Which 2016 Signee Will Help Their Team Win a National Title Next Season?

Impact freshmen are everywhere now in college football. Thanks to the rise of 7-of-7 and summer camps, high school football is now a 365-day-per-year sport and incoming freshmen are more prepared than ever to immediately take that next step at the college level. 

With national signing day 2016 in the books, there are a wealth of new signees ready to help their teams out in year one. But which first-year player is not only prepared to crack the two-deep, but help their team win a national championship?

That question alone cuts down the crowd to a handful of legitimate candidates. After closing strong on Wednesday, it's hard to look at Alabama's 2016 class and not walk away impressed. After all, the defending national champs claimed 247Sports' recruiting title for the sixth straight year.

Within that class is 5-star linebacker Ben Davis. From a talent and depth chart perspective, Davis is a perfect fit to contribute right away in Alabama's rebuilt, but stocked, defensive front seven. 

It starts with the fact that Davis is the highest-rated prospect in Alabama's '16 class, which, as Bleacher Report's Christopher Walsh pointed out, is numerically one of the best head coach Nick Saban has ever had in Tuscaloosa. 

The Gordo High School standout is the No. 1 inside linebacker prospect from '16 and the No. 1 in-state player for Alabama. At 6'3", 240 pounds, Davis is already built for the grind of college football's regular season. But he's not just a big inside linebacker who can only play in a phone booth (though he is that). He's an athletic specimen who can do well in space and go sideline to sideline. 

And he has great bloodlines, too. His father, Wayne Davis, is Alabama's all-time leading tackler. This is a player who has been brought up by the best and has an edge on the mental side of the game to go along with his physical presence. 

Per Braden Gall, Davis can grow into the next star inside linebacker for the Tide, comparable to the likes of Rolando McClain, Dont'a Hightower and the recently departed Reggie Ragland. 

You have to be careful making such lofty comparisons so early, but the bigger point is Saban knows what he wants from an inside linebacker. If Davis fits that particular mold, that's a good sign for his future. 

As it so happens, Alabama could use some immediate assistance at inside linebacker. Ragland is bound for the NFL and could be a first-round draft pick, but Dillon Lee, who did a little bit of everything for the Tide at linebacker, is gone as well. Lee was a veteran presence along that linebacker unit. 

That leaves a sizable hole in the middle of their defense needing to be filled. Saban said as much about Davis and fellow 5-star linebacker Lyndell Wilson. Via Walsh: 

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We like getting good players who can go out on the field and play good. Perception doesn't win any games for us around here, but good players do. We thought they were outstanding players.

The goal for us is to teach those guys as much as we can as soon as we can because this is a position where we’ve had lots of guys in the past contribute as freshmen. Rolando McClain did, Dont'a Hightower did, C.J. Mosley did, I think Nico Johnson did.

"

That's not to say Davis is guaranteed to start from Week 1. He's not an early enrollee so he doesn't have the advantage of going through spring drills and getting acclimated to the speed of the game over a longer period of time. Like a lot of freshmen, he's going to be thrown into the fire during preseason camp and will need to prove himself there. Even the most talented freshmen have to adjust. 

But the good news for Davis is he has a high ceiling and a lot of room to grow. He has an all-time great head coach who believes in his ability to fill that McClain/Mosley type of role and a new defensive coordinator, Jeremy Pruitt, who is starting with a clean slate. 

To see Davis as the leader of Alabama's defense in two years is easy. In the meantime, though, he has the capability and opportunity to see playing time as a freshman.

Last season, Alabama's front seven was so stout not just because of its starting talent, but because of its No. 2's and No. 3's. Though many players from that front seven are departing, there are still talented players ready to step up. Rotation should be the key again for the Tide in 2016. 

By season's end, if Alabama is once again in the national title hunt like many suspect it will be, don't be surprised if Davis has grown to the point where he's a pivotal part of that run. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.