Alabama has the most five-stars in the 2026 recruiting class, but when Rivals released its updated recruiting rankings on Monday, the Crimson Tide failed to add another. Ezavier Crowell has toed the line between four and five stars throughout the entire cycle, and despite jumping to No. 25 from No. 42 in the latest update, the in-state running back remains a four-star for Rivals.
Crowell is ranked No. 33 in the overall class by 247Sports Composite Rankings, and the No. 2 running back in the class, but is frustratingly the third-highest-ranked four-star in the entire country.
🚨NEW🚨 Alabama RB commit Ezavier Crowell ranks No. 25 and 4-stars in the initial 2026 Rivals300🐘https://t.co/xS5DzGGcvS pic.twitter.com/wZSq0M69aw
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 14, 2025
Ezavier Crowell still a four-star recruit in latest rankings
Whether Crowell is a four or five-star player when the 2026 cycle finally comes to an end won’t change the player that he is, only the perception surrounding him as he arrives in Tuscaloosa. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Jackson, Alabama native was one of the most highly sought-after players in the class and was always a top priority for Kalen DeBoer and his staff, regardless of whether he was a four or five-star player.
His ranking is particularly impressive when you consider that he reclassified from 2027 to 2026 and is coming off only his sophomore season at Jackson High School. And what a sophomore year it was. Crowell ran for 1,964 yards and 31 touchdowns on 168 attempts with nine catches for 258 yards and two more scores. A four-star rating doesn’t make that any less impressive.
Crowell has a rare blend of quickness and top-end speed. It’s almost as if he accelerates into and out of jump cuts, embarrassing the first defender and then destroying the angles of anyone in the second-level attempting to track him down. He has good vision and patience to allow the lane to open up for him, an important skill for a zone-running attack, and once the lane is there, he takes full advantage, going from zero to sixty in an instant.
Crowell is going to be a game-breaker for the Tide. It may be frustrating for fans that he can’t seem to grasp the coveted fifth star to help vault Alabama’s class above Georgia and others. Still, when he’s running for touchdowns on Saturdays at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a few years, that will be a long-forgotten memory.