Alabama Football Recruiting: What is next after Early Signing Day Teasers?

Early Signing Day usually comes with lots of highs and lows depending on which team you root for. Alabama Football had some of both. Let's break down what happened:

First off, it was a coin flip for 3-star running back Jadan Baugh, who just recently decommitted from Arkansas. Alabama, despite being late to the party, thought it had a real shot at landing Baugh, but NIL seemed to play an important factor for the running back and Florida capitalized on the chance to snag him. The good news, however, is that Alabama flipped 4-star running back Kevin Riley from Miami.

Next, probably the biggest stab in the gut for Alabama today. Over the last week or so, there had been rumors of 5-star DL Eddrick Houston flipping to either Clemson or Alabama from Ohio State. It started roughly a week ago when Houston made trips to both Alabama and Clemson. The chatter spread through boards, social media, players, etc.

Houston, once thought to be leaning towards flipping to Alabama, even in the minutes up to his decision, shocked most of the recruiting world when he announced at Buford High School that he would be signing his letter of intent with Ohio State. This addition would have really helped the chances for the Crimson Tide to land the #1 class, but Georgia had some flipping of their own to do and has claimed this years recruiting title.

Lastly, we saw 4-star edge rusher Solomon Williams pick up the hat for Alabama, set it back down, and select Texas A&M. Just a few days ago, Alabama was able to secure a committment from 4-star edge rusher, Jayshawn Ross, so this one bleeds a little less. Also, 3-star OT Favour Edwin is supposed to make a decision today, however, Alabama has seemed to be running in third place for his committment right now.

On the other hand, there were some good flips today for Bama, including 4-star athlete, Aeryn Hampton, who was previously headed to Texas, as well as previously mentioned Kevin Riley. So what's next for Alabama in terms of recruiting?

There are a couple of guys who are set to sign their letters of intent tomorrow, but will not announce their decision until January 6, at the Under Armour All American Game:

1.) Zavier Mincey- 4-star safety: This has been an extremely tight-lipped recruitment. There seems to be looming confidence in each camp trying to land his signature, including Alabama, Miami, and Florida. We like Alabama's chances here, but with all of the surprising action happening today, it would not be surprising to see him lean towards Miami. Florida lost a plethora of recruits today, which is never a good sign for a coach, but Billy Napier is notorious for not giving up, even when it seems all is lost. Hopefully, there will be some more information on Mincey soon.

2.) Daniel Hill-4-star running back: Hill's recruitment has been one for the books if you haven't been following. There was a decision supposed to be made a couple of months ago for him that was between Alabama and home-state school South Carolina, but since then, Mississippi State has been heard to be the front runner. Nick Saban could use another back in this class with the "miss" on Jadan Baugh, but Alabama will be fine either way.

Transfer Portal: There a handful of names in the transfer portal that Alabama could look at adding, one in particular though, former 5-star WR Evan Stewart. Stewart was a 5-star WR out of high school that was a part of the largest Texas A&M recruiting class in history. Unfortunately for A&M, it's also one for history as the majority of that class has transferred or been kicked off the team. In this case, Stewart would be a nice take, as Jalen Milroe would love to have another downfield weapon for 2024. Just a couple of days ago, Alabama took in Stewart's former teammate and 5-star DL, LT Overton from the portal. There seems to be a lot of speculation that the Crimson Tide is guaranteed to be in on Stewart, but we hope to know more in the next few days.

An interesting note here though, is Nick Saban said just a few minutes ago in his presser for Signing Day that they are happy with with the three offensive lineman they signed, but also added the following:

"Yeah, well we think they have a lot of potential. They're guys that, obviously that's a developmental position so those guys are guys that we think have a lot of ability, we know a lot about them, we've had them in camp, we're excited about having them here. We think they can develop into good prospects and good players. I still think we're kind of out there in the market looking for some more of those kinds of guys, offensive linemen. Just from a numbers standpoint and from a quality experience standpoint. We're excited to have them and we're still out there looking to try to add some people at that position."

 That could mean they are still looking for someone to sign by February, or it could refer to the transfer portal. The portal for offensive linemen seems to have dried up a little bit, but there are still some decent options out there in the portal, such as Aaryn Parks from Oklahoma, or Aliou Bah from Georgia.

On another adventure, a couple of Alabama commits are set to sign their letters in February, both 5-star WR Ryan Williams, and 3-star LB Quinton Reese.

Nevertheless, Alabama fans should remain confident in Nick Saban to get the best guys for his team to compete each year for a national championship. We will update more along the way. Make sure to follow our team on Twitter @Bama_Hammer.