Alabama Recruiting: Tide Lands Safety Landon Collins

Kirven had zeroed in on Alabama on National Signing Day after also considering Virginia Tech, Maryland, or Tennessee. It was unsure whether Alabama would have room to take Kirven.

The 6’4”, 275-pound Kirven is the 16th-highest defensive tackle in the Rivals rankings, trailing Jarron Jones and Quay Evans. He joins an Alabama squad that is loaded along the defensive line, having come off back-to-back-to-back elite recruiting classes. Kirven plays with a good blend of power and speed, and has room to add good weight as well.

With one week left until National Signing Day, the 2012 Alabama recruiting class currently includes 27 commitments and at this point the class is nearly finished. However, there is at least one greyshirt candidate in the mix, two potential academic casualties, and some room available for backcounters to the 2011 class given the early enrollments of several players, and combined that gives the Tide a small amount of room to operate as the 2012 recruiting season enters its final week. Space is exceedingly limited at this point, of course, and admittedly it is guesswork to a degree, but realistically Alabama can probably add two or three more signees. Let’s take a closer look at the remaining targets:

Justin Taylor, the tailback out of Atlanta who is recovering from a major knee injury, remains a soft commitment with a greyshirt offer. As was well publicized weeks ago, Taylor was upset when he received news of the greyshirt and made it publicly known that he was going to open his recruitment back up. One problem: Apparently no programs remotely comparable to Alabama have extended him an offer to enroll this August, and as of now his back-up options to ‘Bama are seemingly offers to play at Purdue and Wake Forest. It’s possible that the UA staff finds a way to bring Taylor in this summer, but doing so would all but certainly require several key, unanticipated misses on the recruiting trails, and accordingly that is not a likely scenario. Taylor remains miffed, but for the time being the odds look favorable that he sticks with his Alabama commitment, greyshirt and all.

Christopher Schultz tells the story of Landon Collins, the Alabama recruit who was upstaged by his mother seconds after he committed on national TV. A whole lot of family stuff went into that moment, including a father and a girlfriend. But there was also this moment involving Tide coach Nick Saban:

↵↵Moms usually love Saban, based on research conducted by watching The Blind Side.

As the 2012 recruiting cycle wraps up, offensive tackle Avery Young becomes more in demand. And though he’s a developmental prospect, the 6’6”, 270 pound offensive lineman from Palm Beach (Fla.) Gardens holds offers from much of the SEC. And he’s narrowed his list to Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Miami.

Four of those schools are expected to visit this weekend, according to Gardens’ head coach Chris Davis, via Twitter:

Throughout his recruitment, however, Green-Beckham has been very quiet. One thing that is known about his recruitment, however, is that he would like to stay close to his home in Springfield, Missouri, as his younger brother has leukemia. He holds legitimate offers from every major school in the country, and has narrowed his list to Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma.

Green-Beckham has also been light on visits. He did visit Texas, and the feedback he gave to the Longhorns was such that for a while, Austin insiders felt they had an excellent shot. And that feeling only increased, as Green-Beckham was noncommittal about setting visits to other schools.

Feel free to boil with outrage at Nick Saban waiting until weeks before signing day to tell longtime 2012 commitment Justin Taylor that he’ll need to sit out a year before he can join the Tide (to make it up, Taylor says Saban will sign a 2013 contract* and help find him a summer job**). I’m just here to laugh at this:

↵↵* Totally non-binding.

Eddie Goldman is the top defensive tackle recruits in the country. Starring for Washington D.C.‘s Friendship Academy, Goldman holds more than 40 offers from BCS schools, including Alabama, LSU, Florida State, USC, Ohio State, Clemson, Penn State, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Miami and Florida. Goldman has handled the recruiting process in a professional manner and recently spoke with SB Nation about his recruitment.

Goldman recently participated in the Under Armour All-America Game. “There’s been so much competition. It’s been great,” said Goldman.

Kwon Alexander is one of the best linebacker recruits in the country. Starring for Oxford (AL), Alexander has been on the radar of recruiting experts since his sophomore season, earning a four-star rating from most recruiting services. And he’s narrowed his college choices to the schools that have won four of the last five national titles -- LSU, Auburn and Alabama:

One interesting development in his recruitment is Auburn’s hire of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. VanGorder’s reputation as a recruiter and developer of defenders is stellar from his days with the University of Georgia.

Alabama football is once again the National Champions after dominating LSU in the BCS title game on Monday night. And as with any top team, a mass exodus of talent is coming.

But the Tide didn’t win two national titles in three years by accident. Alabama recruited better than any team in the country, sprinkled in some excellent coaching and stayed healthy.

The 6’2.5”, 240-pound Jenkins is a high effort player. He continues to pursue the play and refuses to quit, often making plays one normally wouldn’t expect from a defensive end on the other side of the field. Jenkins isn’t tall, but he is strong for his size, and should be able to get stronger. The major recruiting services rate Jenkins as a four or five-star recruit, the top player in Georgia, and one of the five best pass-rushers in the country.

If Jenkins can learn to play low and take on blocks, he can be a very good college defender. He’s an ideal candidate to play in a two-point stance in Georgia’s 3-4 defense. He’ll also need to pick up more pass-rush moves along the way. Jenkins is raw, but possesses the physical tools needed to be an effective edge defender. He plans to study engineering and to make an immediate impact for Georgia.

Landon Collins, arguably the top safety commitment in the country, committed to Alabama tonight over LSU on ESPN during the Under Armour All-America Game. His mother wanted him to stay home and pick LSU. She was at his side and was not happy.

Collins held offers from every major SEC and ACC team, as well as Texas and USC. Ultimately, his choice came down to Alabama and LSU.

With the advent of spread offenses, having a versatile safety who can patrol the deep middle on one play and then drop down in the box and play the slot receiver with press technique on the next is invaluable.

Alabama commitments are impressive on both sides of the football tonight. But the most impressive Tide commitment has been Amari Cooper, who housed this 93-yard punt return to open the third quarter. Cooper also had a long touchdown earlier tonight from Florida State Jameis Winston.

Jones holds multiple offers from some of the top schools in the country, including Alabama, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Ohio State and Maryland. He visited Virginia Tech on September 16th, Alabama on October 21st, Auburn on November 25th and Ohio State on December 16th.

Jones stars for Baltimore’ Gilman School as a two-way player. In college, however, it is thought that he is looking to play receiver. At 5’10” and 195 pounds, that means lining up in the slot. During the Under Armour practices, Jones has primarily played defensive back, and has done well on that side of the ball. His quickness will be valuable on the offensive side of the football, but don’t be surprised to see him flip back to the defensive side if playing time is not immediately available.

Florida State quarterback commitment Jameis Winston (Hueytown, Ala.) connected with Alabama receiver commitment Amari Cooper (Miami, Fla.) for a 75-yard touchdown on 3rd-17. The protection from the Team Blur offensive line has been spotty tonight, but the line gave Winston just enough time to put the ball up to Cooper, who made a great catch to put team Blur up 6-0 (extra point missed).

Cooper was heavily recruited by all the Florida schools and ultimately chose the Tide to play receiver. He was hampered by injuries throughout his high school career, but when healthy, was very productive.

Jones holds multiple offers from some of the top schools in the country, including Alabama, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Ohio State and Maryland. He visited Virginia Tech on September 16th, Alabama on October 21st, Auburn on November 25th and Ohio State on December 16th.

Jones stars for Baltimore’ Gilman School as a two-way player. In college, however, it is thought that he is looking to play receiver. At 5’10” and 195 pounds, that means lining up in the slot. During the Under Armour practices, Jones has primarily played defensive back, and has done well on that side of the ball.

With the advent of spread offenses, having a versatile safety who can patrol the deep middle on one play and then drop down in the box and play the slot receiver with press technique on the next is invaluable. Collins is just that type of player.

Collins has been very impressive this week in Orlando for the Under Armour All-America game. His speed is excellent, and his strength is obvious.

Alphonse Taylor, a massive recruit from Mobile, Alabama has committed to the Crimson Tide. Taylor was a commitment to Florida State for several months, but recently dropped the Seminoles. Per Scout’s Andrew Bone:

Taylor stars for Mobile’s Davidson High School. He stands 6’6” and weighs 340+ pounds. Taylor was planning to play offensive line for the Seminoles, but rumor is that he now wants to play defensive line -- a position at which Florida State does not have room, and at which it has not offered Taylor.

Four-star Arizona cornerback Travell Dixon committed to Alabama over FSU and others Wednesday night, putting on quite a Twitter performance in the process. After revealing he’d picked up 1,000 sudden followers and declaring he’d have a post-announcement “civil Q & A session” on Ustream*, Dixon toyed with hundreds and hundreds of grown men for a few more moments:

After much hemming and hawing, Dixon put up a photo of his newly crimson family, along with a Tide-flavored treat:

Travell Dixon, an elite cornerback out of Eastern Arizona Community College, has committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide, per SB Nation’s Roll Bama Roll.

Dixon picked from three finalists: Alabama, Florida State and Mississippi State.

T.J. Yeldon, one of the best running backs in the country, has switched his commitment from Auburn to Alabama. This is a huge win for the Crimson Tide, as SB Nation’s Roll Bama Roll comments:

For more on Yeldon, including a prepared statement from the back himself, head to Roll Bama Roll.

Thomas is an explosive athlete who happens to play quarterback for Prattville High. He is not considered an elite quarterback prospect, but isn’t terrible at the position. He’s certainly not a four-star level prospect as a quarterback.

If Thomas has his heart set on playing quarterback, this is the right choice. Alabama runs a conservative, pro-style offense that puts an emphasis on the quarterback making smart decisions above everything else. Nick Saban’s team has never shown a willingness to adapt the offense to use a quarterback’s legs.

Roll Bama Roll, the top Alabama blog, cites Nick Saban’s early identification and offer in landing the out-of-state prospect. RBR also has this to say about Devall:

The biggest selling point on Devall is his overall versatility. Weighing in at roughly 6’2 and 240 pounds, he can play at Jack, Mike, or at Will linebacker for the Tide, depending on where the staff chooses to place him. In fact, the versatility is such that several other programs actually recruited him as a 4-3 defensive end. Additionally, Devall has nearly a 4.0 core GPA, so qualifying academically will not be a concern.Devall’s rankings vary significantly from service to service because they differ on his future position. He’ll be a perfect fit in Nick Saban’s defense. Can the Tide hold on to him until national signing day?