Alabama lands top 3 OLB Griffin for 2026 class

Alabama's 2026 recruiting people landed different important late-June recruiting boost Saturday erstwhile four-star defender Xavier Griffin, ESPN's No. 3 extracurricular linebacker, announced his committedness to the Crimson Tide implicit Florida State, Ohio State and Texas.

Griffin, a versatile, 6-foot-4, 205-pound imaginable from Gainesville, Georgia, is the No. 30 wide enlistee successful the 2026 ESPN 300. A erstwhile longtime USC commit, Griffin took authoritative visits with each of his finalists successful June. He present stands arsenic the top-ranked imaginable among 14 commits successful Alabama's incoming class, joining days aft the programme secured apical 300 pledges from moving backmost Ezavier Crowell (No. 31 overall) and choky extremity Mack Sutter (No. 138) connected Thursday night.

Griffin told ESPN that the Crimson Tide's pedigree and imaginativeness laid retired by Alabama manager Kalen DeBoer and extracurricular linebackers manager Christian Robinson were driving factors successful his decision.

"Growing up, conscionable seeing them, each the draught picks and worldly that they've had -- each the guys they've enactment successful the league -- it speaks for itself," Griffin said. "They person past and they're truly wide astir what they're trying to physique with this caller staff."

A carnal defender susceptible of dropping into coverage, Griffin has cemented his presumption arsenic 1 the nation's apical linebackers astatine Gainesville (Georgia) High School, wherever he's recorded 97 full tackles and 21 sacks crossed his sophomore and inferior seasons.

He initially committed to USC past July and remained 1 of the Trojans' apical prospects implicit adjacent 10 months earlier Griffin pulled his pledge from the programme connected May 14. Sources told ESPN astatine the clip that Griffin's decommitment stemmed from his volition to docket authoritative visits with programs this spring, bucking against USC's argumentation against committed players taking authoritative trips to different campuses.

Upon reopening his recruitment, Griffin locked successful authoritative visits with Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Texas for this month, closing with a travel to the Crimson Tide from June 20-22. Despite his lengthy USC pledge, Griffin told ESPN that nary programme recruited him much actively than Alabama crossed the past 2 years, led by Robinson, the program's second-year assistant.

"He's been 1 of the astir accordant with maine passim my full process," Griffin said. "He's conscionable a really, truly bully guy."

The highest-ranked of 7 ESPN 300 pledges bound for Alabama successful 2026, Griffin present leads an progressively talented Crimson Tide talented antiaircraft people forming successful the existent cycle.

Alongside Griffin, Alabama besides holds commitments from apical 10 cornerbacks Jorden Edmonds (No. 38 overall) and Zyan Gibson (No. 65) successful 2026. Defensive extremity Jamarion Matthews, Griffin's teammate astatine Gainesville High School and ESPN's No. 92 wide recruit, has been pledged to the Crimson Tide since February, and Alabama's latest antiaircraft people could get adjacent deeper implicit the adjacent period arsenic precedence targets including apical 60 prospects Jireh Edwards, Anthony Jones and Nolan Wilson attack the last stages of their respective recruiting processes.