Alabama Football: News and Tidbits July 2

TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 29: Mascot Big Al of the Alabama Crimson Tide crowd surfs from the field to the upper deck while taking on the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 29, 2008 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Alabama defeated Auburn 36-0. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 29: Mascot Big Al of the Alabama Crimson Tide crowd surfs from the field to the upper deck while taking on the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 29, 2008 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Alabama defeated Auburn 36-0. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Catch up on Alabama football, basketball and more, news and tidbits. A weekly update that lists the lesser known events of the past week.

This week we are heavy on Alabama football. Fall camp starts in a month and we are just six weeks away from the first fall football scrimmage.

Who will win it all in 2017?

Phil Steele’s annual football magazine is out. It has the most thorough information of all the preseason magazines. You can get an online copy here.

Steele predicts the 2017 CFB Playoff teams will be Alabama, FSU, Ohio State and USC. He picks the Tide over the Buckeyes in the championship game.

Alabama graduate Rece Davis and ESPN star made this prediction,

Rece is predicting a Tide-FSU rematch for the national championship. Check out our profile of Rece in the post 30 Amazing People Built by Bama.

Best six teams in the SEC

Phil Steele did an analysis of eight position groups and head coaches for each SEC team. The rankings of each position group are illuminating. Without revealing too much of Steele’s information we will share a compilation of the rankings.

Based on Steele’s ratings of the position groups and coaches, the top six SEC teams in 2017 will be (in order), Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia.

2018 Football Recruiting

Stephon Wynn was a big pickup for Alabama football this week. Until a few days before his announcement, most recruiting experts expected Wynn to choose Georgia. The 4-Star defensive end is ranked nationally has No. 5 at his position and a Top 100 player.

4-Star cornerback Jaycee Horn has set a July 15 announcement date. Alabama football is battling South Carolina and Tennessee for Horn.

July’s big recruiting day will be July 21 when the Tide hosts the annual Champions Cookout. Alabama football expects 20-25 of the top players in the nation to attend the event. The activity is designated as an unofficial visit.

It is interesting that one of the top Alabama football 2018 targets, Dominick Wood-Anderson will turn the trip into a weekend official visit. The 4-Star Wood-Anderson is rumored to be the Tide’s top tight end prospect for 2018.

Former Alabama football players

There was disappointing news from Canada this week. When opening season CFL rosters were released, Tide players did not fare well. Javier Arenas and Adrian Hubbard were released by Ottawa. D.J. Pettway was assigned to the Saskatchewan practice squad.

Check out where Javi ranked in our post 30 Best 3-Star Players in Tide history.

NFL analyst Gil Brandt released his ranking of the top 45 linebackers in NFL history. Lee Roy Jordan was No. 31, Cornelius Bennett was No. 23 and Derrick Thomas was No. 2. Brandt had a long career as an NFL scout.

Next: Five Greatest Threats to 2017 Championship

Check in with us each Sunday. There is no shortage of interesting and important happenings, even during the offseason.