Another 5-star commitment has Alabama surging towards No. 1 in 2023

For the third time in the past week, Alabama football has landed the commitment of a five-star prospect and the surge towards the top spot in 2023 is on. 

It seems like with every day that passes, Alabama football moves closer to taking over the top spot in the 2023 college football recruiting rankings.

The Tide have been on fire in the month of July and that run continued with another five-star commitment as Richard Young, the No. 24 overall prospect and No. 2 running back according to the 247 sports team composite rankings, pledged to Alabama Thursday as Nick Saban beat out Florida and many others for his commitment.

Notre Dame separated itself earlier in the 2023 recruiting cycle and had a big lead for the No. 1 spot but just like the 2022 cycle, it was hard to see the Irish holding onto that spot.

Alabama is coming for Notre Dame football’s No. 1 ranking

Alabama football was always going to make a run at being No. 1 and the 2023 haul got even better earlier this week when the Crismon Tide added five-star DB Caleb Downs. We talked about how that was going to be huge in the battle for No. 1 because Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Georgia were all in the mix and are the other contenders for the top spot.

I don’t see anyone else being able to make a realistic push for it and ultimately, it will come down to a numbers game. Ohio State, for instance, has finished wth the highest average rating but didn’t earn the top ranking due to having fewer overall commitments.

At any rate, Alabama football is ranked fourth now in the 2023 CFB recruiting rankings and we haven’t even mentioned the fact that Notre Dame’s top pledge, five-star EDGE Keon Keeley is visiting Alabama this weekend.

Irish fans shouldn’t worry about a flip just yet, but I wouldn’t want to see Keeley visiting Alabama all the same if I was part of the Notre Dame faithful. There are also rumblings about Peyton Bowen flipping to Texas A&M.

Jaiden Ausberry looks poised to commit to Notre Dame this coming week, but I don’t see them holding off Alabama or Georgia.

Speaking of Georgia, the Tide have been able to build this momentum, in part, by landing some of the top prospects in Georgia this cycle including Bulldog legacy Justice Hayes.

And to recap, in the month of July alone, Alabama has landed a top-100 QB, two of the top three running backs in 2023, the No. 1 safety, an O-lineman ranked in the top 125 and a five-star in the 2024 class too for good measure.

In terms of the month of July, no one has done better than Alabama on the recruiting trail and the month still isn’t over.

The Tide are also looking like a stronger and stronger bet to eventually take over the top spot in the 2023 team recruiting rankings. It almost feels just like a matter of time.