Sting Factor: Jarrett Bell's decommitment from Alabama

Every time a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local, regional and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.

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Alabama’s recruiting class took a hit over the weekend when four-star California offensive lineman Jarrett Bell backed off his pledge to the Tide. Bell had been committed since summer and was highly thought of by the staff at the time. But in recent months, other names emerged and the two sides seem to cool on one another. So how much does the loss of Bell truly hurt the class? We ask our experts to weigh in on just how much losing him stings and also take a look at which schools might benefit going forward.

“Bell decommitting from Alabama does not come as a major surprise. Bell earned an offer from the Crimson Tide after attending camp in June, and he committed to Alabama in August. Communication has been pretty low the last few months. Alabama plans on taking only three, possibly four offensive linemen in the 2018 class, and the Tide have commitments from Emil Ekiyor and Tommy Brown. Alabama’s top two, longtime targets remain Penei Sewell and Nick Petit-Frere. Expect Alabama to sign one of the two. It will give Alabama its desired goal of signing three offensive linemen in this class.” – Andrew Bone, BamaInsider.com

Sting Factor: 2

"From what I've been told, Bell was seen as a project for Alabama's recruiting class - a guy with a ton of upside, but someone who still needed work. So this isn't a major hit to Alabama's class. Bell performed really well at the Alabama summer camp, landed the offer and committed. He plays tackle in high school but would probably move inside in Tuscaloosa. When have the Crimson Tide ever had an issue landing whoever they want, especially along the offensive line? Bell would have been a nice addition, but my guess is Alabama will move on quickly." – Adam Gorney, West recruiting analyst, Rivals.com

Sting Factor: 2

“I’ll give this a 6, because offensive linemen are hard to find, and this kid could be the next Braden Smith talent-wise (sorry about the Auburn mention) because of his athleticism, and that is not easy to replace. However, it’s only a 6 because we know 'Bama will rebound and likely replace him with someone else ranked even higher with similar or greater potential.” – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com

Sting Factor: 6

Average Sting Factor: 3.3

As mentioned above, Alabama already has a number of candidates to replace Bell and Bell has already officially visited Arizona and has seen increased interest from other Pac-12 schools as of late. He has already set up an official visit to UCLA for next month. Michigan could also be a factor down the road, as could Georgia and Texas.