The greatest recruiting class in college football history may soon thrust Alabama into yet another record book.
Alabama is expected to tie Miami’s 2004 record for the most first-round selections (6) in a single year next month, according to the latest mock drafts from CBSSports.com’s Ryan Wilson and ESPN’s Mel Kiper. Several of those stars, including quarterback Mac Jones and cornerback Patrick Surtain II, were on display Tuesday at the Tide’s annual pro day.
As if you needed a reminder Alabama is the best of the best in college football, the Tide dominated airwaves on ESPN and the NFL Network as players participated in agility drills and other individual workouts Tuesday. The workouts served as an infomercial of sorts for Nick Saban recruiting efforts over the years. The greatest college coach of all time is also the best recruiter. His signing class was heralded by 247Sports as the best in college football history in 2017, and it lived up to the hype.
At least seven (!) players, including two quarterbacks, from the 29-man signing class have been or will be first-round selections in the NFL Draft. Four players from the class were selected in 2020 and three more are expected to be picked up in 2021.
Remarkable doesn’t even begin to describe how deep, talented and dominant the 2017 recruiting class proved to be at Alabama.
Who else can claim half of its offensive skill players (four of eight) in one class finished in the top five of the Heisman Trophy voting? Who else can claim 11 SEC wins in a single season?
No team or program other than Alabama, which leaned on the 2017 signing class to win a national title and two SEC championships.
I argued previously the Tide’s 2020 offense should be considered the best in college football history after capping the season with a dominating victory against Ohio State in the national championship.
Attempting to compare offenses year to year is a difficult task, particularly when competition varies season to season and style of play has evolved over the decades, but Alabama has a legitimate claim just one year after many analysts labeled LSU as the best offense in college football history.
Alabama, with a shorter schedule but more games against Power 5 opponents, surpassed the 2019 LSU Tigers in scoring offense: 48.5 vs. 48.4.
It isn’t just impressive that Alabama scored points with ease, but the fact it could do so by playing a variety of styles. Whether it was the hurry-up, pass-happy tempo with pre- and post-snap motions that confuse linebackers and seemingly leave at least one receiver wide open on every play, or slowing things down and replicating the run-heavy plans of 2009, not one SEC defense slowed the Tide in 2020.
DeVonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy, the first receiver to do so since 1991, and quarterback Mac Jones was a finalist.
As for the NFL Draft, Alabama will dominate the conversation in April. The Tide’s top two receivers (Smith and Jaylen Waddle) are expected after the top two in 2019 accomplished the same feat (Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, which is an unheard-of accomplishment for a program.
Then again, Alabama is not ordinary.
Alabama has landed four first-round players in the NFL Draft in three of the last four years. Thirty-eight players (33 at Alabama) coached by Saban have been selected in the first round. Only Joe Paterno (33 first-rounders) comes close to Saban’s ever-increasing lead.
Who else can claim seven national championships in the last 16 years? No one but Saban, who has surpassed Bear Bryant’s six national titles in January.
“I think we’re the best team to ever play,” Jones said after the national championship. “There’s no team that will play an SEC schedule like that again.”
Will we see a team like the 2020 Alabama squad again? Sure. Records are meant to be broken and labels usually fade in sports.
Even so, perhaps the NFL Draft will solidify Alabama’s 2020 squad as the best ever in college football.
The crazy thing is Alabama might just dethrone its 2020 team within the next four years. The Tide’s 2021 signing class unseated the 2017 group as the best recruiting haul of all time in the 247Sports Composite, setting the stage for Saban to win more national titles with style.
Alabama in CBSSports.com mock draft
First round
5. WR Jaylen Waddle, Cincinnati Bengals
7. WR DeVonta Smith, Detroit Lions
8. QB Mac Jones, New York Jets
12. CB Patrick Surtain II, Philadelphia Eagles
25. DT Christian Barmore, Jacksonville Jaguars
32. RB Najee Harris, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brandon Marcello is a national college football reporter for 247Sports. You can follow him on Twitter (@bmarcello).