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

No. 8 highest-rated Alabama football recruit: RB Najee Harris (2017)

Alex Leatherwood wasn’t the only elite 2017 recruit to have a massive impact on the history of Alabama football. Running back Najee Harris also matched the hype as a five-star talent out of Antioch, California.

Harris ranked No. 2 overall in the recruiting class, edging out Cam Akers as the top back in the nation. But he had to wait his turn at Alabama as a freshman with Damien harris and Bo Scarbrough ahead of him. Even so, he led the Tide with 64 yards on six carries in the national title win over Georgia. He’d go on to lead them in rushing again in the next championship victory in 2021.

The back steadily improved his rushing totals each year, eclipsing the 1,200-yard mark in 2019 and 2020. He won the Doak Walker Award as a senior.

When all was said and done, Harris finished his four-year career in Tuscaloosa as Alabama’s all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry.

The Steelers used the No. 24 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Harris and he’s been their leading rusher in the two seasons since.