Alabama Football Expecting Big Recruiting Weekend

Phidarian Mathis – DT – 6′ 4″ , 290 lbs. – Monroe, LA – Offered

You might have been confused at the start of the video. It takes a couple of playbacks to process the vision of 290 pound Mathis on a kick coverage team. Even more amazing is he beat most of his teammates down the field and made the tackle.

With depth at defensive line limited, can there be any doubt Alabama wants and NEEDS Phidarian Mathis? Surprisingly, the correct answer is yes, maybe.

The problem is how many open slots are available. It is presumed that the Tide will keep a spot open until the end for DT Aubrey Soloman. Check out his video.

Aubrey Soloman – DT – 6′ 3″ , 287 lbs. – Leesburg, GA

Soloman is a 5-star and the 2nd ranked DT in the nation. He committed to Michigan and later de-committed. For a few weeks, he has been saying Alabama is his leader.  His official with the Tide was Iron Bowl weekend.

Since then he has taken an official visit to USC and some experts think Georgia still has a chance. More experts think he ends up going to Michigan. Harbaugh, Soloman, and others had a go-kart and bowling outing a few days ago. Afterward, Soloman stated Alabama was still his leader.

After last weekend’s visit to USC, Soloman announced he would make no more official visits. It appears his decision will go to, or maybe even beyond Signing Day.

Aubrey Soloman is a take for Alabama until he isn’t.

What does the Soloman situation mean for Phidarias Mathis? If Alabama is losing confidence in closing Soloman, the Tide might accept a Mathis commitment this weekend. The problem with that scenario is that most experts believe LSU has an edge with Mathis. If so, he may not be willing to commit this weekend.

Other experts think the Tide is pushing Mathis for a commitment and that it has nothing to do with Aubrey Soloman. According to this premise, either Akial Byers is not likely to qualify academically or Alabama believes Mathis is the better player.

Another  DT, 4-star Elijah Conliffe is now scheduled to visit the last weekend of the recruiting cycle. Tennessee appears to be the leader for Conliffe and it is not clear if Alabama has given him an offer. He is a quality player and adding DT’s is so important, a contingency plan is a good idea.

Alabama needs to sign 3 DT’s but will likely have room for only two.  Mathis and Soloman would be a major coup. Any two of Mathis, Soloman, Byers or Conliffe would be very good. Ending up with only 1 of the 3 might be okay if Soloman is the one. Ending up with none of them would be a major failure.

Next: The Always Outspoken Nick Saban

Bama Hammer will be posting updates from this weekend’s visits, so check back often.