Alabama Football: The 2022 reload plan with these top recruiting targets

Alabama Football: Nick Saban’s Tuscaloosa, reload factory marches on with these top 2022 class recruiting targets.

We said recently in another post, Alabama football coach Nick Saban is not slowing down. It is trite to say ‘reload’ when it comes to recruiting, but it is the most accurate description of what Nick Saban does in Tuscaloosa.

The 2022 Crimson Tide recruiting class will, as always, be built around filling position needs. With a handful of possible exceptions, the primary purpose of the 2022 class is to build a solid roster for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. High school players joining the 2022 Alabama Crimson Tide class will get a fair chance to compete for playing time and starting roles in 2022. Nick Saban will always put the best players on the field, so no youngster will be held back. The issue is the Tide’s roster is so loaded, beating out members of the 2021, 2020 and 2019 classes will be a major challenge.

Such an assessment would no doubt annoy Nick Saban. He is always about signing the best class in every cycle. Also, new assistant coaches will be determined to prove they can recruit as well or better than their predecessors.

An early guess about needs in the 2022 class is four defensive backs, five defensive linemen, three offensive linemen, three linebackers, three wide receivers, two tight ends, two ‘athletes’, a running back and a quarterback. Add those numbers together and there is also room for an outstanding punter or placekicker.

All the player rankings in this post are from 247Sports.

2022 Verbal Commits

• 4-Star, ILB Robert Woodyard; No. 4 ILB and No. 68 player overall
• 4-Star, TE, Elijah Brown; No. 13 TE and No. 277 player overall
• Not yet rated, DE Walter Bob

2022 Top Targets

• 4-Star, QB, Ty Sherman; No. 2 Dual-QB and No. 42 player overall

Simpson has an announcement planned for Feb. 19. Take a look at his high school highlights.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is battling Clemson, Tennessee and Ole Miss, but Simpson has well over thirty offers, including Oregon, Notre Dame, Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M. National recruiting insiders are predicting Clemson but some Alabama football insiders claim Bill O’Brien has quickly made a very positive impression on Simpson.

• 5-Star, DE, Jeremiah Alexander; No. 1WDE and No. 11 player overall. Alexander was previously a Tide commit, but de-committed in October. Most recruiting insiders believe the Tide is in great shape to get the highly regarded player.
• 5-Star, RB, Emmanuel Henderson; No. 1 RB and No. 22 player overall
• 4-Star, ATH, Shemar James; No. 11 ATH and No. 155 player overall
• 5-Star, DT, Walter Nolen; No. 1 DT and No. 2 player overall
• 4-Star, DT, Khurtlss Perry; No. 6 DT and No. 64 player overall
• 5-Star, ATH, Sam McCall; No. 4 ATH and No. 32 player overall

Nick Saban has dozens of other top targets. He recently said recruiting will be tougher for the ’22 class than it was for the ’21 class. The normal schedule for player evaluations has been impossible due to virus-related NCAA restrictions. The current NCAA Dead period has been pushed back to at least the end of May as well.

Other schools are adding commits faster than the Crimson Tide. Nick Saban can afford to be patient.