Alabama beat out Auburn and Florida State to land its third commitment in a week, when four-star linebacker Markail Benton committed to the Crimson Tide on Friday morning.

A product of Phenix City (Ala.) Central High School, Benton is considered one of the top overall players in the country, rated as the No. 6 outside linebacker and the No. 86 overall player in the 2017 class, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

Long considered a heavy Auburn lean, Alabama seized momentum of Benton’s recruitment, putting on the full-court press this spring. Behind the efforts of first-year defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley, and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, the Tide went from outlier to favorite in the course of a few months.

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Ansley and Benton had already established a relationship during the defensive backs coach’s time at Kentucky. The transition to Alabama was seamless.

“Coach Ansley, he’s a good guy,” Benton told BamaOnLine earlier this spring. “I’ve known him for a while; he was my recruiter at Kentucky as well. He’s recruiting me much more than Kirby Smart was.”

While the Tigers have always been the presumed favorite, Benton himself would never admit to it.

“I don’t have an order,” Benton said. “Most people think Auburn is my leader because it’s thirty minutes away from me. That’s the closest college for me to visit and I’ve got a teammate, John (Broussard) who’s already at Auburn, so I go up there and hang with him sometimes.”

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Oftentimes with big-name recruits, like Benton, early playing time is a major selling point. Head coach Nick Saban made sure the four-star ‘backer knew he’d have an opportunity to see the field.

“Coach Saban was telling me they were losing a lot of linebackers this year and the coming up year,” Benton said. “So he was saying don’t worry about playing time too much.”

Benton, who is recruited to play inside linebacker with the Tide, is the third linebacker to commit in Alabama’s 2017 class joining elite prospects VanDarius Cowan and Gary Johnson.

Friday’s commitment in No. 12 for UA’s class, bumping the 247Sports Team Rankings score to 236.53, maintaining Bama’s spot as the No. 2 class in the nation.

At the time of his commitment, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Benton was trending to Alabama at 60 percent on the 247Sports Crystal Ball.

Earlier this week Alabama added four-star junior college offensive tackle Elliot Baker, as well as flipped four-star quarterback Mac Jones from Kentucky.

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