Alabama Football: Polar opposites in SEC recruiting food chain

As always the big dogs are eating in the SEC. Going into the Early Signing Period for the 2022 class, Alabama Football, Georgia and Texas A&M have the top three groups of verbal commits in the 247Sports Composite.

Rounding out the top nine, nationally in verbal commit, team rankings are Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, North Carolina and Michigan. The Missouri Tigers are next at No. 10.

Overall the SEC is dominating with elite recruits. Of the 26 committed 5-Stars in the Composite, SEC schools have verbal commits from 14 of them. Recruiting experts project SEC teams (Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia)  lead for six more of the coveted 5-Stars.

Not all SEC schools are benefitting from the annual SEC recruiting bonanza. The weakest class in the SEC often belongs to Vanderbilt for well-known reasons. That is not the case in this recruiting cycle. Joining Vandy outside the current top 30 are Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida.

Bryan Harsin’s current list of commits is ranked No. 35. The Florida Gators are in even worse trouble with the No. 78 group of verbal commits.

Check out the key recruiting numbers for Alabama Football and the rest of the SEC.

247Sports Composite Team Rankings (Verbal Commits)

• No. 1 – Alabama Football
• No. 2 – Georgia Bulldogs
• No. 3 – Texas A&M Aggies
• No. 10 – Missouri Tigers
• No. 12  – Kentucky Wildcats
• No. 16 – Arkansas Razorbacks
• No. 17 – South Carolina Gamecocks
• No. 18 – Tennessee Volunteers
• No. 25 – LSU Bengal Tigers
• No. 29 – Mississippi State Bulldogs
• No. 31 – Vanderbilt Commodores
• No. 32 – Ole Miss Rebels
• No. 35 – Auburn Tigers
• No. 78 – Florida Gators

Number of current commits per school

• Georgia – 24 commits
• Alabama, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt – 21 commits
• Arkansas – 20 commits
• South Carolina – 19 commits
• Kentucky and Tennessee – 18 commits
• Missouri and Mississippi State – 16 commits
• Ole Miss – 14 commits
• Auburn – 13 commits
• LSU – 11 commits
• Florida – 7 commits

Clearly, coaching transitions have hampered the recruiting efforts in Baton Rouge and Gainesville. The Transfer Portal has so changed the recruiting process a school with a low number of commits, like Ole Miss, can make up the difference through the Portal.

The Auburn Tigers are in a unique position. They do not have a first-year head coach. The Tigers traditionally recruit very well. But this cycle, Auburn is having a major recruiting slump. The advantages of the Transfer Portal are so far not accruing to Auburn. Harsin is losing his starting QB, Bo Nix and top RB, Tank Bigsby through transfer exits.

What matters more than the number of recruits signed is the quality of the new players for each team. Alabama Football also leads the way in that category, and not just in the SEC, but nationally as well.

SEC Teams Average Player Rating of Verbal Commits

• Alabama – 94.78
• Texas A&M – 93.55
• Georgia – 92.74
• LSU – 91.08
• Missouri – 89.91
• Kentucky – 88.57
• Auburn – 88.24
• Tennessee – 88.03
• South Carolina – 87.82
• Ole Miss – 87.71
• Mississippi State – 87.42
• Arkansas – 87.18
• Florida – 87.02
• Vanderbilt – 85.68

The Alabama Crimson Tide already has two back-to-backs this season with an SEC Championship and a Heisman Trophy. Two more on the horizon; another National Championship and another No. 1 signing class.