10 highest-rated Alabama football recruits ever and how they lived up to the hype (or didn’t)

Alabama football has dominated the recruiting scene but it’s especially impressive the way the Crimson Tide have gotten the most out of the best prospects.

As the most successful program of the century bar none, it’s no secret that Alabama football is a recruiting powerhouse, particularly in the Nick Saban era.

The recruiting wins keep coming, but in the end, it’s what you do with those highly-rated prospects that matter.

So what about the highest-rated Alabama recruits of all time? Who lived up to the hype and who busted? Let’s take a look.

But first, it should be noted edge rusher Keon Keeley from the class of 2023 and wide receiver Ryan Williams from the class of 2025 are technically among the Top 10 Alabama recruits of all-time. However, the latter has not signed and the former has not begun his college career, so they’re not on this list.

*All rankings as determined by the 247Sports Composite

No. 10 highest-rated Alabama fooball recruit: OT Cam Robinson (2014)

The best offensive line recruit in the country in 2014 was 6-foot-5, 330-pound Cam Robinson from West Monroe, Louisiana.

But when it came time to commit, Robinson spurned LSU and instead threw in with the Crimson Tide. And that certainly seemed like the fight decision as Robinson found immediate success in Tuscaloosa.

Robinson started every game as a freshman, holding his own at tackle as Alabama went 12-2. The next year, he got himself a national championship ring as a key starter driving Alabama towards their College Football Playoff triumph over Clemson.

In 2016, Robinson was named a captain and earned unanimous All-American honors along with the Outland Trophy.

Robinson essentially accomplished everything he could have hoped for in his three years with the Tide and then left for the NFL. The Jaguars selected him with the 34th overall pick in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He’s still in Jacksonville.