Alabama Finishes with No. 1 Recruiting Class in Nation: Latest Details, Reaction

The Alabama Crimson Tide are the reigning college football national champions, and they are arguably this year's winners on the recruiting trail as well after collecting the best class in the country Wednesday.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Alabama's 2016 haul finished in first place on national signing day, edging out the Florida State Seminoles and the LSU Tigers. The Tide added three 5-star recruits and 14 4-star recruits.  

SB Nation's Rodger Sherman made light of how each Alabama loss is seemingly met with eulogies about the program's demise:

Inside linebacker Ben Davis, outside linebacker Lyndell Wilson and offensive tackle Jonah Williams are among the headliners for Alabama. All three are ranked in the top 20 nationally in 247Sports' composite rankings. Running back B.J. Emmons, ranked second at his position, continues the assembly line of talented runners heading to Tuscaloosa.

Here's a look Alabama's full 2016 class:

Player	Pos. Rank	Overall Rank
Ben Davis, ILB	1st	10th
Lyndell Wilson, OLB	2nd	15th
Jonah Williams, OT	2nd	17th
B.J. Emmons, RB	2nd	35th
Nigel Knott, CB	7th	62nd
Terrell Hall, WDE	6th	64th
Shyheim Carter, CB	9th	71st
Raekwon Davis, DT	11th	83rd
Kendell Jones, DT	12th	93rd
Trevon Diggs, ATH	4th	113th
Jared Mayden, CB	13th	147th
Quinnen Williams, DT	16th	159th
Deonte Brown, OG	9th	175th
Jalen Hurts, DUAL	3rd	176th
Chris Owens, OG	10th	177th
Scott Lashley, OT	18th	192nd
Miller Forristall, TE	17th	379th
Joshua Jacobs, APB	11th	460th
T.J. Simmons, WR	81st	469th
Shawn Jennings, ATH	37th	595th
Irvin Smith, TE	23rd	527th
Aaron Robinson, CB	57th	646th
Charles Baldwin, OT	1st (JUCO)	2nd (JUCO)
Jamar King, SDE	4th (JUCO)	51st (JUCO)

No coach can continually recruit as well as Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. Alabama has boasted an ESPN.com top-three class for what is now nine straight years, per the SEC Network. The school sat ninth earlier in the day but finished national signing day in second place:

Don't expect Saban to throw himself a party for a job well done, though, per Alex Scarborough of ESPN.com:

Saban is unquestionably one of the greatest coaches of his generation, but he's helped by continually being able to rely on such talented players. Ensuring the Crimson Tide dominate in recruiting is becoming even more important with the way the SEC schools are stockpiling blue-chip recruits, per the SEC Network:

It's a safe bet one or more recruits from this year's class will feature heavily in the team in 2016. Wideout Calvin Ridley led the Crimson Tide in receiving as a true freshman, and cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick appeared in 14 games and intercepted two passes.

With Reggie Ragland graduating, Davis might be asked to take a somewhat large role—at least for a true freshman on a national title contender. He'll be able to perform a number of duties, be it defending the run, dropping back in coverage or rushing the passer. Davis' versatility is one of his strongest assets.

Saban has Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough waiting in the wings at running back to replace Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake, but that might not prevent Emmons from getting some carries out of the backfield. His strength and patient running style are perfect fits for Alabama's offense.

The beauty of consistently collecting strong recruiting classes is that Saban can let a number of talented players from his 2016 haul sit back, learn and develop in practice before he inserts them into the starting lineup.

Alabama may suffer a setback or two once in a while and miss out on a national championship. However, the Crimson Tide dynasty won't be ending anytime soon given how well Alabama reloads each year.

Saban still sets the bar not only on the field but also on the recruiting trail.

Recruit star ratings and player rankings are courtesy of 247Sports.