Alabama suffered a brutal recruiting loss for the 2028 season on Tuesday afternoon when mammoth 4-star offensive tackle Anthony Blalock Jr. chose to decommit from the Crimson Tide.
Rivals’ Allen Trieu reported the bad news for Alabama, as the top 2028 prospect has opted to go elsewhere after committing to the Crimson Tide in July. Blalock gave his verbal commitment to Bama on social media during that summer day, choosing Alabama over Ohio State and Texas Tech.
Blalock is currently a star junior offensive lineman at Austintown Fitch in Youngstown, Ohio, so initially he decided to spurn his home state program in Ohio State for the SEC. But now Blalock is reconsidering his options as he decommits from Alabama.
Now, all attention from the recruiting world will be on where Blalock is currently looking as the 6-foot-6, 315-pounder is now open for business with his options open after spurning Alabama on Tuesday.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Blalock is the 16th-ranked interior offensive lineman in the Class of 2028, and he’s the 8th-ranked player from the state of Ohio. As for the overall ranking in the Class of 2028, Blalock is the No. 255 prospect.
Alabama will press on after this latest ordeal as it tries to keep stacking victories this season. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the Crimson Tide’s potential win total for the 2026 campaign:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
