College football Early Signing Day: Predicting where the top 10 unsigned 2023 recruits will land

Alabama keeps James Smith in-state alongside his Carver teammate

What’s better than one 5-star from Carver staying home and joining the Crimson Tide? Well, Saban would probably argue that it’s getting another 5-star from the high school to follow Russaw, which is what he can do on Wednesday with James Smith also set to make his Early Signing Day decision.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, Smith has the build that would make him ready to play right away, which is something that Alabama might be able to offer him given the fact that the Tide are set to lose some veterans on the defensive front after the 2022 season.

Smith staying home, much like Russaw, would make sense in terms of fit and aggressiveness from Saban and his staff. He’s a phenomenal athlete for his size and it would honestly be shocking if he and Russaw didn’t both commit to end up in Tuscaloosa as a pseudo-package deal.

James Smith has committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Caleb Williams will get another young weapon at USC in Duce Robinson

There are currently two leading contenders to get a commitment from 5-star tight end Duce Robinson that are a bit ahead of the rest and both have great pitches for Robinson. The first is Lincoln Riley and USC as he looks to add an elite big-bodied weapon to the offense that could potentially see the field with reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. The other is Kirby Smart and Georgia, which has become a tight end factory.

Robinson has a comp on 247Sports from Chris Singletary to Darren Waller and it’s not hard to see with his 6-foot-6, 229-pound frame blessed with athleticism. The deciding factor for me in this prediction, though, is that Robinson has a clearer path to immediate playing time and on-field development at USC than he would at Georgia, which leads me to believe that he’ll land with the Trojans whenever he makes his commitment (which won’t be on Wednesday as far as we know currently).

Duce Robinson has not set a time to announce his commitment.