Recruiting: A Look Back at the Alabama 2012 BCS Title Team

If you want to see how important recruiting is to a program that really wants to properly build a team, win football games and compete for conference and national championships, look no further than the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide team.

The team that won the 2011-2012 BCS National Championship, was built mainly with the 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes.

For this read, I'm going to give a recruiting break down on the team based on the 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes. This should give you a good example of how recruiting comes heavy into play for a program's future.

5-Star Recruits

When Nick Saban got to Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide had fallen into a middle of the pack SEC program at best. Within two recruiting cycles in 2008 and 2009, Saban supplemented the roster with remarkable talent.

For the BCS title team, Alabama's roster was home to five players that were 5-star recruits coming out of high school: Mark Barron (S) and Tyler Love (OT) from the 2008 class and Trent Richardson (RB), D.J. Fluker (OT), Nico Johnson (LB) and Dre Kirkpatrick (CB) from the 2009 class.

Barron, Richardson and Kirkpatrick went on to become first round picks. However, that's not it for this team.

MVP: Trent Richardson, RB (2009 Class)

Without a doubt, the MVP of this team was Richardson, and you can make a case he's been the most talented player on the roster for three seasons.

Richardson rushed for 3130 yards and 35 scores in his career for the Tide, including 1679 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2011.

Alabama signed a compact, stocky, uber-athletic RB from Florida in 2008, and he was arguably the lone true offensive weapon the team had.

Offensive MVP: D.J. Fluker, RT (2009 Class)

It wouldn't make much sense to give this award to Richardson again, so I'm going with someone else and that player is D.J. Fluker (OT).

In such a run-dominant offense, Fluker was a key blocker who opened up holes for Richardson and gave A.J. McCarron (QB) some time to throw. 

A 5-star recruit in the 2009 class, Fluker was 6'7", 350-pounder from Foley, AL. You wondered if he would ever to get too big and be moved to OG, but Fluker has handled his weight fairly well and his athleticism has allowed him to excel as a RT.

Defensive MVP: Dont'a Hightower, ILB (2008 Class)

In 2008, Alabama signed a 6'3", 245 pound DE from Tennessee that was versatile, smart, big, strong and instinctive.

Today Dont'a Hightower is a 6'4", 260 pound ILB for that just got drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots.

Hightower was the defensive leader for the Tide, lined every up and was an intimidating to opposing offenses. This is a case where if you evaluate a player's strengths right as you recruit him, and play him in a correct position, he can develop and flourish.

Most Underrated: Courtney Upshaw, OLB (2008 Class)

Scout.com only ranked Upshaw the 27th best DE prospect in his class in 2008. However, once again, the Tide evaluated a prospect right and knew what he could do.

They moved Upshaw to the JACK LB position in their scheme, to take advantage of his versatility and ability to stand up and rush.

Not forgetting Upshaw was a DE at heart, they let him put his hands down in the dirt when they moved to 40 fronts.

Upshaw went on to become a decorated player for the Tide and one of the best defensive players in the country.

Best Value: Robert Lester, S (2008 Class)

Lester was a little known 3-star recruit in 2008 that was looked at as a future special-teamer and depth player. 

That assumption was wrong. 

Lester has become a staple at strong safety for the Tide, and likely will make some pre-season All-American lists this year as a redshirt senior. Getting that much value from a 3-star prospect is a booming return for Alabama.

Bust: Star Jackson, QB (2008 Class)

Jackson was supposed to be the QB to lead Alabama's offense for future years, as the 6'3", 205 pound Florida native was a 4-star dual threat QB prospect in 2008.

His athleticism and raw talent could have even made him a great WR or DB.

However, we just never heard from Jackson—at all. He ended up transferring after his freshman year and wound up at Georgia State.

Yet, he's since left the GSU program and has not surfaced anywhere significant as of now. 

Notables

Eddie Lacy and A.J. McCarron were both 4-star recruits coming out of the 2009 class. 

Lacy has been a steady backup RB that will get his shot to be the starter this 2012 season. McCarron beat out Philip Sims for the job to replace Greg McElroy, and led Alabama to the national championship in his first season as a starter.

Barrett Jones was a member of the 2008 class, as was Michael Williams.

Jones has been an elite OL for Alabama and could be a first round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Williams has been a steady, big TE that has helped mostly as a blocker for the Tide's offense.