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No. 2 In-State EDGE Names Alabama Finalist and Announces Commitment Date

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 5:02 PM ET

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer only lost three games with the Washington Huskies from 2023-24.

In his first season with the Crimson Tide, he had a record of 9-4 and missed the College Football Playoff. While the results are not what fans had hoped for yet, recruiting remains consistent for the Crimson Tide.

On3's Hayes Fawcett reported Saturday that four-star edge rusher Jaquez Wilkes named Alabama, the Auburn Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes as finalists.

Wilkes is a native of Wadley, Alabama and is the No. 2 edge rusher in the state via the On3 Industry Rankings.

The prospect is the No. 15 edge rusher and No. 96 national recruit in the 2026 class. He will pick between those five schools on Monday.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine has Auburn as the frontrunner, giving the Tigers a 97.9% chance to land him. Alabama and Texas A&M are behind Auburn, each given a less than 1% chance of earning a commitment from the edge rusher.

The Crimson Tide has kept tabs on Wilkes in the offseason, having him in Tuscaloosa for an unofficial visit on April 12.

Alabama is also making sure to stay in touch with a member of the 2028 class. Receiver Brysen Wright made an incredible one-handed catch at the NFL Flag Championship, which garnered over 600K views on X. He has received offers from Alabama, the LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes, and others.

It will be a few years before Wright plays at the college level, but some Alabama faithful have been keeping up with a past head coach. There were rumors that Nick Saban would return to coaching, but his daughter quickly dispelled those.

Kristen Saban set the record straight on her Instagram story, revealing that there was no weight to the rumors.

While the Saban rumors have died down, fans will anxiously await Wilkes' commitment.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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