Alabama 2021: Returning players, new signees battle to keep the dynasty going
Alabama's 18th national championship is in the books, and with it, the depletion of talent across the Tide's depth chart. While Alabama certainly brings in more elite talent than most other schools, it also loses more, primarily to the NFL Draft but also to the NCAA transfer portal.
Recruiting 2020: Tide lands another solid class
For a program accustomed to leading the recruiting rankings and setting records year after year for average class strength, the 2020 class for Alabama was about as ho-hum as top-three/top-four classes can get (TideFans.com/NARCAS ranked Alabama's class in a tie for third with Ohio State, behind No. 2 Clemson and No. 1 Georgia).
Alabama Crimson Tide 2020 Signing Class
FIRST
LAST
POS
HT
WT
40 time
NAR CAS rating
CITY
ST
HS/JC
Bryce
Young
QB
5'11"
180
4.5
10
Santa Ana
CA
Mater Dei
Timothy
Smith
DL
6'4"
340
5.5
10
Sebastian
FL
Sebastian River
Will
Anderson
DE
6'3"
240
4.6
10
Hampton
GA
Dutchtown
Jase
McClellan
RB
5'10"
210
4.5
10
Aledo
TX
Aledo
Demouy
Kennedy
LB
6'2"
205
4.6
10
Theodore
AL
Theodore
Thaiu
Jones-Bell
WR
5'11"
180
4.4
10
Miami Gardens
FL
Carol City
Javon
Baker
WR
6'1"
210
4.5
10
Powder Springs
GA
McEachern
Brian
Branch
S
6'0"
180
4.5
9.9
Tyrone
GA
Sandy Creek
Traeshon
Holden
WR
6'2"
190
4.6
9.9
Harbor City
CA
Narbonne
Ronald
Williams
CB
6'2"
190
4.5
9.9
Ferriday
LA
Hutchinson CC (KS)
Drew
Sanders
DE
6'4"
230
4.7
9.9
Denton
TX
Ryan
Jamil
Burroughs
DL
6'3"
330
5.3
9.8
Powder Springs
GA
McEachern
Damieon
George
OL
6'6"
350
5.8
9.8
Houston
TX
North Shore
Kristian
Story
S
6'1"
205
4.6
9.8
Lanett
AL
Lanett
Kyle
Edwards
RB
5'11"
205
4.6
9.8
Destrehan
LA
Destrehan
Roydell
Williams
RB
5'11"
190
4.5
9.8
Hueytown
AL
Hueytown
Jahquez
Robinson
CB
6'1"
180
4.5
9.7
Jacksonville
FL
Sandalwood
Jah-Marien
Latham
DL
6'3"
285
5.0
9.7
Reform
AL
Pickens County
Javion
Cohen
OL
6'4"
260
5.1
9.7
Phenix City
AL
Phenix City
Chris
Braswell
DE
6'3"
220
4.7
9.6
Baltimore
MD
St. Francis
Quandarrius
Robinson
DE
6'5"
220
4.8
9.6
Birmingham
AL
Jackson-Olin
Jackson
Bratton
LB
6'3"
230
4.7
9.6
Muscle Shoals
AL
Muscle Shoals
Malachi
Moore
CB
6'1"
175
4.5
9.5
Trussville
AL
Hewitt-Trussville
Seth
McLaughlin
OL
6'4"
270
5.2
9.5
Buford
GA
Buford
Caden
Clark
TE
6'5"
245
4.9
9.5
Akron
OH
Archbishop Hoban
Recruiting 2019: Tide takes top spot again, almost sets record
Alabama's setback in the national championship game did not carry over to its 2019 recruiting class. Signing 27 players between the early and late signing periods, Alabama claimed the top spot in the 2019 TideFans.com/NARCAS recruiting rankings, narrowly edging out Georgia in the process.
Tide’s recruiting strategy looks geared for sustained dominance
Among the questions that arose immediately following Alabama's win over Georgia in the College Football Playoff was one of longevity – both in regards to Alabama's already-extended position at the top of the sport, and also in regards to Nick Saban's remaining career.
If early returns on the 2018-2019 recruiting trail are any indication, both paths have a lot of miles remaining on them.
Rating the SEC recruiting classes
The Bulldogs probably signed the best recruiting class, top to bottom, in modern college football history, eclipsing the class Alabama brought together a year earlier.
Signing Day 2018: So-so finish undersells a solid class
A year after signing what was at the time, the best class in Alabama history on paper – a heralding that backed itself up on the field once the fall came – Alabama couldn’t repeat its past glories, and ended up signing the lowest-ranked class since Nick Saban’s first class at Alabama in 2007.
Early signing period foretells a shift in how schools do business
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Dec. 22, 2017
With the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision adding an early signing period for prospects beginning this fall, the question was...
Is the SEC’s future too tied to a single ship?
Since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s already undisputed place atop the SEC landscape has only grown in altitude. Saban, who had won a national title at LSU prior to taking the Alabama job, has won four more national titles since 2007. Had Alabama knocked off Clemson in January, Saban would have tied Paul “Bear” Bryant for total number of titles, but would have done it at a substantially quicker pace. Many already believe Saban has supplanted Bryant as the best college coach that ever was; a win over Clemson would have galvanized those opinions.
Looking back at the Class of 2012
Over the last seven years, TideFans.com has taken a look back at old recruiting rankings, partially as a self-check, but also to see how players had progressed since arriving on campus.