Happy Thursday, everyone. As you well know, Alabama landed another big fish yesterday in 5-star WR Cedarian Morgan. Kalen DeBoer clearly likes his WRs tall.
Morgan is listed at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. He’s the third receiver to commit to Alabama in this class, and each one stands about 6-foot-3 or taller.
Morgan continues a trend of tall receivers via high school/the portal to commit to or join DeBoer at Alabama. In the past two recruiting classes, both fully DeBoer classes, the average height of a receiver has been just under 6-foot-3. Take out the outlier Lotzeir Brooks, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, and the average increases to just under 6-foot-4.
That’s a noticeable increase from the last five years of receivers that Saban and company recruited via high schools and the transfer portal. The average height of a Saban receiver recruit: Just over 6 feet.
According to Ced’s mother, Florida was the runner-up.
When it came to comparing Alabama and Auburn, Morgan simply boiled his decision down to his Alabama fandom, recalling numerous pictures of him in Crimson Tide gear all throughout his childhood.
“This was my dream,” Morgan said. “So in order to have the opportunity to make your dream come true, not many people have that opportunity. I was just blessed to take my opportunity to make my dream come true.”
But Morgan’s final decision was not between Alabama and Auburn to begin with. Cecily Lauderdale, Morgan’s mother, said his final decision was “tough” between the Crimson Tide and Florida at the end, not Auburn: the closest school to where she stood.
As far as the 2025 squad goes, it’s tough not to be excited about Alabama’s secondary.
At corner, behind Jackson and Brown, Alabama gained Utah transfer Cameron Calhoun, a redshirt sophomore who was tied for fourth in the Big 12 in pass deflections with nine. Alabama also added 6-foot-4 five-star cornerback Dijon Lee, a prospect who has received ample praise throughout spring, and high four-star Chuck McDonald.
Zavier Mincey, a five-star cornerback-turned-safety, continues to sit behind Hubbard and Sabb, but could push for playing time after a good performance against Michigan and a solid spring. The Crimson Tide also added high four-star safety Ivan Taylor. Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., Red Morgan and Kameron Howard also remain as pieces at Wommack and Linguist’s disposal.
Count Chris Low among the believers.
Sleeper: S Bray Hubbard
Now in his third season in the program, Hubbard is poised to be an All-SEC caliber player and will team with a healthy Keon Sabb to give Alabama one of the best safety duos in the SEC. Hubbard, who chose Alabama out of high school over Mississippi State, Navy and Tulane, started the final six games a year ago after Sabb suffered a season-ending injury against Tennessee and made a name for himself with three interceptions. Look for Hubbard in 2025 to be one of the top names on Alabama’s defense. — Chris Low
This won’t be a popular comment from the mayor of Tuscaloosa.
“From the city standpoint, I can’t believe it. Twenty years ago, if you would have asked me, ‘Would you want to have A-Day?’ I’d say, ‘Yes,’” Maddox said. “Today, I would say, with all the things that come now surrounding it, I think it’s better for us not to have A-Day and focus on the UA-generated events that don’t require so much security personnel and other logistical support.”
Alabama shifted from its typical A-Day scrimmage to an open practice in 2025, with coach Kalen DeBoer citing depth concerns due to injuries as to why the Crimson Tide did not have its annual spring game. It marked the fourth time the A-Day game hadn’t been played since 1946.
Last, Alabama and Auburn are going in very different directions on the recruiting trail. Hugh Freeze and AD John Cohen claim that it’s strategic.
The Crimson Tide has secured commitments from five in-state players so far. That list includes five-star receiver Cederian Morgan (Alexander City), four-star athlete Zyan Gibson (Gadsden City), four-star running back Ezavier Crowell (Jackson), three-star edge defender Kamhariyan Johnson (Muscle Shoals) and three-star linebacker Zay Hall (Tuscaloosa). These star ratings are based on the 247Sports Composite.
Meanwhile, Auburn has landed a commitment from four-star edge defender Hezekiah Harris (Jemison).
As of July 2, the Crimson Tide has 17 overall commits in its 2026 recruiting class. The 247Sports Composite ranks the class No. 6 overall.
Auburn has six overall commits so far in the 2026 class, which the 247Sports Composite ranks No. 89 overall.
“We’re going to cross that mountain when we get there. But just to be clear now, if there’s an offer in place, that is a third party offer from NIL Go, it has to count against the cap,” Cohen said.
“Let me illustrate. You have an $800,000 offer and school says we’re going to give you $400,000 in revenue share and we’re going to give you $400,000 through a third party. I’m not 100% sure that everybody in this country is operating under that premise, which is reality. And if at any point in time they go over that rev share number, which can reflect both the third party offer and the rev share offer, we’ve been told there’s some pretty harsh penalties that come with that.
“We at Auburn are going to take that very seriously, but we’re still going to win recruiting battles. We’re going to do it the right way. I can’t speak for the rest of the recruiting world, but I can tell you this. Auburn’s going to do it the right way.”
Auburn is dead last, by far, in the SEC and are making the argument that everyone else is wrong in how they’ve interpreted the House settlement. Seems like a bold take. Do you buy it, or is it just a lame excuse for damage control purposes?
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
