Alabama football recruiting 2013 class updates

Williams is considered a top-five player at his position in the class of 2013 by 247Sports and Rivals. As a junior in 2011, he finished with 115 tackles, including an impressive 45 tackles for loss. SB Nation’s Roll ‘Bama Roll is not so sure that he’ll play defensive end at the college level, though.

SB Nation recruiting expert Bud Elliott thinks Williams would be a good fit for the Alabama defense at linebacker. In any case, he’s joining one of the most dominant programs and defenses in the nation. The national-champion Crimson Tide finished the 2012 season ranked first nationally in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense.

Altee Tenpenny will join the line of Alabama running backs, although he gave Arkansas, the school from down the road, some thought even after being committed to the Crimson Tide for over a year.

Tenpenny’s easily one of the top running back recruits in the country: he’s got size -- 6 feet, 212 pounds -- and speed -- a 4.46 40. That’s why he’s a consensus four-star recruit, with Rivals ranking him at No. 8 in the country and No. 53 in the country.

Hill is 6’6” and weighs 315 pounds. He is considered a four-star prospect and the second-best offensive guard in the class of 2013 by 247Sports. Rivals rates him as a four-star prospect as well, and the fifth-best offensive guard in the class.

He also had offers from Auburn, Clemson, Mississippi State and Georgia.

ArDarius Stewart could bring all sorts of things to the Alabama offense in the future but, for now, it’s enough to know that the talented skill position player is in the fold for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. He signed his letter of intent Wednesday morning.

Stewart’s recruiting process wasn’t a difficult one. The consensus four-star player has reportedly been an Alabama fan his whole life growing up in Birmingham, and he seized the opportunity to suit up for the back-to-back national champions, committing to the Crimson Tide last January with only an offer from Auburn at the time.

Foster, a central Pennsylvania native, had a strange final decision: he was between Alabama, typically in the mix for top recruits, and Pitt, who typically aren’t. Foster, whose hometown of Monaca, Pennsylvania is only 25 miles from Pittsburgh, made those two schools his official visits, and had them in his final two fter a final seven including Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, USC, and Oregon. He was expected to go with Pitt, and Pitt blog Cardiac Hill eagerly expected him to go with Paul Chryst’s squad. But in December, Foster decided to go with the Tide. That didn’t exactly go over well with Pitt fans, as he would have been the biggest get in their recruiting class.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State picked up a crucial commitment from Dontre Wilson to give the Buckeyes two all-purpose backs, with Ezekiel Elliott being the other one. Ohio State also signed two cornerbacks early and has plenty of solid four-star talent from Ohio (ten recruits in-state).

7. Texas A&M Aggies. The jewel of the class is athlete Ricky Seals-Jones, but Sebastian LaRue and Laquvionte Gonzalez are both talented wide receivers and A&M also found two solid defensive tackles.

O.J. Howard, considered by some the best tight end in the nation, made his decision to play football at Alabama official Wednesday a year and a half after committing to the Crimson Tide.

Howard, a 6-foot-6, 220-pounder timed as running a 4.49 40, is a five-star recruit, considered by Rivals one of the top ten players in the nation at any position. He committed to Alabama in July, 2011, and SB Nation’s Bud Elliott caught up with him in July 2012 to discuss the state of his commitment, which never wavered although he did leave the possibility of visiting Auburn open..

Out of Placer (Calif.) Auburn High School, Eddie Vanderdoes is one of the most sought after recruits in the country.

At 6’3, 300 pounds, rated five stars, and by some the top defensive tackle nationally, Vanderdoes has offers from every major school, and has narrowed his list to USC (to which he was once committed), UCLA, Washington, Notre Dame and Alabama.

Four-star quarterback prospect Cooper Bateman has enrolled at the University of Alabama, meaning he can begin practicing with the team this spring. Bateman is rated as one of the top pro-style quarterback prospects in the 2013 recruiting class, and is a consensus top-100 overall prospect.

Ratings: Four-star (247, Rivals, Scout, ESPN)

Alabama has recently switched offensive line commit Bradley Bozeman’s scholarship offer to a grayshirt, which would mean he wouldn’t be an active student and athlete at Alabama until 2014. It keeps him off the books, while holding a spot for him in a non-binding way. It’s worth noting there is no binding way to hold said spot for him other than also giving him a scholarship for 2013.

This makes many people mad, as it is a thing that has been done by Alabama and in the wake of previous Alabama recruiting controversies. However, Bozeman is okay enough with the offer to not look around for a better deal elsewhere, which the four-star could assuredly do (Auburn, Clemson and Tennessee are listed by Rivals.com as also offering him scholarships at some point):

Jackson did not play as a junior due to issues with academics, but his senior season was as good as any defensive back in Florida, and perhaps the country. Jackson possesses tremendous speed, and the recruit is coveted as a defensive back by most programs, but also as a receiver by some.

In December, Jackson briefly committed to Florida State before backing off, realizing that he had done so too soon.

Here’s who will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend:

Alabama commits:

The 6’2, 275-pound defensive tackle recruit out of Muscle Shoals (AL) High School had long been wavering in his commitment to Auburn. He was quite friendly with Alabama commitments at the Under Armour All-America Game, and many insiders believe the Tide actually held the lead in recent weeks despite his continued commitment to the Tigers.

While a bit undersized for defensive tackle, Liner has excellent length for being just 6’2. His quick first step and violent hands make him a prime candidate to be an effective multi-year starter in the SEC.

A big part of recruiting is keeping currently committed prospects. Alabama will look to do both that and add new commitments this weekend as the national champion Crimson Tide welcomes six committed recruits to campus in Texas cornerback Maurice Smith, Alabama cornerback Jonathan Cook, Alabama receiver ArDarius Stewart, Georgia running back Tyren Jones, and Arkansas running back Altee Tenpenny, a major target who Arkansas is trying desperately to bring to Fayetteville.

They’ll try to persuade the following seven uncommitted recruits to join them in Tuscaloosa.

What do you get for the program that has everything? How about one of the nation’s best recruiting classes? With a month to go before Signing Day, the Crimson Tide have verbal commitments from 20 players, including two Rivals five-star recruits and a boatload of four-star prospects.

Cooper Bateman: Nick Saban has never had much use for dual-threat quarterbacks, preferring traditional dropback game managers under center. Bateman fits the mold: A 6’3, 190-lb. pro-style quarterback from Salt Lake City who chose Alabama over offers from LSU, Florida, Auburn, and virtually every school west of the Rockies. Bateman receives a four-star rating from the scouting services; Scout rated him the fifth-best quarterback prospect in this year’s class.