Crimson Tide Football Places 6 On
2017 AFCA All-America Team
WACO, Texas – Heading into post-season play the Alabama Crimson Tide football team is again scoring points off the field, placing six players on the 2017 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America Team. The announcement was made on Wednesday by the association.
Being named to the first team for The University of Alabama football program were senior linebacker Rashaan Evans and junior defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick. Named to the second team were Tide senior center Bradley Bozeman, junior defensive lineman Da'Ron Payne, senior punter JK Scott and sophomore offensive lineman Jonah Williams.
Two Crimson Tide student-athletes were also on the AFCA 2016 team, Fitzpatrick as a first-team AFCA honoree Scott was a second-team pick a season ago. With his selection, Fitzpatrick now becomes a unanimous unanimous 2017 All-America honoree, who was also a first-team selection by Walter Camp, the Football Writers Association of America, the Associated Press and The Sporting News this season.
The UA football program tied the record for the most selections for one team in the 73-year history of the AFCA All-America team with its six selections. Bama now is tied for the most picks ever with the Oklahoma football program, which also had six selections in 2003. Alabama has now had 70 players honored for a total of 74 times by the AFCA, the most of any college football program in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Evans ranks third on the Crimson Tide defense in tackles with 57, leads Bama with 10.5 tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead in quarterback hurries with seven. He also ranks second on the team in sacks with five and has added two pass breakups, a forced fumble and one fumble recovery despite missing two games due to injury this season.
Fitzpatrick, the 2017 winner of Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe awards, is UA's fifth-leading tackler with 52 stops and has played at every position in the secondary for the Crimson Tide this season. He has to his credit six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, seven pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and a blocked kick this season.
Bozeman, now in his second season as Bama's starting center, has graded out at an average of 85.6 percent as a senior, contributing 16 knockdown blocks and having only seven missed assignments in 724 snaps (99.0 percent success rate). He has allowed just two sacks and four pressures this season and while fighting and blocking in the trenches for six 100-yard rushing games this year, giving him 17 in his 28 career starts at center.
Big man Payne has done a fantastic job for the Tide defensive front as an effective effective run stopper, having totaled 45 tackles (37 against the run) one sack, a team-high eight quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Scott has won the hearts of the Crimson Tide faithful repeatedly, punting 42 times in 2017, averaging 43.4 yards per kick with a net average of 42.4 ypp. He has been a phenom at placing kicks just where they need to go, with 52.3 percent of his kicks inside the 20 (22 of 42), which leads the nation. The senior also leads the country in fair catch percentage at 54.8 (23 of 42) and fewest punts returned (three returns for two yards). Scott is averaging 45.8 yards per punt in his career on 231 attempts, an average that leads punters all time at Alabama.
Williams has been a starter since the first game of his freshman season in 2016, and also received third-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press this season. He is credited with 20 knockdown blocks in his sophomore season and has posted an average grade of 86.9 percent while giving up only half of a sack and four pressures in 734 offensive snaps. He has blocked for 17 100-yard rushers in his two-year career, including six in 2017.
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Early Signing Period Is Only Days Away
For The Alabama Crimson Tide Football Program
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| Photo from Bing.com |
Early signing period begins December 20th for The University of Alabama football program. Of course it's the same for all FBS schools, but the rest are of little consequence for the Crimson Tide faithful. While the NCAA Early Signing Period begins in just six days, the so-called dead period begins after just three days, the 17th, where there can be no in-person contact between potential signees and schools. December 20 - 22, however, is a three-day window.
How many signees can each school pick up in this first-ever Early Signing Period? Well, being the first, only an educated guess will have to suffice. Most of the so-called experts believe about 70 percent of commitments will sign with their prospective choices during this period, but jumps to 90 percent for those planning to enroll early at their school-of-choice.
For 2018 the Tide has 14 verbal commitments and is currently ranked ninth in the FBS according to 247Sports (See associated article in a previous blog). Alabama has anywhere from three to seven fewer commits at this writing than the eight teams currently ranked ahead of UA. Of the 14 commits, the Tide boasts 10 four-star and three three-star student-athletes.
The Tide is looking to pick up in the neighborhood of three to four defensive linemen and the same for the defensive backs positions.
Just based on numbers and need, Alabama won't achieve the signees needed to become the No. 1 recruiting class again this season. Don't despair, Bama faithful. That is only because of the outstanding recruiting job during the last several recruiting cycles. The Tide will once again have the players needed to continue its dominance of college football in future seasons.
