Jumbo Package: Alabama Takes Over the #1 Recruiting Class

A former Alabama walk-on is now on scholarship at his new school.

Defensive back Brandon Bishop, who transferred to Louisiana last year, was one of two Rajin’ Cajun walk-ons to recently be awarded a scholarship by head coach and former Crimson Tide assistant Billy Napier.

Roll Tide, Brandon! It’s nice to see a Tuscaloosa native that was able to make it onto Alabama’s team as a walk-on (I’m sure a childhood dream for him) and then pick up a scholarship and legit playing time in college ball a year later.

“He looked good out there today, didn’t he?” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said during his Tuesday press conference. “He came out about halfway through practice, maybe before that, jumped out, made a couple of catches, so he looked good. Had a chance to chat with him briefly after practice. He’s in great spirits. He’s appreciative of the opportunity. And everybody’s in the mix. Everybody’s in the mix.

“That’s what it is – an opportunity. All you really need is a chance to get out there on the field and play and perform and show what you can do. I know that he’s a guy that has a great work ethic and is a young guy with a lot of talent, so I’m excited and thought he had, for just getting his pads, just getting his equipment was going on after he cleared his physical and then coming out to practice, he did a heck of a job.”

White has ALWAYS been an underrated receiver at every step of his career. He’s used to being a wideout with very limited volume who makes the most of his rare targets, so going to Baltimore could be an absolutely perfect fit for him.

While Keilan Robinson’s status remains unclear, the team signed three backs during the 2020 recruiting cycle in Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Kyle Edwards, giving Alabama at least six options out of the backfield, as well as capable bodies for special teams roles.

“Trey Sanders has done extremely well,” Saban said. “The young guys have done really, really well. I see them all contributing, and I think those guys can all have a role on our team. That’s an area on our team that I really like the depth. I like the experience we have with two seniors, and then there’s some young guys that have some really, really good ability to contribute.

“And these guys are all really good special teams players. I think when you have depth at linebacker, running back, tight end, skill positions, wide receiver, DB, that really, really helps you on special teams because those guys take up a lot of roles on special teams, and I think those guys are going to make a real contribution in all those areas as well.”

This is an embarrassment of riches at running back depth akin to that time Alabama had TJ Yeldon, Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, Alvin Kamara, Altee Tenpenny, and Tyren Jones all on the team at the same time. Unfortunately, that logjam of depth did lead to Jones, Kamara, and Tenpenny all to transfer out, with Kamara going on to become a high effective college back and then one of the best in the NFL.

Five-star RB has Tide in top trio

Alabama, Oklahoma, and LSU make up five-star running back Camar Wheaton’s top three, the Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial product announced early on Tuesday morning.

Most of the buzz for the nation’s No. 2 running back of late has pointed to the Sooners being the likely destination. Wheaton’s 247Sports Crystal Ball currently reads 100 percent in favor of OU with a seven confidence average.

Until recently it was thought that Oklahoma and Texas may be the top two but as the Longhorns have picked up momentum with LJ Johnson out of Cypress (Texas) Cy Fair, it’s opened the window for the Tide and LSU to overtake the Longhorns in the race.

That kind of young depth has allowed Saban to be particularly picky with recruiting a running back in the 2021 cycle. He’s not settled for some lowly three- or four-star player, and is swinging for the fences on a five-star guy like Wheaton.

There’s only a few other backs out there that have been extended a scholarship offer from Alabama. And any of them that are not Wheaton are going to be low-visibility guys with hidden potential like Josh Jacobs.

There is a new No.1 in the Rivals.com national team recruiting rankings after the latest release of the Rivals250. Alabama moved ahead of Ohio State for the top spot in the country on Tuesday morning. The Crimson Tide and Buckeyes will continue to battle for the next several months for the No.1 spot.

The current top 10 in the Rivals team rankings include: Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, USC, Michigan, Miami, Clemson and LSU. A few schools outside the top 10 who should make make a serious run in the coming months include Georgia (No.13) and Oklahoma (No.15).

While 247 has made rather continuous updates and tweaks to their recruiting rankings, Rivals has chosen to hold off during the offseason and go for a big cumulative update at the start of the 2020 senior season. It made for some major discrepancies between the two in a few cases over the summer, but the final result this week led to a nice Bama Bump (TM) to put the Tide up to #1.

Christian Leary in particular got a massive boost from a low 4-star player outside of the top 250 to the #43 overall player and a borderline 5-star prospect.

JC Latham also had a massive jump from 75 to 23. KaDarius Calloway, Agiye Hall, and Deontae Lawson also saw some nice bumps.

The Tide is now separated by less than 2 points from Ohio State on the 247 Composite.

But obviously the dynasty is dead.

Roll Tide!