This may a be a situation of being careful what you wish for. I understand that this kid is rated a 4 star and you can’t teach size. But someone else on here pointed out that they discussed him with someone watching him at a camp recently and that he was a “turnstile” at OT.
This would not be a surprise to me having seen the prep school football competition up front and close. Kids that play there are not the same size as this kid, nor are they of the same athleticism and drive in football. Most of these kids are privileged youth from the northeast who’s parents are captains of industry. Imagine being 6 foot and 225 and being a dominate DE against most teams that are in the prep school circuit. That is most often what the competition looks like. And here comes a 6’6” kid with size and weight and of course he dominates the other side of the ball…as he should.
How is this going to translate against real competition? Against a kid from the inner city that sees football as the escape to a better life? Against a kid that is of equal height and 255 and is lightening fast? I may be wrong in my assessment, but if playing against kids from Choate, Kent, Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, etc. is any indication of this kid’s ability and the ranking is relying on this, I would be skeptical of him contributing right away, especially on the outside.
May not be too big of a loss, especially at Bama’s expense. I might be wrong but I would much rather have a kid competing in SC that has equal size with a basketball background which requires moving one’s feet. My $0.02.