3 Biggest Recruiting Busts in Recent Alabama Football History

Nick Saban has helped build Alabama from a team that was mired in the doldrums of mediocrity to the premier college football program of the last decade on the back of some of the best recruiting classes in the history of the sport. While plenty of 5-stars have achieved stardom in Tuscaloosa before a long career in pro football, it's not a guarantee that all of them will work out, as evidenced by these three flops.

3. QB Blake Barnett

Barnett started Alabama's 2016 season opener against USC, but the Trojans started blowing the doors off the Tide in the first half before Saban made the switch to Jalen Hurts. After Hurts took Bama to two title games, winning one, Barnett would leave Alabama after one year and transfer to Arizona State, then transfer again to USF after getting beat out by Manny Wilkins for the starting job in Tempe. Barnett struggled with the Bulls, throwing 16 touchdowns in two years and never living up to the hype.

2. OT Tyler Love

Love was a Birmingham kid that was the consensus top tackle in the 2008 class. Unfortunately for Love, offensive line is one position that Saban always seems to corner the market on in recruiting, and he failed to beat out some of Bama's other top recruits like Andre Smith and Cyrus Kouandjio. Love rarely saw the field in three seasons with the Tide, and he ended up quitting the team with one year of eligibility left to go work in sales. It's fair to call him a disappointment.

1. EDGE Eyabi Anoma

Anoma was supposed to be the next man up on the conveyor belt of tremendous pass rushers Bama pumps out every year. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep his act together, and Saban booted him out of Tuscaloosa before he finished setting up his dorm room. After transferring to Houston, Anoma was dismissed again, this time for skipping class, missing meetings, and fighting with coaches and players. He has all the talent in the world, but lacks the attitude to make it all come together.