Four-star quarterback Mac Jones made headlines when he flipped from Kentucky to Alabama back on June 7, giving the Crimson Tide not one, but two four-star quarterbacks in their 2017 recruiting class along with Tua Tagovailoa. At 6’2, 180 pounds, the Jacksonville (Fla.) Bolles School star is a little light but has the frame to grow into being a prototypical pro-style quarterback.
Can Alabama sign 5 blue-chip receivers? We ask QB commit Mac Jones
Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I’m Bud Elliott, SB Nation’s National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I’ll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.
I caught up with Jones at the IMG 7-on-7 Championships in Bradenton, and we discussed what made Alabama so attractive to him, as well as other important topics such as using “Roll Tide” as a general purpose greeting, and the staff’s Bitmoji usage. Seriously.
What was it about Alabama that lured him away from Kentucky?
“Really just liked the opportunity and the people at Alabama. I just needed the opportunity to come in and compete, because I feel I could take it and run with it. It’s obviously going to be a very competitive environment. I just like the coaches and the people all around, from the janitors to the top people, they’re all very genuine. They obviously have good facilities and a good support staff.”
The main bit of recruiting news from Jones concerned Alabama’s receiver recruiting.
The Tide already have a commitment from Texas four-star receiver Tyrell Shavers, and it is in on four other superstars: Florida four-star Jerry Jeudy, Alabama four-star Henry Ruggs III, Louisiana four-star Devonta Smith and Alabama four-star Nico Collins. Who does Jones think the Tide will sign? Watch the video to find out. Landing all five would be an incredible haul for a QB. And if it happens, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami and Tennessee fans won’t be too happy.
Quickly
Texas A&M landed four-star offensive line Creed Humphrey, from Oklahoma. Then Oklahoma coach Cale Gundy tweeted (then blocked my account for pointing it out) the following.
“Piece of advice to recruits. It’s real simple. Schools are winning championships or talking about winning championships. Do your homework.”
I don’t find this to be a huge deal since this subtweet is about a school and not questioning a kid’s character.
Other than its kicker, Ohio State’s class could be made up entirely of four- and five-star commitments. That is unprecedented.
Here’s a solid recruiting update on the Arizona Wildcats.
Vanderbilt went from zero commitments to nine in as many days.
Previously
I warned of the dangers of celebrating or fretting about early recruiting rankings.
The latest edition of the College Football Recruiting Podcast dropped last Friday.
A crazy stat about college football recruiting and states.
