Assessing Alabama’s 2016 class entering the summer

If Alabama fails to win the College Football Playoff this fall, it will represent the longest national title drought of the Nick Saban era.

The Crimson Tide have no such issues with respect to recruiting, claiming five consecutive mythical No. 1 rankings according to the 247Sports composite. But even that distinction seems very much in doubt for the 2016 cycle as we enter the summer months.

Seven SEC schools hold more current verbal commitments than Alabama’s eight. The Tide hasn’t received a single five-star pledge after tucking away six during the 2015 recruiting cycle. The average rating of Alabama’s verbal commitments also has slipped — the Tide’s ’16 class already includes as many three-star players (4) as the finalized ’15 class.

The bottom line is that, as of mid-May, Alabama faces a dogfight with schools like Georgia, LSU and Tennessee if it wants to retain bragging rights as the best recruiting program in the SEC.

“Slipping,” if it happens, still probably means a Top 5 ranking and definitely Top 10. By no means is it time to panic. Saban and the Tide program should fret more about developing the talent at hand, and keeping it out of trouble off the field, than not acquiring enough of it at this point.

After securing a quartet of five-star cornerbacks in the last two years, Alabama currently holds a commitment from the country’s third-ranked corner in ’16.

Offensive linemen highlight the current group, comprising 75 percent of the team’s current four-star commitments.

ASSESSING ALABAMA’S 2016 CLASS

Current commits or enrollees: 8 (avg. star 3.5; last year: 4.0)
Current big-name targets: DT Rashard Lawrence, DT Kendell Jones, ATH Trevon Diggs, WR Darnell Salomon
Biggest positions of need: DL, RB and OLB
National/SEC rank: 13/6

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Christopher Smith

An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.