Take Two: Should Alabama be concerned about slow recruiting start?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE TAKE TWO: Will Georgia challenge in the SEC? | Can Michigan fix its offense?

Alabama has the No. 31 recruiting class nationally. The Crimson Tide are No. 10 in the SEC in front of only Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas and Ole Miss.

No team ranked ahead of Alabama has fewer commits without a five-star pledge - USC has 11 pledges with one five-star in LB Palaie Gaoteote and Clemson also has 11 with two five-stars in DE Xavier Thomas and QB Trevor Lawrence, the top-rated prospect in the entire class. Alabama has 11 commits and no five-stars.

So is this reason for concern in Tuscaloosa?

Probably not. Fourteen of 27 current five-star prospects remain uncommitted and some are serious about the Crimson Tide. Alabama has also shown an ability to flip any committed recruit it basically wants and a number of four-star prospects are also high on the program for various reasons.

The early signing period could be tricky since prospects are getting locked on schools earlier and could be off the board completely in late December, but does anybody really think Alabama’s staff has not worked through those scenarios?

And it’s not like top recruits don’t want to play for a coach and a program that routinely pumps out NFL first-round draft picks.

The Crimson Tide are abnormally low in both the SEC and national team recruiting rankings. Finishing first again does seem like a stretch. But should Alabama be concerned about its slow start to this class or will things pan out like they normally do, with the Crimson Tide close to the top of the team recruiting rankings when all is said and done?

“There is a little bit of a surprise to most fans regarding the numbers in Alabama's class. Alabama, on the other hand, seems less concerned. Most of Alabama's top targets remain uncommitted. Several expect to wait until after the season to make their college choice. Alabama also expects to have a smaller class in 2018. Alabama will have things rolling at some point in the next few months. Fans are ready to see the dominoes start falling, but there isn't an ounce of worry from Alabama's point of view.”

“Nothing to worry about. They are getting hurt a little bit by the success Kirby Smart has had at Georgia, but not enough to be concerned about. Their 3.82 average star ranking still puts them in the top handful of teams in the country, so if you extrapolate that over the expected 22 to 25 commitments they could get, Alabama will likely finish in the top five. There’s nothing to worry about. They’re not pushing the panic button. They’re going to approach the early signing period smartly and they’re going to close on a lot of guys then, but also in the second signing period leading to Signing Day. We all know even if they whiff on their top targets they can flip kids at will.

“They’re Alabama and they’ll get whoever they want. This seems to be an odd year for them to be so relaxed. This seems to be an odd year for them to be ranked lower than I think they’ve ever been under Nick Saban during the football season. That early signing period could mess up a lot of things, but I guarantee you they have a plan in place, I guarantee you we’ll see some kids in December who were supposed to sign with schools that don’t and I guarantee you the reason for that will be Alabama.”