College Football Recruiting: Breaking Down Latest Alabama, Clemson Commitments

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers have rocketed up to familiar places in the college football recruiting rankings recently.

Alabama's recent string of commitments from prospects on the interior moved it up to No. 2, a spot previously held by the North Carolina Tar Heels. 

Nick Saban's side now has as many five-star recruits as top-rated Ohio State and could be locked in a fight with the Buckeyes to continue the SEC's dominance atop the recruiting rankings. 

Clemson still has a single five-star player in its class, but it continues to pick up recruiting momentum by landing pledges out of four-star prospects. 

Alabama

Alabama equaled Ohio State's number of five-star recruits by landing top-rated offensive tackle Tommy Brockermeyer and No. 1 defensive tackle Damon Payne.

Brockermeyer came in a package deal with his brother James, who is the No. 1 center in the class, to fill up depth at a position the Crimson Tide have targeted lately. 

Before the Brockermeyer brothers pledged their future to the program, No. 16 overall prospect JC Latham committed to the SEC powerhouse. 

Two days after the Crimson Tide learned of that news, they brought in second-ranked offensive guard Terrence Ferguson. 

Three of Alabama's four offensive line commits are ranked in the top 50 overall in the class of 2021, and those moves show off its geographical reach, as they came from Georgia, Florida and Texas. 

In fact, the Crimson Tide have more commitments from players out of Florida than they do in their home state at the moment.

Payne is the best defensive prospect the coaching staff has landed to date in the current recruiting cycle. 

Six of Alabama's 16 members of this recruiting class play in the front seven. Three are defensive linemen and the other three are linebackers. 

With their recent signings, the Crimson Tide have closed the gap on Ohio State in the 247 Sports Composite team rankings. 

Eclipsing Ohio State may be a difficult task since the Buckeyes are in the mix for two of the four top-10 players yet to make a decision.

Clemson

Most of Clemson's work at the top of the recruiting rankings was done during the 2019 college football season and in the months after. 

Three of its five-best recruits committed in that span, while the other two were landed in May. 

Clemson is still in the mix for a handful of top prospects, including Tristan Leigh, an offensive tackle who is ranked No. 11 in the country. 

Over the past few weeks, the Tigers have added depth to their class with a handful of four-star players, and just like Alabama, they have been focused on the interior.

Defensive tackle Payton Page and offensive guard Dietrick Pennington pledged their futures to Dabo Swinney's program in back-to-back days. 

Clemson has a single five-star and 13 four-stars, but none of those players are ranked outside the top 300. 

If the Tigers land Leigh and one or two other five-star players left on the board, they could contend with Alabama for the No. 2 class in the nation. 

Unless they receive a slew of five-star commitments over the next few months, the Tigers probably will not catch Ohio State.

Recruiting information obtained from 247Sports