re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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Alabama football got a commitment from a junior college offensive lineman with an interesting story on Friday. Jordan Harris, listed at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide on Friday. Alabama will be his fourth college in five years. He previously played at Alabama State and Morehouse before spending the 2016 season at New Mexico Military Institute.

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SEC Country’s Chris Kirschner reports the lineman will be a walk-on for the Crimson Tide. Harris was a 2-star recruit coming out of Dutchtown High School in Hampton, Ga., in 2013. He originally committed to Mississippi State out of high school before ending up at Alabama State.

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LINK

Almost a whole day between post.




1000 here we come!

Everyone exhausted after 2017 NSD and this class will develop slowly I think. Probably have to be choosy about spots after taking so many this year

It happens

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Alabama extended a Friday offer to Arizona Western College tight end Dominick Anderson.

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Dominick Anderson - JUCO Highlights

Lester Cotton starting off the '17 season with the 1st arrest.......

AL.COM Link

OT but I just made a $25 bet with my AU best friend. I tried to bet more but he wouldn't. He doesn't think Reuben Foster will start his rookie season in the NFL.

He also thinks he falls out of the first round. I tried to give him 3/2 odds of him not falling out of top 20 but he wouldn't bet the draft "because teams take chances on less talented players."

Yea I know Reuben had surgery recently and will miss combine but no way he falls out of top 20 and the only way I lose the bet of him playing on defense his rookie season is if he gets hurt like Ragland.

Couldn't help but share this. He says he is overhyped and just doesn't look like an every day LBer in the NFL.

But history will show... that I just made the easiest $25 of my life.

EDIT: Ok so now he says start, not just play. Still easy money.

Alabama's top quarterback targets in 2018 class
AL.com

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With Alabama's 2017 recruiting class signed and in the books, it's time to get familiar with a new batch of prospects. Over the next several days, AL.com will be providing position-by-position looks at Alabama's top targets in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Today, we're analyzing the quarterback position.

TOP QUARTERBACK TARGET

Trevor Lawrence (6-foot-6, 196 pounds, Cartersville, Ga.)

It's hard to pinpoint who exactly is on the top of Alabama's board here, but most 2018 quarterbacks have already made verbal commitments. One is Lawrence, a Clemson pledge who is ranked as the top prospect in the country. Nick Saban visited his school in January and Alabama will work hard to flip Lawrence, one of the best quarterback prospects in a while.

3 MORE TO WATCH

Jacob Sirmon (6-foot-4, 218 pounds, Bothell, Wash.)

Seven of the top 10 pro-style quarterbacks are committed somewhere and the Washington commit Sirmon is ranked No. 3. Alabama is after the five-star, but with Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian now no longer with the program, the pursuit of Sirmon likely depends on who the next offensive coordinator is. Sirmon is a five-star recruit.

Justin Fields (6-foot-2.5, 210 pounds, Kennesaw, Ga.)

Alabama offered the No. 33 overall prospect and No. 3 dual-threat quarterback after he pledged to Penn State last December. Only four of the top 10 dual-threat quarterbacks nationally are committed, but with location being in Alabama's favor, look for the Crimson Tide to continue pursuit of Fields.

Jalen Mayden (6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Sachse, Texas)

Mayden's older brother Jared signed with Alabama in 2016 and played sparingly as a backup safety last season. Jalen does not have an offer, but is a four-star talent and he is a prime candidate to join the class if he gets an offer. Another four-star with an Alabama offer as an athlete is dual-threat quarterback Gerry Bohanan from Earle, Ark.

IN-STATE GLANCE

Saraland four-star Jack West committed to Stanford before his junior year. Alabama will likely still pursue West, who earned a Crimson Tide offer before he started a varsity game. Alabama offered Murphy quarterback Maurice Robinson as an athlete.

Looking ahead to Alabama's current quarterbacks in 2018

By that point, Jalen Hurts will be a junior. Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones will either be sophomores or redshirt freshmen

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Why has Alabama not offered top 10 QB Jalen Mayden, whose brother plays for the Tide?
SEC Country

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Welcome to SEC Country’s daily Roll Tide-ings, a rundown of everything happening in Alabama Crimson Tide recruiting, with Chris Kirschner. Today, we discuss the latest with Jalen Mayden, a 4-star QB and brother of Alabama DB Jared Mayden. 

Tennessee and Georgia have entered the race, but where’s Alabama?

Several fans asked me over the weekend after Tennessee and Georgia extended scholarship offers to 4-star quarterback Jalen Mayden why Alabama hasn’t done so, too. That question is hard to answer right now because the Crimson Tide currently don’t have an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, which is essential when it comes to such decisions on who to pursue at quarterback.

But, why didn’t the Tide offer before Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian left Alabama? After all, Mayden’s brother, Jared, was a freshman defensive back for the Tide this past season.

Alabama has offered nine quarterbacks in the Class of 2018 (two of those players — Gerry Bohanon and James Graham — are being recruited as athletes), but Mayden hasn’t been told what the holdup is.

“For whatever reason, Kiffin didn’t see a fit with his vision for Alabama while he was there and Sarkisian wasn’t there long enough,” Mayden’s mother, Katrina Salles, told SEC Country.

?Jared Mayden, Jalen’s brother, redshirted for Alabama this past season. He will be in the hunt for a starting position in the secondary when spring practice rolls around. (Chris Kirschner/SEC Country)

There are no hard feelings and not an ounce of disappointment from the Mayden family when it comes to Jalen’s lack of an offer from Alabama at the moment.

“We love Alabama for its outstanding fit for Jared and look forward to his rise to greatness within the program under coach (Nick) Saban,” Salles said.

When Kiffin was the Tide’s offensive coordinator, he told Jalen that he would evaluate his progress during and after Sachse (Texas) High School’s season this past year.

He would reach out to Jalen and wish him well in upcoming games and congratulate him on wins, but that was mainly the extent of the football talk.

There were some hiccups when it came to that evaluation Jalen was supposed to get, as Kiffin was pursuing other opportunities for himself and focusing on leading Alabama to a national championship run.

The team also was very focused on recruiting for the Class of 2017. It got commitments from 5-star QB Tua Tagovailoa and 4-star QB Mac Jones. Still, getting a signal caller in the Class of 2018 is important as there are only three scholarship quarterbacks on the team’s roster.

The Maydens are being patient when it comes to what Alabama will do when it comes to offering Jalen.

“Seriously, it’s cool,” Salles said. “We understand the nature of recruiting and the balance between athletes and the career desires of coaches. So, once Alabama establishes it’s new offensive staff and they have interest, we will go into discussion at that time. But in the meanwhile, the journey continues under God’s blessings.”

It was clear that Alabama did not consider Mayden one of its top quarterback prospects this past fall. The team was focused on recruiting 5-star prospect Trevor Lawrence, who is committed to Clemson;  5-star prospect Jacob Sirmon, who is committed to Washington; 4-star prospect Jack West, who is committed to Stanford, and 4-star prospect Cameron Rising, who is committed to Oklahoma.

“Because he (Kiffin) had those initial offers to those other 2018s before working out Jalen, I think he was tied to those until those boys committed other places,” Salles said. “Then, once that happened, he was focused on setting up head coaching interviews for himself, and so the 2018 QB hunt went on the back-burner.”

Out of the actual seven quarterback offers Alabama has given out in the Class of 2018, all seven of the players are committed already.

That bodes well for Jalen’s chances of getting a Crimson Tide offer, but, ultimately, it may come down to what the new offensive coordinator prefers.

“Once the new offensive coordinator and QBs coach is named, we’ll see what happens,” Salles said. “In the meanwhile, other SEC schools have offered, so Jalen is focusing on getting to know the new dynamics of those staffs in his search for his right fit.”

Mayden, the nation’s No. 9 dual-threat quarterback, has told SEC Country before that if Alabama offered, it would immediately be one of his top schools because of the family connection.

“I would like the chance to play with my brother,” Mayden said in September. “I wouldn’t commit on the spot because I would have to see what schools are best for me. I know Alabama will get you right for the NFL, if that’s where I decide to go.”

Time is ticking for Alabama, though, if it wants to get Mayden on board. Mayden will commit to his school of choice this summer.

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