Kenny Bell

[Airborne Tider]

Not sure what this 'surprise commitment' stuff is, all I saw was on the TideSports chat someone asked him if there COULD be a surprise, and he said 'sure'. Like you said, he never makes solid predictions, mainly because he can't. Anyone can talk about how it looks good for Bama getting Dre/Moore/Tana/Lacey and iffy for Randle/Reid.

And my point in comparing him to DD is that Bone is about as respectable. No one takes DD seriously, and no one I know that's been following recruiting closely for any amount of time takes Bone seriously. When is the last time AB scooped Rodney Orr and Tim Watts on a recruiting story? There's a reason why you can't think of one.

Again, if you like him that's fine, but I've been following his 'analysis' for about 5 years now.

Trust me I don't count on Bone for any behind the scenes info. But even if he does have it, he doesn't give it out. Trust me I am well aware of Rodney's reputation and I respect his information. And Rodney has hinted for a while that their could be a last minute switch in Bama's favor. Believe Bone or not but he was not the first one to report a possible surprise and he is definitely not the only one.

 

[BigEasyTider]

I don't think Bone and Dandy Don should be thrown into the same ring together. I have my complaints with Bone, but there could never be another goober quite like Dandy Don. At absolute best he's wholly incompetent, and at worse he is downright deceitful. You couldn't replicate an idiot like that if you had to, and we should all be thankful for that.

With Bone, he's far more professional, but his problem is that he just never says anything, period. Everything he says is so guarded and played closely to the vest that you cannot gain any real information from it whatsoever. Even in his recruiting chats with Tide Sports, often times he doesn't even really answer the questions submitted, he just glances over them with a generic response that really tells you nothing. Bone talks a lot, but very rarely does he actually say something.

Anyway, about the mystery recruit...

If you want to stick to the original parameters that Bone gave, none of the guys mentioned would fit the bill. Not Teague, Bell, Jackson, Cox, etc. All of those guys are or have publicly considered Alabama, so that would be no surprise. The surprise would, in order to meet the criteria he listed, have to be someone who we would never even think of otherwise.

That said, though, I figure the whole "mystery recruit" bit is probably much ado about nothing.

 

[NATidefan]

Well in my opinion we pick up at least one, probably two, more wrs out of the KK, KB, MT, RR, and PP group, I don't see RR or MT, I think it'll either be PP and KB or PP and KK.

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[BigEasyTider]

Earlier it was assumed that if Randle,Debose and Kelly all come to LSU Bell will bolt for Bama.

Maybe so, but Debose is now a Gator, and Kelly will be with Alabama if we really want him, so I'm not sure how applicable that is.

What I cannot help but wonder is exactly where Kelly stacks up on our staff's board. We all agree that he is behind Randle and Patterson, but how does he stack up against Bell and Teague?

It's a very important question, because if he's third on the overall board behind Randle and Patterson, then he's probably a 'Bama lock. On the other hand, though, if we have either Bell or Teague ahead of him he might not get a firm offer, and if both are ahead of him then he's probably headed to either LSU or Clemson.

That's just part of the uncertainty of NSD. I guess we'll find out in the next 36 hours, though.

 

[NATidefan]

Much ado about nothing is a bit much, I don't think AB is pulling stuff out of thin air, at the same time I don't think he's saying there's a definite surprise. I think KB popped on the scene and AB thinks there's a chance. But not a certainty.

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[NATidefan]

Maybe so, but Debose is now a Gator, and Kelly will be with Alabama if we really want him, so I'm not sure how applicable that is.

What I cannot help but wonder is exactly where Kelly stacks up on our staff's board. We all agree that he is behind Randle and Patterson, but how does he stack up against Bell and Teague?

It's a very important question, because if he's third on the overall board behind Randle and Patterson, then he's probably a 'Bama lock. On the other hand, though, if we have either Bell or Teague ahead of him he might not get a firm offer, and if both are ahead of him then he's probably headed to either LSU or Clemson.

That's just part of the uncertainty of NSD. I guess we'll find out in the next 36 hours, though.

I agree a hundred percent BET, for some reason I feel bell and teague are ahead of KK. Which is hard to swallow when you look at KK's numbers, but then again KK isn't a slot receiver.

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[BigEasyTider]

I agree a hundred percent BET, for some reason I feel bell and teague are ahead of KK. Which is hard to swallow when you look at KK's numbers, but then again KK isn't a slot receiver.

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I wonder that myself, honestly. I do believe that we need another slot receiver, but at this point it may be about taking whoever is higher on our board, and not making those distinctions within a position group.

I'll be honest, though, if I were calling the shots (and I know obviously I'm not, and I won't complain regardless of what Saban chooses to do)...

I'd take Kelly over both Bell and Teague. I know Kelly has his shortcomings, but if he can get healthy, with good coaching, he can be a truly elite player. Physically, he's built just like Julio Jones, and he could be a beast. Moreover, he's a good kid, a lifelong 'Bama fan, and there are no issues with regard to qualifying. And furthermore, I figure if we pass on him, LSU will jump on him faster than you can turn your head... and when Kelly gets to Baton Rouge he'll probably work 24/7/365 just to shove it down our throats and make us regret passing on him.

I'll be honest, I don't think he'll end up at Clemson regardless. I think he is ours if we want him, and if we let him slip away, I imagine LSU jumps on this one instantly. I cannot see both Alabama and LSU passing him over, and that is what would have to happen, IMO, for him to get to Clemson.

 

[NATidefan]

Well it seems kelly is an unknown considering his senior year, but I will do the cliche and say I trust in CNS, I just want to see the passing game improve beyond julio

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[BAMAMICH]

I wonder that myself, honestly. I do believe that we need another slot receiver, but at this point it may be about taking whoever is higher on our board, and not making those distinctions within a position group.

I'll be honest, though, if I were calling the shots (and I know obviously I'm not, and I won't complain regardless of what Saban chooses to do)...

I'd take Kelly over both Bell and Teague. I know Kelly has his shortcomings, but if he can get healthy, with good coaching, he can be a truly elite player. Physically, he's built just like Julio Jones, and he could be a beast. Moreover, he's a good kid, a lifelong 'Bama fan, and there are no issues with regard to qualifying. And furthermore, I figure if we pass on him, LSU will jump on him faster than you can turn your head... and when Kelly gets to Baton Rouge he'll probably work 24/7/365 just to shove it down our throats and make us regret passing on him.

I'll be honest, I don't think he'll end up at Clemson regardless. I think he is ours if we want him, and if we let him slip away, I imagine LSU jumps on this one instantly. I cannot see both Alabama and LSU passing him over, and that is what would have to happen, IMO, for him to get to Clemson.

Yea, this has truly been an interesting part of BAMA recruiting this year. The person who I've considered a BAMA lock for a long time seems to be the one with the most question marks around his decision for LOI. I agree, I would have KK higher than Teague and Bell. No knock on them but KK gives the WR that extra playmaker we need. We have Norwood and Bowman, but I've been saying all along we need to take 4 WRs out of this class ... not 2 and a Slot position.

Bowman is still not a lock on the academics side and things are still up in the air with PP so we still ma end up with only one out of this class.

I'm assuming that the Slot position would be an added bonus, not a high necessity, specially since we haven't been high on these guys all year. We have possibilities already at Slot with Maze, Hanks and posibly Scott and Grant.

But WR ... thats the position we need playmakers and depth. MM and EA are the only options we really have at WR to go with JJ. We need at least three more solid players for playmaking and depth.

In the end, I still believe KK signs with us, but I would be disappointed in the staff if they passed over him. Even if we did sign PP and RR. There are certain players out of the state we could pass on, just don't see how can pass on him. JMO

 

[M2J]

Anyway, about the mystery recruit...

If you want to stick to the original parameters that Bone gave, none of the guys mentioned would fit the bill. Not Teague, Bell, Jackson, Cox, etc. All of those guys are or have publicly considered Alabama, so that would be no surprise. The surprise would, in order to meet the criteria he listed, have to be someone who we would never even think of otherwise.

That said, though, I figure the whole "mystery recruit" bit is probably much ado about nothing.

Maybe you saw something I didn't, but considering whenever he brings up the surprise recruit and there's nothing about Teague in those chats, and in the Scout prediction article he kinda surprisingly picked Teague to go to Alabama...I'd say its gotta be him. Where on Bell/Cox, Bone basically has said we aren't gonna get both.

I highly doubt Bone knows of some recruit that either isn't on our radar or we have completely dismissed as a possibility.

And with all that said, I think nothing will come out of it. The guys we'll get will be the guys we are expecting or if we're shocked, it will be someone we know we're high with but will still shock us like Randle or Reid. I wouldn't go expecting a Marlon Brown or the like to be jumping on board. Though I wish

 

[NATidefan]

The thing that's driving me wild is that everyone says KK is ours if we want him, he's a bama fan, etc. Add on we all know we need another good wr, even if we get PP. So my question is why is there so much confusion regrading KK, seems like he'd be in the dre category if there wasn't some other behind the scenes discussions going on.

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[BigEasyTider]

And with all that said, I think nothing will come out of it.

I think you are probably right there.

All in all, I think it's probably a bit exaggerated. I don't think Bone is outright making things up, but it does seem like he is blowing things out of proportion a bit as we close in on NSD. His latest is that after dropping by Gadsden High on Monday that the coaching staff had no clue on where either Kirkpatrick or Kelly would go, it's razor thin between Alabama and Texas for Kirkpatrick, suddenly Clemson and Tennessee may have made very big gains for Kelly while LSU has dropped out, and that their parents would support them going to any out-of-state school.

I don't know, I'm not going to say it's outright lies, but a lot of things he has said lately seem a bit off the wall and don't really jive with everything else you hear. Again, I'm not accusing him of outright fabrications, mind you, but we shouldn't forget that he works for a company that makes money selling you "inside" information on prospects like this, and in that case exaggeration mixed with a bit of smoke and mirrors is often a good business practice.

After all, no one is shelling out $100 a year for "inside" information when the reality of the matter is that by this late in the game 99.9% of the prospects have already made their minds up.

 

[BigEasyTider]

The thing that's driving me wild is that everyone says KK is ours if we want him, he's a bama fan, etc. Add on we all know we need another good wr, even if we get PP. So my question is why is there so much confusion regrading KK, seems like he'd be in the dre category if there wasn't some other behind the scenes discussions going on.

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Again... if Patterson, Bell, and Teague are higher on our boards than Kelly, he has to wait until something happens to those guys to get an offer.

And besides, honestly, if you've waited this long, you may as well go ahead and wait until NSD.

 

[LCN]

Kelly is also scheduled as the last WR on the board to announce - Patterson , Bell , Teague , Randle and then Kelly .

 

[TIDEFAN17]

Bah, LSU is getting Rueben Randle...Rejoice my Tiger bretheren. You guys would rather have him than Nick Saban, lol. On the flip side , I WILL be OVERLY excited to pick up Kenny Bell.

 

[Bamaball2001]

Kelly, Bell, Teague.....I would like to see two of them but even one will make my day. Put them with Jones, Bowman and Norwood and that makes one heck of an, ultra young, WR corp.

:BigA: RTR!