As college football fans enjoy the bowl season, college football programs across America are preparing for the early signing period beginning Wednesday.

On Monday’s edition of The Gary Harris Show, recruiting guru and founder of TiderInsider.com Rodney Orr surveyed the recruiting landscape heading into the early signing period.

As of December 18, Alabama has a total of 16 commitments according to Rivals.com including weekend commitments from four-star defensive back Josh Jobe of Cheshire, Connecticut, and three-star running back Jerome Ford from Seffner, Florida.

Concerning Ford’s athletic ability, Rodney Orr described the similarities in skill between Ford and a versatile running back in the Crimson Tide’s recent past.

“When you talk about speed, versatility, all those things, he kind of brings a Kenyan Drake look. A guy that can get down the field as a receiver. A guy that can run the football with great speed. He’s about 5-11/195, been clocked at 4.4” Orr said.

Despite just a three-star ranking from Rivals.com, Orr believes that Ford could be a significant pickup for Alabama.

“I can tell you this. He went to camps and outperformed some of the guys that are maybe more highly regarded in terms of their names and stars by their names. This guy is a guy that I think is a big pickup.” Orr mentioned.

At present, the Crimson Tide has zero quarterback commitments in the 2018 class along with three scholarship quarterbacks already on the roster.

One of the primary quarterback targets in the class for Alabama has been Emory Jones of Franklin, Georgia. Jones is presently committed to Ohio State but according to Rodner Orr, the four-star prospect is still considering his options for 2018.

“I think Emory (Jones) wanted to flip to Alabama. I think there were some things close to him that people that kind wanted him to stick to his commitment to Ohio State.” Orr said. “I think he wants to play in the south where the weather is a little warmer. That’s kind of the scuttlebutt that I hear right now on him, so he visited Florida and Florida State over the weekend.”

After analyzing some of the other quarterback prospects in the 2018 class, the founder of TiderInsider gave his guess regarding the possible number or signees for the Crimson Tide in the early signing class.

“You know, in the neighborhood of 15. Could be a couple less. Could be a couple more.” Orr said.

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