Recruiting expert believes Alabama is "surging past" Georgia and Oregon for 5-star DB

Alabama got good news on Monday with the commitment of a priority target on the offensive line. It looks like there is going to be plenty more good news on the horizon.

One of the highest-ranked prospects that Alabama is after is 5-star safety Jireh Edwards from Maryland. Fresh off an official visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend, it looks like the Crimson Tide has taken the lead in his recruitment, moving past both Georgia and Oregon, according to On3's Steve Wiltfong:

Edwards is a consensus 5-star prospect and the No. 3 safety in the country, per the 247 composite rankings.

Taking the lead for Edwards is nice, but Alabama will still have to withstand a couple of big official visits coming up. At this time, Edwards is still scheduled to visit Texas A&M this weekend and then Oregon next. Don't be surprised if Kalen DeBoer and company look to push to lock down a commitment before he can make those trips.

For now, Edwards has a scheduled commitment date of July 5th.

Alabama could be on the verge of signing a loaded class of defensive backs again

It's not out of the realm of possibility that Alabama signs the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked safeties in the 2026 class. The Tide sits in good position for 5-star Jett Washington as well as Edwards. Oregon is a big competitor for Washington, and he just took an official visit to USC.

Alabama already has two highly-regarded corners committed for this class. 5-star Jorden Edmonds, the No. 1 corner in the country, and 4-star in-state CB Zyan Gibson.

This is a year after Alabama reeled in a monster defensive back class headlined by 5-star CB Dijon Lee and 4-star NFL legacy safety Ivan Taylor.

Defensive back coach Maurice Linguist has done an outstanding job of stockpiling and developing talent in the secondary. Defensive back play was looked at as a potential weakness heading into the 2024 season, but Linguist developed the young corners and had them playing really good football late in the season.

Landing both Edwards and Washington would be a difficult task, but imagining a future secondary with those two, plus Taylor, and then Dijon Lee and Jorden Edmonds at corner would be a nightmare for SEC offensive coordinators. The length and versatility would be unreal.

The talent level is already high in the defensive backfield in Tuscaloosa. It looks like it's just going to keep getting better.