Alabama Recruiting: Talent vs. Production

Alabama has been known as a national power in recruiting since Nick Saban arrived.  An Alabama coach can walk into any kids living room nationwide and get reception of familiarity.

Alabama's challenge isn't recruiting well according to Rivals and Scout, Alabama's challenge is to recruit players who will produce on the field, and do so over time.

Alabama recently lost three big time juniors to the NFL.  Both Mark Ingram and Julio Jones were very productive as true freshman and were superstars in the two following seasons. Both fell just shy of all time career marks in only three seasons.

But what about Marcel Dareus.  

Dareus started two thirds of one season.

As a freshman he showed flashes of ability.  As a sophomore he came off the bench in the second half of 2009 to become a feared super-sub.  He dominated in the National Title game against Texas but prior to that was not an every down player.

He entered 2010 expecting to be a star but off-season troubles and an injury right out of the gate reduced his season to average at best.

As Dareus healed and got back to his old self he had several good games at the end.  Then he waved his hand goodbye and left for the NFL.

Alabama fans are glad he chose the Crimson Tide, but taken from a high level view Marcel Dareus was only a short term success.

To be considered a win a recruit needs to have at least one highly productive season start to finish.  To be a big win at least two such seasons.  That can come in the case of a high school player who stars as an upper class men, or a junior college player who is productive immediately like Terrence Cody.

If too many players opt to leave early for the NFL it leaves the team devoid of upper class men leadership.  To understand this you have to hearken back to your high school days and remember how mature you were the day you graduated high school verses how your priorities changed just a few years later.  

With that in mind Nick Saban must find a balance between freakishly athletic superstars like Julio Jones and Salt of the earth players like Javier Arenas who just keep gathering steam with every year and are there as seniors to lead your team.  

Alabama is currently in their annual border war of recruiting.  Attempting to land the best possible players who will be productive in both the long and short term.  

Right now most recruits look like superstars and Saban always lands his fair share of them but what about the players that will be the rock steady influence of the future?

Anyone can fill that roll but I can certainly guess at some for 2011.

Let's start with quarterback Phillip Ely:

Ely was an All American Quarterback with a state title ring on his finger for a major program in Tampa Florida. He was rated one of the top and more versatile quarterbacks in the nation but what he was NOT was pretty too look at.  

By pretty I mean 6' 5", 250 pounds and can run like a deer.

He's a rather pedestrian 6' 1" and 186.  Why could Ely be important?  Because super recruits Phillip Sims and AJ McCarron are going to duke it out this spring for a starting spot and the loser may well transfer.  Ely could find himself one turned ankle from Alabama starter as soon as this fall.  

If that unfortunate turn of events does not come about he may well pull "a McElroy" and end up putting in his time until he ends up starting and leading the tide as an upper class men.

Another chunk of Salt might be Vinnie Sunseri, the son of defensive line coach Sal Sunsuri:

Sunsuri is only a three star recruit according to Rivals.  He's also under six feet,  unheard of for an SEC linebacker.  Why did Nick Saban offer him?  Was it a favor to his assistant?  

Take another look.  As a high school junior Vinnie cracked his fibula all the way through. He didn't even leave the game.

When he went home his mother told him "it was just a bruise and to not be a baby".   He went on to play the next game.   He made 36 tackles in those two games.  After the second game his mom thought twice because "it didn't look right".   After x-rays showed the problem he missed three games and returned to start the final five games.

Rival ratings are one thing, but you can't make up stuff like this. For that matter his mother sounds like someone I wouldn't want to mess with.  

Vinnie Sunsuri isn't very big for an SEC linebacker and may actually move to safety at Alabama but in the US Army All America game this past Saturday it was clear he was in charge of the defense when he was on the field.  Knowing what you're doing is half the battle on defense.

Another particularly gnarly looking piece of salt is Isaac Luatua, of La Mirada, California

At only 17-years-old Isaac benched 225 pounds 24 times.  That's tough for the professional football players to do, much less a 17-year-old.

This is impressive enough until you learn that Luatua hadn't been working out for months because of playing basketball. He also did 550 pounds on the squat.

Whats this guy going to do when strength coach Scott Cochran gets a hold of him.  Cochran may have an evil grin already thinking about it.

It's anyone's guess if these guys are going to be the future leaders or end up immortalized in cement at the foot of Denny Chimes.

Some recruits shy away from the challenge of signing with a team full of super star talent.   Playing early and often can be both a blessing and a curse.

For every Julio Jones there is a guy like Cory Reamer,  who signed with a depleted Alabama program as a 200 pound safety prospect out of Hoover.  Two knee operations later robbed of his defensive back speed he moved to linebacker and took his lumps against the bigger competition.  But Reamer never gave up and by his junior season he had gotten playing time.

In his senior season he stepped in when superstar Dan'ta Hightower went down and was a pivotal player in Alabama's championship run.  It seemed with every big win there was a pivotal offensive play that didn't work because Reamer got in the way.

Alabama needs the right mix of guys both talented and strong to bring home number 14.