Five-star defensive tackle Damon Payne announced his engagement to Alabama live on Sunday afternoon at CBS Sports HQ. The 6-foot-3, 297-pound defender from Belleville High School (Mich.) Gives Crimson Tide the nation’s # 1 defensive tackle prospect in the 2021 draft class, based on the 247Sports Composite ranking generated by the industry.
Payne is also ranked # 14 overall in the nation’s recruiting class in 2021, as well as # 1 overall in the state of Michigan for this cycle. Payne chose Alabama over schools like the state of Arizona, Kentucky, the state of Michigan, and USC.
Alabama originally offered Payne in April 2018. Payne had not announced finalists or a shortlist of a group of 10 that it announced in February, but the schools mentioned are the programs that Payne had mentioned as possible official visiting destinations this fall if visits allowed. .
Alabama was the clear leader in the 247Sports Crystal Ball entering Payne’s engagement announcement. The Crimson Tide had obtained 10 forecasts for landing Payne, including the five predictions from leading experts. The addition of Payne gives Nick Saban and his coaching staff 16 commitments for the 2021 class, which was already ranked No. 2 nationally in the 247 Sports Composite Team Recruitment Ranking.
Payne is a standout in two sports in soccer and athletics, where he competes in shot put and discus. Payne rHe recorded a personal record of 52 feet in the shot put and recorded 133 feet, 3 inches in the puck in May 2019. He finished the 2019 athletics season as the Michigan Division I state qualifier in the shot put.
The next breakdown is the 247Sports scan report on Payne. His comparison of players from 247Sports scout Charles Power is former Alabama standout and current Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson:
“A robust defensive lineman with a well proportioned frame. He does not carry much weight on his body despite being around 300 pounds. He has registered as a good athlete for the position with great short area speed and exploded in combined configurations. before his junior season. He works as a two-way lineman in Belleville and has played both ways in the camps early in his career before establishing himself as a defensive tackle prospect. He plays with a high-level combination of first-pass swiftness and strength at the point of attack. Shows the ability to create interruption as an inside pass runner with popping of the ball paired with a low level of the pad. It has active hands and has already been technically developed with effective push and pull movements at this stage. He also shows the strength at his base to anchor and make plays as a career defender. He can continue to progress from the point of view of e production on the defensive side (plays both ways) and as a persecution defender. He projects himself as a multi-year starter at the Power Five level with the advantage of becoming a first-round NFL Draft pick. “
