After getting a big win last week in 5-star receiver Caleb Cunningham, Alabama is still in pursuit of some of the nation’s top pass-catchers.
Per the 247Sports Composite, Cunningham is the second-best receiver in the 2025 cycle. He is the big fish that Bama needed in this recruiting class, joining 3-star speedster Lotzeir Brooks in the receiver room. The Tide remains in the hunt for two more consensus top-10 wideouts to potentially close out its class at the position.
5-star Kaliq Lockett is widely considered to be one of the best players in the country. While not as highly ranked, 4-star Derek Meadows is still comfortably within the top-100 nationally and brings a different element to the position at 6’5” and over 200 pounds.
Lockett feels like a Texas lean at this point, while LSU and Notre Dame are considered the favorites for Meadows. Still, Alabama has come in late and made both recruitments very interesting.
In addition to Kalen DeBoer, Courtney Morgan, JaMarcus Shephard, and the rest of the staff, Alabama players and commits have done a great job of selling the program. 5-star quarterback Keelon Russell in particular seems to have given this class a boost and made Tuscaloosa a much more attractive landing spot for prospective receivers.
Why Alabama does not need another 2025 receiver
With Cunningham and Brooks already in the boat, along with an athletic tight end in Kaleb Edwards, the Crimson Tide should be set at receiver for years to come. Bama’s 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes could combine to produce one of the best receiving corps in college football in a couple years.
In addition to guys like Cole Adams, Jaren Hamilton, and a draft-eligible Jalen Hale, Bama should experience a youth movement at receiver over the next year or two. Ryan Williams and Caleb Cunningham have the potential to be a generational duo at wideout, and they will have a very capable supporting cast with classmates such as Bubba Hampton, Rico Scott, Amari Jefferson, and Lotzeir Brooks. Caleb Odom and Kaleb Edwards could be a freakish tandem in their own right, and more than satisfy the need for a big, athletic pass-catcher.
While it would certainly be nice for Bama to further boost its top-ranked class by landing Kaliq Lockett or Derek Meadows, it’s far from a necessity. The coaching staff appears to be pretty content with its current class, which includes two very good wide receivers and one of the nation’s top tight ends. In conjunction with the talent that’s already on campus, this haul could help Alabama return to being an NFL factory at the receiver position.