All right. With the early signing period is just around the corner I have provided a breakdown of the top 5 prospects I believe will sign with the Tide.
5-star DE Keon Keeley and 4-star LB Arion Carter were in my previous top 4. Keeley committed to Bama. Roll Tide!! However, Carter unexpectedly allowed Tennessee coach Josh Heupel to sneak in during the 11th hour and convince the long time Bama fan that Knoxville was a better place to play than Tuscaloosa.
- 4-star DT James Smith – New update same message here. Smith is a 'must-get' player at a critical position of need.
- 4-star LB Qua Russaw – Russaw and Smith are still considered a package deal and have developed great relationships with the Tide staff. Both understand Tuscaloosa is a better place to play and develop as a person and a player.
- 4-star DB Damari Brown – Brown understands there are a lot of open seats in the DB room. Heritage H.S. will once again be good to Bama.
- 5-star OT Kadyn Proctor – Proctor has been committed to his hometown Hawkeyes since 6/30. However, a visit to Michigan back in early fall as well as a more recent visit to Oregon really showed Proctor was starting to second guess his decision to play for a perennial 7-5 program. In my last post I included Proctor in the “Keep an eye on” section but I am now moving Proctor up into my top 5. The staff is selling him on early playing time for a potential playoff and national championship team. EDIT...Proctor and his family will take an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa this weekend.
- 5-star DB Desmond Ricks – The talk all along has been LSU leads with Ricks but I truly believe the momentum has shifted in favor of Saban and the Tide. There is a big need in the DB room and, like Damari Brown, Ricks sees an early path to playing time in Tuscaloosa.
Keep an eye on...
4-star DE Kelby Collins – I’ve been a homer all along about Collins flipping to the Tide but most of that was predicated on him taking his official to Tuscaloosa this coming weekend as he’d tentatively planned to do. However, now that Collins has decided not to take his official to Tuscaloosa my homerism has really started to fad. Despite a Florida blowout loss to Vandy, a 6-6 finish to the season and a player being dismissed for some really inappropriate actions, the life long Bama fan seems destined to stick with his commitment to the Gators.
Random Musings
Utah 47 USC 24 – Was anyone else not surprised by this? The Trojans were terrible in the trenches and have been a bit of a paper mache team all season. They looked completely overmatched by Utah in the Pac 12 title game. The same Utah team that lost to a 6-6 Florida team that finished fifth in the SEC east division. Yes, fifth.
Purdue 22 Michigan 43 – Yet another year where the east division champion gets a bye in the Big Ten Championship game and then gets rewarded with somewhat of a bye in the College Football Playoff too.
LSU 30 Georgia 50 – Yea!!! Let’s play our best game of the season against Bama and storm the field after a 1-point win in overtime. Then, let’s completely sh*t the bed against a 4-7 Texas A&M and get completely embarrassed by the Dawgs in the SEC title game. Sounds about right for opponents after beating Bama.
Texas A&M – And speaking of the Aggies, 2022 was supposed to be the year for Jimbo and A&M. In 2021, starting QB Haynes King got hurt early and that was the eventual excuse as to why the Aggies ended up at 8-4. But with King returning from injury, 2022 was definitely supposed to be the year Jimbo took his team to the top of the SEC West mountain. Well, another year and another bad season. Really bad. But this time the excuse is the Aggies are a very young team (insert eyeroll here). In his five seasons in College Station Fisher has now averaged 4+ losses per year and that includes an 9-1 season back in 2020.
Auburn – I know I was not the only one frustrated with the Tide’s lack of ability to consistently stop the Tiger running attack. But let us all remember the Barn’s offensive line consisted of five senior starters and a senior TE in John Shenker. Replacing all six across the offensive front will be a tall task for Freeze in his first season on the Plains. So, there is hope the Tigers offense might struggle enough in 2023 to offset any voo doo magic at Jordan-Hare next season when the Tide and Tigers meet again.
Ohio State – In the last three big games played by Ryan Day and Ohio State the Buckeyes have gotten completely mud holed…Alabama 52-24 (2020), Michigan 42-27 (2021) and Michigan again 45-23 (2022). Let that sink in. I know Lincoln Riley has been criticized for not being able to win the big game and rightfully so. But if Day loses to Georgia in the CFP then he and Riley could easily be seen as rowing the same boat.
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