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.