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Knockin’ on the door of the Top 25.
The “plucky” Alabama Crimson Tide picked up their 10th commitment for 2018 and this one seems to be an underground recruit just now picking up steam.
247Sports has him as a three-star recruit while Rivals rates him currently as a 4-star recruit. The consensus seems to be, though, that he’s on his way up in consideration.
This tends to happen when Alabama recruits high school athletes. Believe it or not, in 2012, Amari Cooper was listed as a three-star receiver coming into his senior year of high school. It wasn’t until Nick Saban invited him to a summer camp in Tuscaloosa and offered him on the spot that Cooper’s star began to rise. By the end of the 2012 cycle he was a consensus 4-star, Top 50 prospect.
This is known as the “Bama Bump” or the “Saban Bump.” The most basic explanation being, “We had no idea how good you were until Nick Saban offered you a scholarship.”
This is not the only reason. In Cooper’s case, as well as Bell’s, there was very little tape out there for recruiting services to base anything off of. Jarrett Bell was listed as a 2-star by 247 and a three-star by Rivals.
This summer, Saban invited him to a camp and he received an offer on the spot. This is usually how it works. The reason Saban gets the benefit of the doubt is the fact that he’s such a voracious evaluator of talent. Winning the recruiting title seven years running helps, too.
Bell, at 6’5”, 285 pounds, is an intriguing blend of strength and athleticism. In fact, his junior highlights show a two-way player, lining up at, both, defensive tackle and offensive guard. He’s quick off the ball no matter which side and plays with good discipline. (The above commitment video shows a little bit of this, as well).
Despite his defensive experience, Bell is listed as an offensive line prospect and was recruited as such. He’s the second OL in the Tide’s 2018 class, which is a huge deal when you consider they may be only taking a total of three.
That in itself should show you the confidence which the Tide staff have in Bell.
His freshman season may be a bit too hopeful to get on the field with possibly four out of the five starters from this season coming back, but he certainly looks the part of a guy who could come on in year two.
Congratulations to Bell and his family!