Alabama Recruiting: Tide Steamrolling Towards Securing Nation's Top Class

I think Nick Saban is recruiting at a level only imagined on video games—either that, or he has turned the process of acquiring the nation’s top prep talent into his own personal version of fantasy football and he’s running circles around the competition. 

This was my first thought upon learning of the commitment of Ashburn (VA) defensive end Jonathan Allen to Alabama earlier this week (via AL.com)

Allen is a 5-star prospect and the top weak side defensive end in nation, according to 247 Sports. 

In the last week, Alabama earned pledges from Cooper Bateman (one of the nation’s top quarterbacks), 3-star defensive tackle Darius Paige of Pensacola (FL) and now Allen. 

Getting Bateman shores up one of the biggest needs for Alabama in the 2013 cycle, and the latter two players will help to fortify what’s already a loaded defensive line unit in terms of talent and depth. 

With these three additions to the 2013 class, Alabama currently stands at 14 verbal commitments—and the recent flurry helped the Crimson Tide jump all the way up to number two (trailing only Michigan, who has 18 commitments) in the latest 247 Sports team class rankings. 

Considering that there are several big fish that Saban and his staff are still very much in play for (top talents like Robert Nkemdiche, Montravius Adams, Vernon Hargreaves III and Robert Foster to name a few), the Crimson Tide appear to be a safe bet to leapfrog the Wolverines at some point to land the nation’s top class for the second consecutive season. 

What makes this class so impressive to date is how Alabama has managed to lock up several top targets in its primary territories (more than half of the class consists of players from Alabama or Georgia)—yet they have also made significant gains in acquiring the services of top players from across the nation. 

Thus far, the current class consists of players from eight different states—including nabbing the top player from four different states (Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia and Utah). 

Additionally, their primary needs for this cycle (offensive line, running back, defensive end and quarterback) have been filled with elite prospects that are among the best in the country at their respective positions.

With the momentum for this class trending upward—seemingly without limitation—the Crimson Tide freight train is only beginning to pick up steam on the recruiting trail. 

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