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Alabama Football: Early Signing Day Eve developments

By Ronald Evans

TUSCALOOSA, AL - OCTOBER 01: A general view of Bryant-Denny Stadium during the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Kentucky Wildcats on October 1, 2016 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
TUSCALOOSA, AL - OCTOBER 01: A general view of Bryant-Denny Stadium during the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Kentucky Wildcats on October 1, 2016 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The new NCAA Early Signing period begins on Dec. 20th. Check out our last projection of who will sign early in the Alabama football 2018 class.

The first NCAA Early Signing Period explodes on the college football scene, December 20-22. National Signing Day (NSD) will never be the same even though it will occur again in February 2018. Alabama football coach Nick Saban hates the early period but that does not mean the Tide will not pull in many early signees.

Alabama football will fill more than half of its 2018 class in the early period. Listed below are the players we project to ink their name to the Crimson Tide in the early period.

Projected Early Signing Period Signees

All the player ratings below are from the 247Sports Composite.

  1. Jarez Parks – Parks was a 4-Star, Top 100 player in 2017. He was rated the No. 7 best WDE in the 2017 class. Late in the process, the Tide had no room for Jarez. He accepted a grayshirt option when he could have signed with other top schools. He is already in Tuscaloosa and participating in CFB Playoff practices.
  2. Hunter Brannon – 3 Star, No. 12 Center. Brannon is a 2017 blueshirt from the 2017 class that counts against the 2018 numbers.
  3. Joseph Bulovas – 3-Star, No. 6 Kicker. Bulovas is a 2017 blueshirt from the 2017 class that counts against the 2018 numbers.
  4. Saivion Smith – 4-Star, No, 1 JUCO CB. As a transfer, Smith is also already practicing with the team.

The 13 players below are Alabama football commits and all are expected to sign on Dec. 20th. The most recent addition to this signing group is Vernon Jackson who until Tuesday afternoon was not expected to sign until NSD.

  1. Cameron Latu – 4-Star, No. 7 WDE
  2. Emil Ekiyor – 4-Star, No. 2 Center
  3. Jalyn Armour-Davis – 4-Star, No. 16 CB
  4. Nadab Joseph – 4-Star No. 18 CB
  5. Jordan Davis – 4-Star, No. 5 WDE
  6. Stephon Wynn – 4-Star, No. 3 SDE
  7. Tommy Brown – 4- Star, No. 12 OT
  8. Xavier Williams – 4-Star, No. 26 WR
  9. Vernon Jackson – 3-Star, No. 30 ATH (projected to play linebacker for the Tide)
  10. Josh Jobe – 4-Star, No. 13 CB
  11. Skyler DeLong – 3-Star, No. 2 Punter
  12. Slade Bolden – 3-Star. No. 11 APB
  13. Jerome Ford – 3-Star, No. 14 APB

Adding the first two groups together would give the Crimson Tide 17 signees for the 2018 class.

In addition to these 17 players, Alabama football has two additional 2018 commits who will not sign early.

  1. Quay Walker – 4-Star, No. 3 OLB
  2. Michael Parker – 3-Star, No. 43 TE

Other Early Signees

  • Eyabi Anoma – 5-Star, No. 2 WDE and No. 7 Overall player in the nation. Anoma will announce early and may sign the same day. We project Anoma will join the 2018 class.
  • Brenton Cox – 5-Star, No. 2 SDE and No. 22 Overall player in the nation. Cox will announce on Dec. 20th and we project either UGA or the Tide. Best guess – Georgia.
  • Dominick Wood-Anderson – 4-Star, No. 1 JUCO TE. Wood-Anderson will announce on Dec. 20th. We could predict as many as five different final choices for Dominick. Best guess – 50 percent chance he picks the Tide.
  • Christian Barmore – 4-Star and No. 17 DT in the nation. Barmore was not well known until the Tide discovered him. He now has 17 offers but Alabama is the clear leader. Barmore was not expected to sign until NSD, possibly due to academic qualification concerns. He may sign early which could mean the Tide is confident he can qualify. We project Barmore will join the 2018 class.
  • Bobby Brown – 4-Star and the No. 16 DT in the nation. Brown has been a priority for the Tide for months. He was expected to wait until NSD but will likely announce early. TAMU and Oklahoma are stiff competition to keep him close to home. Best guess is he goes with the Aggies but the Tide is very close.

Looking at the math: 17 players from the first two groups above, plus 2 current commits, plus Anoma and Barmore totals 21 players.

Numbers have been and will continue to be tight but Nick Saban always makes it work. There are at least eight more top recruits the Tide wants to sign in February. We believe room will be made for most of them. We expect 2018 will be another season when blueshirts and grayshirts will be necessary to make the numbers work.

Next: 50 Best Alabama Football Players of All-Time

After the Early Signing Period concludes we will update the other recruit possibilities for the 2018 class. Alabama football will look to add another offensive lineman, another defensive back or two plus another interior defensive lineman. Perhaps two more wide receivers will be added, plus another linebacker and maybe a quarterback.

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