Alabama Football: First spring recruiting weekend brings a commitment and several major storylines

This was one of the busiest recruiting weekends of the year for the Alabama Football program, as it hosted over 70 recruits for the first weekend of the spring.

The recent string of good news continued for Kalen DeBoer and his staff, landing yet another recruit while positioning themselves nicely with several others. The coaching and recruiting staff did an excellent job getting many of the nation's top prospects to Tuscaloosa on the first weekend of visits, showing how interested top recruits are in Alabama.

Here are the top storylines leaving the first weekend of spring recruiting:

Four-Star Athlete Zymear Smith commits to Alabama

The Alabama Football team landed its second commitment of the week after earlier landing Antonio Coleman, this time nabbing Zymear Smith.

Smith is 247Sports' 14th-ranked athlete and the sixth-ranked player out of Maryland. Smith was recruited by the coaching staff as a cornerback, which is where he’ll likely end up playing at Alabama.

Despite not being nationally ranked yet, Smith also had offers from Georgia, Penn State, Texas, Tennessee, and several other schools. Alabama now ranks 19th in the 247Sports class rankings with four commitments.

Crimson Tide pick up several additional crystal balls

With as many recruits as Alabama hosted this weekend, it comes as no shock to see such a massive influx of news. The first crystal ball the team received was for four-star wide receiver Quanell X Farrakhan Jr., who is seemingly deciding between Penn State and Alabama.

Bama also picked up a crystal ball for three-star linebacker Luke Metz, who has been predicted to Ole Miss and Alabama. Selma, Alabama native Derick Smith was crystal balled to the Tide as well, and is currently ranked as the 6th-best receiver in the class and the 51st player overall. Finally, the team picked up a crystal ball for Georgia native Darrell Johnson, the third-ranked linebacker in the class.

Alabama continues its push for two top players

As things currently stand, it appears the top two targets for Alabama Football are edge rusher Zion Grady and quarterback Julian Lewis.

Grady is a former Alabama commit who visited Tuscaloosa for the first time since re-opening his commitment and is already planning a return visit. The new coaching staff has made re-landing Grady a high priority, making two visits to Grady and hosting the 4-star in-state product for a third visit this weekend. Landing Grady would be a massive win for Kalen DeBoer as Georgia, Florida State, and Auburn also appear to be in the running.

The clear top priority for Kalen DeBoer seems to be quarterback, and it appears he has his eyes set on Julian Lewis. The Carrolton quarterback is currently committed to USC after reclassifying, however, the new staff has made a serious push. Lewis and his family spent two days in town telling media outlets that he was impressed with Tuscaloosa. Working in Alabama's favor is Caleb Odom, Lewis's former high school teammate who would likely be catching passes from Lewis if the Tide were to land him.

A few recruits put Alabama as finalists in their recruitment

Earlier in the week, we dove into several of the top recruits with Alabama as finalists in their recruitment. This week has added several new players with 4-Star RB Tory Blaylock naming Alabama in his final six. Mobile, Alabama offensive tackle Micah DeBose, who has been one of Kalen DeBoer's top targets, put the Tide in his final 10 schools. 4-star cornerback Alex Graham named Alabama one of his final seven schools. 4-star running back James Simon named the Tide in his final seven. Andrew Maddox, a top ten defensive tackle in the class, named Alabama to his top-12.

Alabama Football is listed as a top choice for nearly 20 blue-chip recruits early on in the Kalen DeBoer era. If the program could start to reel in a few of these highly touted recruits, the class may start filling out on its own. The position to watch is still quarterback, while the positions most attracted to Alabama are wide receivers and running backs.

Successful start to the spring for the Alabama Football program

The first week of spring practice and recruiting was a massive success for the Alabama Football program. Nearly everyone is talking about the energy at practice from the coaching staff and players as the DeBoer era begins.

The coaching staff was also able to put together one of the most jam-packed opening weekends of recruiting, hosting 70+ players as the process resumes. The success on the recruiting trail and the attendance on week one speak to the belief that players across the country still have in the Alabama Football program post-Nick Saban.