With back-to-back dominant wins, Kalen DeBoer appears to be turning things around on the field at Alabama, but through the struggles, including a Week 1 loss to Florida State, Crimson Tide fans have held tight to the second-year head coach’s back-to-back top-five recruiting classes and the influx of talent they’ll bring.
However, the latest rankings update for Rivals could threaten to strip away that silver lining. While Alabama’s class is fourth in the country by the composite rankings, Rivals has the Tide at No. 7, lagging behind Georgia, Texas, and Texas A&M in the SEC, and more importantly, without a single five-star.
Retweet if your team has a 5-star commit in the Rivals300⭐️https://t.co/0Idi5Ix4Qb pic.twitter.com/MJvKwJmwtb
— Rivals (@Rivals) September 16, 2025
Alabama left without a single 2026 5-star after Rivals rankings update
The Tide’s highest-ranked recruit by Rivals is running back Ezavier Crowell, one of the top-ranked four-stars at 25th overall in the country. Alabama kept seven players inside the Rivals national top 100, but all all stuck at four-star status.
Rivals granted just 16 players five-star status in the 2026 class, including two quarterbacks, Jared Curtis and Dia Bell, both headed for the SEC.
Rivals Alabama top 100 commits:
- Ezavier Crowell, RB: 25th
- Jamarion Matthews, EDGE: 32nd
- Xavier Griffin, LB: 51st
- Cederian Morgan, WR: 52nd
- Jorden Edmonds, CB: 66th
- Nolan Wilson, DL: 70th
- Jired Edwards, S: 83rd
By the composite rankings, Edwards is at the top of the board for Alabama, a composite five-star and the 17th-ranked player in the country.
Regardless of whether or not Rivals awards any Alabama commits five-star status, DeBoer’s class is still one of the strongest in the country and will keep the talent level at Alabama among the top-tier SEC contenders. However, Alabama not having a five-star while Maryland, Utah, and four other SEC teams do could be seen as troubling by a sect of the fanbase, especially if DeBoer loses more games this season.
The Rivals rankings update also highlights how impactful it would have been for Alabama to land in-state five-star edge rusher Tank Jones, who committed to Oregon this summer. Jones is still taking official visits throughout the regular season, so he’s a flip candidate, but even he wouldn’t warrant Alabama’s inclusion on that graphic. As Rivals’ 20th overall player, he’s the fourth-highest rated four-star.