Alabama Football Recruiting: 2012 Class Ensures Tide Will Roll for Years to Come

When the team that just won the national championship has the top recruiting class, one word comes to mind—dynasty.

Nick Saban continues to retool the machine, and it looks like the BCS championship game may be seeing red for a long time. Take a glance at the Crimson Tide's class as the specifics settle on national signing day 2012.

Five-Star Commitments, per Rivals

Landon Collins S

Landon Collins is the unquestioned star of the class. Both Rivals and ESPNU recognize him as a 5-star prospect. You may have already heard of him from his now infamous commitment video. In short, he's the kid that is from Louisiana, but chose the Tide over LSU, much to his mother's chagrin.

Beyond all that, Collins is an animal on the field. He has played several defensive backfield positions in high school, but his 4.39 speed could make him a cornerback at Alabama. Wherever he settles in, he will be an impact player.

Whatever defensive position Collins plays, he'll be adding to the growing tradition of awesomely athletic defensive units in the Saban era.

There has been talk of him redshirting his first year, which is part of the issue his mom had with him attending Alabama. She would have liked for him to play year one and stay at safety.

Stay tuned. Hopefully, everything works out for him in the end. 

Eddie Williams ATH

If a program doesn't know whether you're a WR or OLB, that says something about the physical gifts and versatility of the athlete.

Such is the case with Williams, at 6'4" and 210 pounds, he is athletic enough to play receiver or safety, with elite height for both positions; but his frame also suggests he could be an ultra-athletic OLB—talk about a nice problem to have.

Williams has been compared to Adrian Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals. If that pans out, the folks at Alabama will be thrilled, as Wilson is a multiple Pro Bowl selection.

Williams boasts 4.6 40-speed to go with his exciting height and weight combination. Saban has another athlete to mold into an NFL player.

T.J. Yeldon, RB

Yeldon pulled the college football equivalent of agreeing in principle to sign with the Boston Red Sox, only to fly to New York and ink with the Yankees. Yeldon had originally committed to play at Auburn, but changed his mind to roll with the Tide. He has certainly added some fire to the Iron Bowl.

On the field, it's easy to see why teams were pining for his services. Yeldon runs hard and has big-time speed, clocked at 4.4 in the 40, per Rivals. He is 6'2", 205, and has been likened to Darren McFadden.

You may remember, DMC was pretty good in the SEC in his day.

Yeldon may just be in line to be the next great Bama back behind Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy. How big a game will the Iron Bowl be for this Alabama native? I'll bet it's even bigger than it was before he switched sides.

Other Notables

Alabama also delivered 16 4-star commitments, per ESPNU. Among them are players like Ryan Anderson, a 6'3", 250-pound manchild at linebacker, whom Rivals compares to Kamerion Wimbley. Alabama also snagged two exciting receiver prospects to add playmakers to their passing game.

Chris Black is a 5'11" prospect likened to Santonio Holmes of the Jets, and Amari Cooper is a 6'1", but slender 175-pound receiver who has drawn comparisons to Pierre Garcon.

Alabama is stacked to the point that NFL scouts may as well just set up permanent shop in Tuscaloosa, because the stream of NFL level talent is nonstop.

In case you don't think these top recruiting classes matter, take a look at the top two classes as rated by ESPN U. You'll find LSU and Alabama at one and two. It is no coincidence that those two teams were head and shoulders above the rest of the nation in 2011.

The Tide will continue to roll.