Who will have instant impact? Ranking Alabama football 2026 class

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Alabama football has secured its 2026 recruiting class.

The Crimson Tide signed four five-star players in Kalen DeBoer’s second recruiting cycle in Tuscaloosa, one that ended with 20 Alabama signees.

Which members of Alabama’s 2026 class could see the field first? Here are four players that could see playing time immediately with the Crimson Tide.

RB Ezavier Crowell

Welcome to the future of the Alabama football run game.

Ezavier Crowell has dominated Alabama high school defenses as a five-star running back, recording 2,324 yards and 30 touchdowns on 184 carries with a 12.6 yards-per-carry average. Crowell had a 15-game streak of at least 100 rushing yards end Nov. 15 against W.S. Neal, where the Jackson High School back had four touchdowns and 71 yards on 10 carries, per MaxPreps.

Crowell is electric, physical, explosive and consistently gets to the second level of each defense he faces. And each time he speaks, he talks about the future of Alabama run game, one he believes he has a role to play in as soon as he arrives on campus.

WR Cederian Morgan

While the majority of Alabama’s wide receiver class signed elsewhere, the Crimson Tide keeps its key piece.

Cederian Morgan, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound receiver out of Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City was a matchup nightmare. He was a consistent red zone threat, a well-established blocker out wide and a decoy for his high school offense. Morgan had 82 catches for 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior.

Terrell Owens, the NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver compared Morgan to Julio Jones. And that skillset can be used immediately in the Alabama offense.

DL Jamarion Matthews

Alabama has a hole to fill at its bandit defensive end position as LT Overton finishes his final season with the Crimson Tide in 2025. And behind Jordan Renaud, the Crimson Tide doesn’t have many answers as to who will take the reins.

Enter Jamarion Matthews, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound edge rusher who dominated Alabama high school offensive lines before transferring to Gainesville High School in Georgia for his senior season. He has the speed of a pass rusher and a quick twitch that can make him effective off the edge. He also has the production with 49 tackles, 19 tackles-for-loss and nine sacks at Gainesville as a senior.

Matthews enters a bandit room without much between him and significant playing time. Look for Matthews to potentially be one of the leading freshmen when it comes to 2026 snaps.

SAF Jireh Edwards

Alabama may feel it has the best tandem of safeties in college football in Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb. And that’s not slowing down with Jireh Edwards.

Edwards was a ball hawk and a tackle machine at St. Frances Academy in Maryland, one whose athleticism and physicality can be useful at multiple positions in the Alabama defensive backfield.

Hubbard and Sabb each have one season left of eligibility. No matter what their decision is for 2026, it will be hard for Alabama to keep Edwards off the field.

LB Xavier Griffin

Justin Jefferson, Deontae Lawson and Nikhai Hil-Green are all out of eligibility after the 2025 season. Alabama will have multiple rotational spots open in the middle of its defense.

Enter in Xavier Griffin, a linebacker that looks like a replica of Jihaad Campbell and a versatile athlete who is used as an outside linebacker for stopping run fits, rushing the passer and dropping back in pass coverage.

Alabama had a larger linebacker class in 2025. Griffin and Zay Hall are the only two the Crimson Tide secured in 2026. But Griffin could be tasked with being a rotational piece or even a starter from day one.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football 2026 recruiting class instant impact players

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos