In 2013, Alabama took the commitment of a promising stud defensive tackle out of Georgia — a position and a state where it is hard to pry loose talent. At the time, Elisha Shaw was the No. 3 DT prospect in the nation and the No. 1 recruit in all of the Peachtree State. It was a big get for the program; it was a perfect fit for Shaw.
“After I went down, my neck was really stiff so they put me in a neck brace,” Shaw said. “I thought it was the sort of thing where they’d give me some pain relievers and it would be something that healed in a week, and that’d I’d come back and be ready to go.