Fresh off winning the fourth national championship of the Nick Saban era, Alabama now turns its focus to finishing off the 2016 recruiting cycle with a bang.

The Crimson Tide has landed five No. 1 classes in a row, so obviously there is one big (and several other) questions on everyone’s mind …

Can Alabama finish with its sixth straight No. 1 class?

While this wasn’t a mainstream opinion for quite awhile during this cycle, when you crunch the numbers and project which prospects the Crimson Tide likely will land down the homestretch, there’s a very real chance Alabama does finish with the top-ranked class for the sixth straight recruiting cycle.

The Tide has only 17 commits and is in the mix for many of the nation’s top prospects.

The question is can they close the deal on the lion’s share of them? For example, will Alabama get Ben Davis and Lyndell Mack Wilson? Can the Tide pull surprises from Georgia and California in Mecole Hardman Jr. and Mique Juarez?

Is this the cycle Alabama breaks the stronghold the Mississippi programs have with in-state talent and gets A.J. Brown or Jeffery Simmons or both?

It will be a strong finish. The question is how strong? Right now, there’s not a class in the country with as much potential upside as Alabama’s, which should surprise nobody.

What are the strongest spots right now?

You have to look at the offensive line and you have to look at who Alabama has signed over the course of two cycles now. In the 2015 class, the Tide landed mauling interior trenchmen Lester Cotton, Richie Petitbon and Dallas Warmack. This cycle, Alabama has tackles Jonah Williams and Charles Baldwin (JUCO) already enrolled this semester and the pair will go through spring practice. Crimson Tide offensive line coach Mario Cristobal has done as good of a job as anyone at stringing together offensive line classes and building talented unit after talented unit. It’s extremely impressive.

Which players would you consider great evaluations?

Well, Alabama generally top to bottom in every class makes good evaluations. Saban and his staff are the best in the country at doing so. Even though they sign plenty of “no-brainers” each cycle, they rarely miss.

Wide receiver Tyler Simmons out of McEachern in Powder Springs, Ga., reminds me on film a lot of Clemson wide receiver Artavis Scott. He may not have the speed upside that Scott does, but just like Scott he can do plenty with the ball in his hands. I also think that quarterback Jalen Hurts (already enrolled) can be as good as any signal caller in any class at any school this cycle.

What do you like the most about the way Alabama recruits?

That they tend to go national overall for the top talent in the country, but they are also smart in their approach to specific positions. The Crimson Tide staff knows there is great skill talent in south Florida, great offensive line talent in the Midwest (and outside of the Southeast) and they also know that Texas and California produce quarterbacks.

That’s impressive and I think at times those of us in the Southeast are too arrogant about the football talent to admit that there are some positions — offensive line and quarterback in particular — that are severely lacking and have a high bust factor in this region. Alabama’s staff is smart enough to circumvent that.