We keep telling you that the summer recruiting run is about to be here for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama. The Crimson Tide has already picked up a big commitment this week and appears to be on the precipice of several others.
A day after stating that Alabama was surging past Georgia and Oregon for 5-star safety Jireh Edwards, On3's Steve Wiltfong logged an expert prediction on Wednesday morning for the Tide to land the Maryland product.
FONG BOMB: On3’s @SWiltfong_ has logged an expert prediction for Alabama to land 5-star safety Jireh Edwards🐘
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) June 11, 2025
Edwards is the No. 2 safety in the 2026 class.
Intel: https://t.co/woQBojb1aK pic.twitter.com/SZnvvrJCqq
Edwards is fresh off his official visit to Tuscaloosa this past weekend. All reports indicated that the visit went well, and Wiltfong logging a prediction in favor of Alabama indicates that the information was true.
Edwards is one of the top players in the 2026 class, ranking No. 21 overall in the On3 industry composite. He's a consensus 5-star prospect and the No. 2 safety in the country.
Edwards still has visits scheduled to Texas A&M this weekend and Oregon next, so this prediction doesn't mean that his commitment to Alabama is imminent. DeBoer and the coaching staff, most notably DB coach Maurice Linguist, are undoubtedly hard at work with Edwards in trying to get him to shut things down.
Trips to College Station and Eugene could undoubtedly change things with the deep pockets of those athletic departments.
As of right now, Edwards is slated to make his college announcement on July 5th.
The dominos are beginning to fall for Alabama's big recruiting run
On Monday, Alabama landed its sixth commitment in the 2026 class when 4-star offensive lineman Sam Utu pledged to the Tide. Since then, Alabama has picked up two expert predictions from Wiltfong for other prospects.
Along with Edwards on Wednesday, Wiltfong also logged a prediction for DeBoer and company to wrangle 3-star Lake Mary WR Brian Williams Jr.
Much has been said about the size of the Alabama recruiting class thus far, entering the summer with only five committed prospects. Plenty of opined about a "slow start" to the class, but those who did have ignored where Alabama stood last season.
This is par for the course for this staff. Last year, they entered the summer with only four committed prospects before going on a major recruiting run and finishing with a top-five class. The same will happen this year.
Utu was the first domino, but many more are getting ready to fall over the next few weeks. Alabama has two more big recruiting weekends on tap this summer, and plenty of prospects will make their commitments public soon.