Ask Farrell: Was Bama's 2017 class better than we thought?
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CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals100 | Position | Team | State
Alabama had the top-rated recruiting class in 2017, an absolutely loaded group in which many of the players are making significant contributions for the team this season.
But should it have been rated even higher?
Only twice in Rivals history has a team had eight five-star signees: USC in 2004 and Georgia in 2018. There is a valid argument that Alabama should have had 10 in that 2017 recruiting class.
The Crimson Tide were hardly barren of rankings that cycle, as Isaiah Buggs, Dylan Moses, Jerry Jeudy, Elliot Baker, Alex Leatherwood, Jedrick Willis and Najee Harris earned five-star recognition.
However, there were some arguable misses as well.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was one notch away from five-star status. Receivers DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs were four-star prospects, with Smith one step away from five-star status and Ruggs ranked as a mid-level four-star player.
Defensive back Xavier McKinney, who leads Alabama with 56 tackles along with an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, was a four-star recruit as well, ranked third at his position behind Jeffrey Okudah (Ohio State) and JaCoby Stevens (LSU).
Take three of those four players - mainly Tagovailoa, Smith and McKinney - and re-rank them as five-stars and that makes 10. That means the 2017 Alabama class could be the best-ever in Rivals history.
FARRELL'S TAKE
We ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if he buys that argument, or whether all the five-stars in that class deserved that ranking and how that would have influenced the final grade of the Crimson Tide class?
“Hindsight is 20/20, but I am happy with the way we ranked the class so far. Sure it would be nice to brag that Tuavaiola was a five-star and so on, but we just didn’t see that coming out of high school. What’s impressive to me is how many of these players have panned out and emerged as stars and I’m in awe at what an incredible class it was. This is why Nick Saban wins national titles and why Alabama will win it all this year as well.”