Alabama Crimson Tide

Four-star safety target Xavier McKinney commits to Alabama

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:34 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Anthony Messenger/FanSided via Rubbing the Rock

Yesterday during the Under Armour All-American game, Clemson target Xavier McKinney spurned the Tigers and committed to Alabama.

His decision comes as a surprise to most as he was thought to be favoring Clemson heavily. Although that may have been true, you can never count out Alabama on the recruiting trail. It is important to note that McKinney had been previously committed to Alabama before opening up his recruitment.

What does losing McKinney mean for Clemson?

While losing Xavier McKinney certainly hurts, Clemson was not in dire need of a safety prospect to begin with. Clemson currently has safeties on the roster in Tanner Muse, Isaiah Simmons, Van Smith, Korrin Wiggins, K’Von Wallace, and Nolan Turner. Clemson also has current 2017 commits, Baylon Spector and A.J. Terrell who I believe has the length and athleticism to play safety if need be.

Clemson was “ALL IN” on Xavier McKinney and for good reason, McKinney is a stud. However, it caused Clemson to miss out on other prospects such as Markquese Bell and CJ Avery. Clemson’s recruiting class is talented, but, small with only 13 commits at the moment.

Losing Xavier McKinney is not an indictment of Clemson’s recruiting prowess, rather, it shows that Nick Saban, despite his age, can still finish down the stretch on the recruiting trail. I am not sure how large Clemson’s recruiting class will end up being. If Clemson can identify a prospect late into the cycle like they did last year with K’Von Wallace then they may get the safety they are looking for.

Should the Tigers miss out on a safety in this years recruiting class, the 2018 recruiting class is shaping up to be special. Clemson already has one top ten commit in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and are in play for other elite prospects such as Xavier Thomas and Zamir White.

We will keep you updated throughout the week on the status of Clemson recruiting

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