Alabama’s ridiculous-for-anyone-else-but-for-me-it-was-tuesday 2019 class currently has an average recruit rating of 94.04 on 247.

How many guys did you sign that are rated higher than the average Bama guy (ABG)? I’m counting “hard commits” as signees for the purpose of this exercise.

Illinois managed to get two this year, but we’ve only ever signed ten such players. Average Bama Guy rates higher than the likes of longtime NFL starters Corey Liuget and Kelvin Hayden.

The Fighting Illini one of only seven Big Ten teams to sign a recruit rated higher than ABG, however, as Rutgers, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska all failed to do so.

The Michigan Wolverines managed a whopping four Above ABG Guys (AABGG) this year, but were outpaced by Ohio State’s 6.5 (Jameson Williams is an ABG at 0.9404) and Penn State’s 6. Michigan State and Wisconsin added two, while George Karlafits (who I’m counting as signed for this exercise) was Purdue’s sole AABGG and only their fourth of all time (or at least since 247 records began in 2000). 23.5 AABGG’s signed with Big Ten schools this year out of the 122.5 reported by 247 (17 have yet to commit).

Since 2000, Iowa has signed 16 recruits rated higher than ABG (same as Maryland), Wisconsin has signed 15, while Rutgers has signed 9, George Karlafits is only the fourth for Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota have managed only three, and for Indiana, only class of 2000 defensive end Stephen Williams outrates ABG. Nebraska and Michigan State managed a whopping 22! For reference, Alabama signed 15 AABGG’s this year.

Of course, the bourgeoisie have an embarrassment of riches in this metric. Penn State’s gotten 57 of these guys. Michigan has signed 102. And the decadent capitalist pigs in Columbus? 144.5. That’s actually close to Alabama’s 166, though remember, 7.8% of those 166 signed for 2019.

Elsewhere, Iowa State’s Allen Lazard stands alone as the only recruit above ABG to ever sign with the Cyclones. Baylor and Texas Tech have had six. TCU and West Virginia have had seven; Noel Devine would be the second-best RB prospect in 2019 Bama’s class. Surprisingly, Kansas State has had 9, all in the early 2000s. Kansas has not been so lucky; Alabama signed only seven players rated lower than their highest-rated recruit since 2000. Oklahoma State has fared better, with 11 (Tyreek Hill doesn’t quite make the ABG cut). Only Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 signed a higher-than-Bama-average player for 2019, with OU getting 6 and Texas getting 5, bringing the Big 12’s total to 11.

Wake Forest has never signed an above-ABG-guy, and only Clemson (5), Florida State (4), UNC (1), Miami (1), Virginia (1) and NC State (1) signed one this year in the ACC. 13 in total to the ACC.

In the PAC-12, Oregon (6!), Washington (4), Stanford (2), ASU (1), UCLA (1) and USC (1, just barely) signed one this year. Washington State has signed one all time. Rob Gronkowski was a prospect right on the level of Average Bama Guy. 15 went to the PAC-12.

The SEC fared relatively well against ABG, with Georgia (10!!!), Texas A&M (7), LSU (7), Auburn (5), Tennessee (2), Arkansas (2) South Carolina (2), Ole Miss (2), Miss St (3), and Florida (1, juuuuust barely) getting an AABGG this class. Kentucky has only ever had 5, which beats Vanderbilt’s three. 56 AABGG went to the SEC, but of course 15 went to Alabama.

Among non-Power 5 schools, Notre Dame leads the way with 4 AABGG this year. In fact, no other program in this category signed a single AABGG this year. The best Group of 6 signee is rated lower than the average Bama signee. The top-rated Group of 6 signee this year was quarterback Hank Bachmeier, who will become a Boise State Bronco and rates as the 242nd best prospect in the country according to 247.

In the Group of 6 category, BYU (5), USF (4), Houston (3), Southern Miss (3), Boise State (1), Memphis (1), Colorado State (1), Hawaii (1), and Troy (1) are the only schools to sign a higher rated recruit than ABG since 2000. Only nine Group of 6 schools have ever signed a higher rated prospect than the average 2019 Alabama signee.

Here’s a breakdown:

In Conclusion:

• Only 33 FBS teams signed a recruit rated higher than the average Alabama signee/commit
• Only 139 players in the country are rated higher than the average Alabama signee/commit
• Alabama signed as many Above-Average-Bama-Guy-Guys as the entire PAC-12 and more than the entire ACC and Big 12. Only two entire conferences got more than Bama.
• Wake Forest and Kansas have NEVER signed a recruit rated higher than Average Bama Guy
• No Group of 6 teams signed an AABGG this year, and only nine have ever done so
• You need to stop caring about the national championship if you want to enjoy this sport.