Alabama is a football-crazy state known for producing some of the most talented players to ever play in the NFL such as Bart Starr, Ozzie Newsome, Terrell Owens and Julio Jones.

With the 2024 Alabama high school football season kicking off later this month, now is a good time to talk about some key players to watch this year who might be the next NFL stars to hail from the Yellowhammer State.

Here is a look at the top 10 recruits in Alabama’s Class of 2025 in order of their state ranking:

1. Na’eem Offord – Cornerback

2. Jared Smith – Edge

3. Malik Autry – Defensive line

4. Jakaleb Faulk – Edge

5. Eric Winters – Safety

6. Zion Grady – Edge

7. Derick Smith – Athlete

8. Jourdin Crawford – Defensive line

9. Anquon Fegans – Safety

10. Antonio Coleman – Defensive line

The Alabama high school football season begins on August 23. Find your team’s schedule here:

>>2024 Alabama high school football schedules released

Visit High School on SI for more of the latest high school football coverage.

To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app:

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— Sam Brown | sam@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

Welcome to BamaCentral’s “Just a Minute,” a video series featuring BamaCentral’s Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral staff writers Blake Byler and Katie Windham discuss which freshmen could make an early impact for Alabama football this season after getting to watch portions of the Crimson Tide’s fall camp practices and speaking to coaches and players.

Alabama football has officially completed a week of fall camp. Under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, the team has switched to morning practices, and DeBoer rewarded the players for the first week with an ice cream truck after Wednesday’s practice.

Nick Saban didn’t leave the cupboard bare for DeBoer, in fact, it’s a well-stocked roster at almost every position. Alabama has one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country, which sometimes leads people to think that freshmen won’t see the field. But that simply isn’t true.

There are several Crimson Tide freshmen in contention for starting spots or significant roles on the team. Cornerback is the position with the least returning experience, and three freshmen have been drawing praise throughout fall camp: Zabien Brown, Jaylen Mbakwe and Zavier Mincey.

On the offensive side of the ball, Caleb Odom and Ryan Williams are two talented wide receivers that likely won’t be starting, but will be in rotation at receiver. And redshirt freshman Wilkin Formby has been taking the first-team reps at right tackle through the first week of fall camp.

As for-profit Tenet Healthcare slims its hospital portfolio, it found an unlikely buyer for its Alabama hospitals: Florida’s Orlando Health.  

Orlando Health draws more than $6 billion in annual revenue and has a profit margin that surpasses most of its peers. A hospital system executive system leader said crossing state lines to buy five Birmingham-area hospitals is part of its focus on serving the Southeastern U.S., even though most of its 17 existing hospitals are still in Florida. 

It’s not at all surprising that a multi-billion dollar health system would have ambitions of expanding beyond its home state. That’s especially true as hospital systems continue to merge at a breakneck pace, increasingly jumping across multiple states to do so. Meanwhile, study after study concludes that hospitals use their newfound market power to drive up prices.