Alabama lands hometown EDGE with a higher ceiling than his ranking suggests

Once Alabama extended an offer to 3-star Tuscaloosa native EDGE rusher Jeremiah Beverly, the writing was on the wall for how his recruitment was going to play out.

Beverly only holds two additional Power Four offers, one from Wake Forest and the other from Cincinnati, and it seemed like he was probably heading to Jacksonville State at one point. Prior to receiving an offer from Alabama, Beverly had only taken an official visit to JSU.

But Alabama didn't throw out an offer just because they needed a body. Beverly camped in Tuscaloosa and impressed the coaching staff enough to earn it.

In the process, Alabama may have uncovered a hidden gem:

3-star EDGE Jeremiah Beverly commits to Alabama

Beverly announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide on the Gary Harris Show on Friday morning. It was Beverly's goal throughout his recruitment to earn an offer from Alabama. Once he did, there was little doubt as to where he was going to end up.

His visit to campus last weekend shored that up.

Beverly is a composite 3-star, but ESPN is actually quite a bit higher on the Tuscaloosa native than the other recruiting sites. The Hillcrest High School star is rated as a 4-star by ESPN.

Beverly's tape is impressive. The one thing holding him back is a lack of positional size for an EDGE at just 6-foot-2, but he combats that with quality length that allows him to play bigger than his height.

247 analyst TJ Randall had a lot of positive things to say about him in his evaluation, which you can read fully on his 247 player page. A few highlights:

• "Motor burns hot as an urgent mover capable of shadowing the ball across the field."
• "Reliable contain rusher with a +5 wingspan that can collapse pockets behind a punch that lands in the strike zone and weaponizes a long-arm move."
• "Looks the part of a player who can effectively handle a multifaceted role at the Power Four level."

So while Beverly might not have a boatload of Power Four offers, Alabama is not alone in thinking he's a player who can develop into something special down the line.

You can't teach effort. Beverly plays with a whole bunch of it. And while his commitment won't move the needle nationally, he's exactly the type of player fans should celebrate in this era of college football.

Because in a world of college athletics where the amount of money you can get paid is the top priority, Beverly wanted to be at Alabama because wearing the script "A" means something to him.

And he plans to make the most of his opportunity.

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