Alabama Football Recruiting: Can Any of the Tide's Recruits Start as a Freshman?

Fresh off of a BCS National Championship victory, the Alabama Crimson Tide are already looking toward next season.

That's the way college football works—you win, and there's very little time to enjoy it. You have to focus on recruiting and before you know it, spring is here and it's time to piece together your depth chart for another brutal schedule in the SEC.

Alabama is returning one of the most talented teams in the country and have one of the most loaded recruiting classes this year. There are tons of 4-star and 5-star players on both sides of the ball that have decided they would like to play for the Crimson Tide.

The question now is, can any of them actually start next season?

Let's take a look.

Linebacker

With Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower on their way to the NFL, the linebacker position is what will look completely different next season.

Sophomore linebacker Trey DePriest will likely replace Hightower at the linebacker position, but don't sleep on somebody like Reggie Ragland, who was ranked as the No. 1 middle linebacker by many recruiting sites.

Ragland is extremely athletic and has great size at 6'4", 245 pounds. He's a very physical player and seems to be talented enough to where he could step in and make an immediate impact.

DePriest finished last year with 25 tackles as a freshman, but he will be pushed and has to earn that starting spot on the defense.

Wide Receiver

Alabama is losing their top four pass catchers from a year ago, including wide receivers Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks. That means somebody has to step up and become a man real quick and give quarterback AJ McCarron a weapon to throw the ball to.

Wide receiver Cyrus Jones could be the perfect fit. He's a fast receiver, gets downfield in a hurry and is fantastic at picking up yards after the catch.

Right now, the starting wide receivers should be Kenny Ball and DeAndrew White, but Jones is a playmaker with the ball in his hands. It's only a matter of time before he is on the field more than he's not. He's too talented and explosive of a player not to be included in this offense from day one.

Secondary

Alabama lost both of their starting cornerbacks and their starting safety Mark Barron. There is still leadership back there with players like Will Lowery and Robert Lester, but are either of them as talented as Landon Collins?

Collins is a physical player who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in run support. He'll lay the big hit when given the opportunity and has great ball skills. He's a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball, and that's the reason he is rated as one of the top safeties in this year's class.

Collins may not start right away, but expect to see a lot of him next season—at the very least to prepare him for his sophomore year, when those seniors will leave.


Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]