Alabama Football: 15 in and 10 spots to go in ’21 Signing Class
By Ronald Evans
The quality of the ’21 Alabama football class is surging with 10 spots left open.
Alabama football has zoomed to No. 2 in the 247Sports Composite, team rankings. And there is upside left before the conclusion of the ’21 recruiting cycle. In mid-May the Alabama football, 2021 class totaled five verbal commits. At one point the Crimson Tide was barely in the top half of team rankings for FBS schools.
What a difference a couple of months can make. Now with 15 verbal commits, the Crimson Tide has a chance to finish No. 1 in recruiting again. Ohio State currently has a firm grasp on the top spot. But the Buckeyes have four more verbal commits than the Crimson Tide.
Of the 16, 5-Star prospects having already committed, the Buckeyes have a slight edge over the Tide at four to three. No other program has more than one.
There is a long way to go to December and even more to February. For almost every program there will be decommits and flips. This far out might be too early to state remaining spots are limited. For some players they are. For a few, a spot might be held until February.
For any Alabama football target rated outside the Top 100 in the 247Sports Composite, a sense of urgency might be appropriate. There is a chance 26 will be the final number. Until that is determined, Alabama football has room for 10 more 2021 recruits.
If Kirby Smart could again surreptitiously scan Nick Saban’s ‘Big Board,’ he might choose the same strategy he chose in 2016. That is, telling prospects they were not Crimson Tide priorities. The problem for Kirby is, other than Amarius Mims, the Bulldogs don’t have much traction with other Crimson Tide, Top 100 targets. Georgia will likely finish strong but the Tide will only see the Bulldogs in its recruiting, rear-view mirror.
More interesting for Alabama football fans is what 10 (or 11) recruits get the Tide’s remaining slots. We attempt to answer the question below, beginning with offensive targets.