5-star DB has begun trending away from Alabama football with latest prediction

One of Alabama's top targets in the 2026 class, a 5-star DB, has been predicted to land with another program.
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Kalen DeBoer has Alabama football in a strong position for some of the top prospects in the country. But there is a lot of competition out there, and the Crimson Tide won't get every single prospect that they want.

One of the prospects who appears to have begun trending elsewhere is 5-star safety Jett Washington from Las Vegas. Oregon has long been considered the favorite for Washington, but Alabama had made up a lot of ground recently.

On Sunday, however, On3's Steve Wiltfong logged an expert prediction for Washington to land with the Ducks:

Washington, the nephew of former NBA great Kobe Bryant, is ranked as a consensus 5-star recruit and the No. 3 safety in the 2026 class.

Alabama was hopeful and had an outside shot of landing two 5-star safeties in this class, with Washington potentially joining Jireh Edwards. The Tide picked up a prediction by Wiltfong last week to land Edwards. The dream of pairing them together may be closing, but Edwards is much more than just a consolation prize.

Even without Washington, Alabama could sign an elite crop of defensive backs

Alabama has two highly-regarded defensive backs already committed in this class in 5-star Jorden Edmonds and 4-star Zyan Gibson. Edmonds is locked in with the Tide, and while Gibson is taking visits and providing plenty of anxiety for Alabama fans, he'll be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for an official visit where DeBoer and company will be looking to lock his recruitment down.

Along with trending with Edwards, Alabama made a big move over the weekend with 5-star ATH Brandon Arrington, who On3 ranks as the No. 1 CB in the 2026 class. The California native would be a nice fit with Alabama's West Coast-heavy DB room, but he will be a difficult pull despite how well his official visit went.

Alabama is also involved with 4-star CB Lasiah Jackson and just offered 4-star Georgia Tech CB commitment Jaedyn Terry.

4-star ATH Jacob Eberhart, a two-way athlete who could play DB or end up on offense, is expected in Tuscaloosa for a mid-week visit. Nebraska looks to be the leader, but the Crimson Tide has a shot at changing that.

Alabama remains in a good spot in his recruiting class, despite a low number of commitments and some anxiety is brewing in the fanbase as the commitments have yet to begin flooding in this summer. It seems more of a matter of when, not if, but the impatience is understandable.