Alabama is new No. 1 in On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings

Following a commitment from Lehigh Acres (Fla.) Lehigh Senior five-star running back Richard Young, Alabama has the No. 1 class in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. The Crimson Tide were recently positioned outside of the top five, but landing Young’s pledge vaulted them over Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas and Miami.

Alabama’s 2023 recruiting class contains four five-stars, the most of any program in college football. They are Young, Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek five-star safety Caleb Downs, Florence (Ala.) five-star cornerback Jahlil Hurley and Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson five-star safety Tony Mitchell.

The Crimson Tide also have the highest average grade per commit at 92.30. The rest of their 2023 group is made up of eight four-stars and two three-stars.

July has been a very successful month for Alabama on the recruiting trail. The program has landed Young, Downs, Haynes, Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood four-star quarterback Dylan Lonergan, Windsor (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School four-star offensive tackle Olaus Alinen, Anniston (Ala.) Anniston School four-star interior offensive lineman Ryqueze McElderry, Chicago (Ill.) St. Rita three-star kicker Conor Talty and a junior college transfer in Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College three-star wide receiver Malik Benson.

Young is the No. 31 overall prospect and No. 1 running back in the 2023 On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 8 player in Florida and chose Alabama over Georgia and Oregon.

About the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings

The On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings is the most advanced, complete and unbiased ranking measurement in the industry, yet its simplicity makes it easy for fans to follow and understand.

It solves the problem of varying class sizes during the recruiting cycle. It compiles the highest-rated commits for each team up to a total based on a rolling average of current total commitments among Power 5 schools.

With this model, there are no bonus points for having more commitments than other teams and only small deductions occur when a team has fewer commitments than the rolling average. Unlike distribution (bell) curves, this model doesn’t disproportionately weight a team’s top three or four highest rated commits and is a more accurate representation of an entire class.