Alabama football fans stay focused on the magic number for every recruiting class. Twenty-five is the base number and both the NCAA and the SEC have made oversigning more difficult. Long over are classes filled with 37 players like Houston Nutt signed several seasons ago.
Nick Saban, like most coaches, is very creative in roster management. Grayshirts are not uncommon. Even blueshirts have been used, though that option is basically no longer available. Teams can still carry over open slots from a previous class, except it cannot be because a signee failed to qualify academically.
Alabama football has three carryover slots from last season, making the magic number 28 for the 2019 class.