alex leatherwood

Resources: My charting, Alabama game notes (Michigan's not yet available), Alabama roster, CFBstats

The film: The Iron Bowl for all the reasons, including the German one:

Personnel: My diagram:

PDF version, full-size version (or click on the image)

Yes, Alabama has a lot of star players. That's what happens when you go to the playoffs every year and flaunt the rules to such a degree that paying players through your assistants' salaries is called the "Alabama System" in football circles. Tuscaloosa Football Inc. has had first pick of high school talent for a decade; hanging onto it is a challenge because the NFL takes those who are eligible and those who aren't starting can usually transfer somewhere where they will, however, so there are no seniors.

If you pay attention at all to college football outside of the Big Ten, you know that 5-star QB Tua Tagovailoa pipped incumbent star Jalen Hurts, who transferred to Oklahoma. That left QB Mac Jones, a barely top-400 player, the lead backup when Tua's Heisman campaign was cut short with a hip injury this season. Jones is your standard pre-Hurts Alabama quarterback: a stiff "game manager" who wouldn't look out of place at Michigan State. It's a big deal.

Tight end is the other position causing fret. Nominal starter/former Michigan target TE Major Tennison (+3/-3 in this game) hasn't developed into more than just a guy. He's only on the field a third of the time as they make heavy use of specialists. These are a moonlighting offensive lineman, Kendall Randolph (+6/-2, no bad pass pro events) and still-receiver-sized true freshman TE Jahleel Billingsley, who's rather like Devin Funchess was when he was wearing #19. Backup C Chris Owens will occasionally don a #84 jersey and add to the beef. Owens will also snap a few as a sixth OL, pushing the C, RG, RT, and TE one job to the right.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown.]

Exit: Chase Lasater

I'm a little late getting to this after the bye week, but fullback Chase Lasater is no longer a member of the class. Lasatar announced his decommitment on his Twitter account, which is now set to private. He said he and his family "feel it is best" to reopen his recruitment and that Michigan remains one of his top schools; he thanked Jim Harbaugh and Bam Richards for recruiting him.

With Michigan going after LSU fullback commit Tory Carter, who has an official visit scheduled, it would be a surprise if Lasater ended up back in the class.

Busy Bye

The coaching staff didn't take it easy during the bye week, instead heading out for a long list of recruiting visits headlined by Jim Harbaugh's stop in Antioch to see the #1 recruit in the country, CA RB Najee Harris. Scout's Josh Henschke has a full, free rundown of who the coaches saw.

Notably, a few new offers went out, including one that spurred a new Crystal Ball prediction. That came after Michigan offered three-star TN DT Rutger Reitmaier, who's committed to Oregon, a program you may recall hiring a defensive coordinator with a very strong track record of unearthing excellent defensive linemen. Reitmaier has some impressive junior film (see above) and Oregon commits are ripe for picking these days. This offer looks like a reflection of both Reitmaier's ability and M's waning hopes of bringing Aubrey Solomon back into the fold; Sam Webb was in Lee County during the bye and came away saying M's chances at Solomon are "essentially nil."

Harbaugh also offered top-100 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman S Bubba Bolden, and Sam Webb says that despite the late timing of the offer, Michigan could have a shot:

Michigan offered four-star safety Bubba Bolden from Bishop Gorman. Despite the relative lateness of that offer, the interest definitely appears to be mutual. Bolden has two open visit dates and has expressed a desire to give Michigan one of them. No firm date has been established but a trip to Ann Arbor now appears to be a distinct possibility.

The coaches also offered four-star AZ S Isaiah Pola-Mao, who currently has Washington on top of his list. The multiple new safety offers could be a result of commit J'Marick Woods, who recently had high praise for his Arkansas official visit, taking a look around; I highly doubt it's a product of losing confidence in their ability to land Jaylen Kelly-Powell.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

[Googly Eyes Emoji]

STILL DON'T WATCH THIS

So.

“I’m going to take my five visits, but I just don’t know where,” Harris said. “Let’s say this: My mind isn’t set on Alabama. I’m not 100 percent set on Alabama. I’m trying to see what else is out there for me. I’m using my visits to see. As much attention as I’ve gotten, I feel like I have helped my teammates get some offers, too.”

That is the top-ranked player in the country, CA RB Najee Harris, going on the record about his recruitment for the first time in... months? It feels like months. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle dropped this pertinent bit of news in their ongoing series on Harris that mostly focuses on his life outside the lines:

Next week, when Antioch hosts Liberty, another wrinkle comes into play: Harbaugh, the Michigan head coach, is planning to attend the game, hoping he can persuade Harris to flip his verbal commitment to Alabama and play in Ann Arbor instead.

While 247's Steve Lorenz expects Harris to end up signing with Bama, he continues to believe Michigan is the school with the best chance to change that, and mentions that M's staff in fact thought they either led or were close following Harris's summer unofficial visit.

I'm still skeptical of M's ultimate chances to flip Harris, but going on the record to say his Alabama commitment isn't set in stone is especially noteworthy coming from a recruit who avoids the media and appears to be trying to keep his recruitment as drama-free as possible.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]