Recruiting Discussion: Only 13 Scholarships to offer this year?

[runtheoption22]

According to OL William Vlachos, who got a greyshirt offer, that's how many scholarships the staff told him they had to offer this year. Also, zero were slotted for OL. Interesting indeed.

Now, it has been discussed by those in the know that we will likely have around 17 due to expected attrition. That, in itself, opens up a whole 'nother question: "who's leaving?"

I think it's safe to assume that 15 will be reached, especially if we greyshirt a couple or have an initial signee not qualify and go to JuCo. Kerry Murphy is a possibility at the moment, though he hasn't committed, and has time to get in gear.

Now, is signing only 13 a bad thing? Not necessarily. We're a young team. Only 13 seniors. Success this year will likely mean more success next year.

However, after hearing this, I'm not as certain of some guys getting offers now. The camps this summer will really make or break a few guys chances of getting an offer.

Also, will guys like Desmond Jennings and Michael Ricks take up spots that some HS senior would have received or will the staff pass on the JuCos?

 

[TerryP]

In today's terms, receiving a letter from a coach at a University that expresses interest in signing a player is, in itself, an offer according to 90% of the high school seniors out there. You hear these reports of a guy having 40-50 offers when in fact it is 40-50 letters of interest, not offers.

I can't say I'm concerned about this in the least...especially when I look at the 13 intials we "currently" have to offer due to the 85 cap vs only having a handful to offer due to a cap imposed due to sanctions.

We'll be back at the 85 mark when the frosh hit campus. It's been a long, long time.

 

[Boclive]

This only my humble opinion.

I think that with only 13 scholly's, the only prospects offered should be BLUE chips.

 

[bamabryan]

Signing 13 to 15 kind of bites. I guess to make this a positive it means we don't lose that many players after the 2006 season.

And no OL? I know we've gone heavy on the offensive line in the last couple of signing classes and gotten some quality offensive lineman, but this surprises me.

Any idea on the breakdown of position players the coaches would like to sign?

I figure we will probably sign 2, maybe 3 DBs, 1 QB and 2 WRs.

Any idea on the number of LBs and DL we will sign in this class? I am sure these are the two positions that will be the focal point of this class.

 

[buzzincuzzin]

Zero slotted Olmen? OK RTO, what is slotted? 3-DL? 2-QB? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[buzzincuzzin]

Yeah..........what he said

 

[CornBiscuit]

This only my humble opinion.

I think that with only 13 scholly's, the only prospects offered should be BLUE chips.

That would be great, but we would probably only have a class of about 5 people.

 

[Bama323]

This won't affect us all that much because we'll still be at our 85 scholarship limit. The only thing it proves it that we'll have a pretty young team this coming season, which everyone already expects. We'll just need to be a little more selective with our scholarship offers this season than in the past few years.

 

[runtheoption22]

Zero slotted Olmen? OK RTO, what is slotted? 3-DL? 2-QB? Inquiring minds want to know.

I've been batting that around in my head this morning......and I just don't know.
Here's me just thinking out loud:

QB- 1 looks to be pretty solid bet
RB- 0 or 1, got a few offers out there
WR- 2 to 3, depends on Jennings status
OL- 0 to 2, surprised by the zero comment
DL- 3 to 4, several big in-state guys
LB- 2 to 4, playmakers needed
DB- 2 to 4, lots of good options here

 

[jordan92]

defensive tackles and linebacker should get the priority

 

[TerryP]

Two things that bear mentioning here.

1) We are going to have @15+ OL on scholly this season.
2) We are going to have @10 DB's on scholly.

Do we really need any more in those positions? Or better said, can we afford to have more schollies going to those positions?

 

[bamahuey1]

I can see your point on OL, and yeah, our numbers seem to be okay there. However, with the DB's, the staff seems to move some of these guys to the Linebacker position. Off hand, I can think of Keys, and possibly Sikes making the move. Also, it has been mentioned that Woodall (if he doesn't go pro in baseball) may move to LB as well. Perhaps that's why a certain number of scholarships are allocated to DB every year.

 

[CapstoneGrad06]

Also we need to sign 1-2 OL every year. You don't want to see young players having to play 4-5 years down the line who are not ready. Signing 1-2 every year prevents that.

 

[Bama18]

I guess we can't get caught up in the national rankings this year with only this many to sign. According to BOL the schools to sign less than 20 were Michigan with 19 ranked #13 then West Virginia with 16 ranked #52 (I stopped there). If we sign less than 20 then it appears we will not be highly ranked and the media will say Bama is having an off year ignoring the truth. Anyway is quality not quantity. RTR

 

[JDCrimson]

I think this is the year to cherry pick. I question the depth that we have a lot of positions unfortunately. However, we will have a hard time marketing playing time at any position other than linebacker and wide receiver. In this situation I would do the following:

1) Concentrate on those guys who really want to play for the Tide and can help the team. For some reason, but I really think that we need to get Elliot McGaskin and Ryan Williams out of Mobile. These guys seems to have it bad for Bama and from all that I have heard they are Blue chip DBs. I know that we are crowded there however these 2 guys could be profile enough reopen the doors for Bama down there. Focus on in state players.

2) I think this situation is a byproduct of the greyshirt thing. I am wondering if some of those previous GS are equal or better than what is out there today? We need to resist the urge in my opinion in offering GS.

3) Single out playmakers at all positions. This is truly what makes your team great - that player that has that extra something he can give. In a small class you can focus on this type player and give them the extra attention that they will want and if they truly qualify as a playmaker depth at a certain position should not be a factor.

I would probably divide it about as follows:
QB - 1
RB - 1 (if Mike Ford doesnt qualify)
FB/TE - 0
OL - 0 (OL in my opinion recruited in groups of 3-5 are more productive)
WR - 2
DL - 4 emphasis on DT
LB - 4
DB - 2

Also, I would look real hard at offering a punter and PK (with minor adjustment to the above) a scholarship this year. They definitely qualify as a Playmaker for us. You may think I am crazy however offering a schollie will get you the pick of the best. They would quite possibly come in and play immediately and make a difference in the game. Plus you will have the benefit of them for 4-5 years when we are the strongest depthwise. Cant win a NC without them.

Thoughts?

 

[bamabryan]

Also we need to sign 1-2 OL every year. You don't want to see young players having to play 4-5 years down the line who are not ready. Signing 1-2 every year prevents that.

I agree 100%.

Also, I am sure there is a very talented offensive lineman or two out there that want to sign with Alabama in '07. I don't get paid the big bucks to make these decisions, but how can we turn a really good offensive lineman away? The offensive and defensive lines are where games are won and lost. You can never have too many good lineman.

Oh well, I guess any offensive lineman that really want to come to Alabama can take a grayshirt.

Also, I agree with bamahuey that one or two DBs may get moved to OLB.

 

[BamaNTN]

2) I think this situation is a byproduct of the greyshirt thing. I am wondering if some of those previous GS are equal or better than what is out there today? We need to resist the urge in my opinion in offering GS.

Its a by-product of being restricted to only being able to sign like 12 guys this time about 4 or 5 years ago.

 

[HITIDE]

Its a by-product of being restricted to only being able to sign like 12 guys this time about 4 or 5 years ago.

Does anyone know how many of the 85 players we will have on scholarship this fall were former walk-ons that were later awarded a scholly?

 

[PattheCatinSaudi]

I start with the assumption that Chris Smith has been offered and will commit. Given that, there are only 12 slots available(not counting any potential greyshirts). Gibson is considered a strong Bama lean, so those two would close out the WR slots.

 

[BEATtutorsee]

I start with the assumption that Chris Smith has been offered and will commit. Given that, there are only 12 slots available(not counting any potential greyshirts). Gibson is considered a strong Bama lean, so those two would close out the WR slots.

I wouldn't be so quick to pencil Christian in at WR just yet. Is it a possible or even a likely destination for him once he reaches the next level, sure but by all acounts he's still growing and LB and S could be definite possibilities as well. One thing is for sure, he's the kind of guy who could help at a number of positions.