The A-List is AL.com’s ranking of the top 15 senior prospects in the state of Alabama. We will count down one each day until No. 1 is revealed Aug. 23.

Alabama defensive tackle commit Isaia Faga has an above-average love for the game of football.

“It’s crazy for a defensive lineman,” said Patrick Nix, his coach at Central-Phenix City. “A lot of times those guys might love to play the game, but they don’t necessarily love practice. They don’t love all those other things quite as much. But Isaia loves the conditioning part. He loves the training. He loves the game. Period.”

That love for the game has helped make the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Faga one of the top senior prospects in Alabama this season. He comes in at No. 6 on AL.com’s A-List of leading 2024 recruits in Alabama.

“A leverage dominant prospect with outside-inside rushing ability at the prep level, Faga packs power in his punches and can react quickly in the trenches to rack up tackles for loss and sacks,” said John Garcia Jr., national college recruiting analyst for Rivals. “There is a maturity to his game despite being slightly undersized for an interior projection, allowing Faga to win in the margins, especially in between gaps on Friday nights.”

Rivals ranked Faga No. 24 among in-state prospects in June. He has steadily risen in the rankings for most recruiting services. He is No. 19 in the latest On3 rankings.

Faga originally committed to Utah in December but flipped his commitment to the Crimson Tide in June – less than four months after Nick Saban and company offered the Red Devils’ standout.

“Isaia Faga has a tremendous motor. He’s relentless,” said Jimmy Stein, BOL team analyst. “He has plus athleticism for a defensive tackle and, in combination with that motor, he becomes a tremendously productive player for a down lineman. That relentless competitiveness on tape is reminiscent of (current Alabama DL) Khurtiss Perry. I think Faga could develop into a quality interior pass rusher.”

Faga was credited with 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks as a junior and is part of a prospect-filled Central-Phenix City team that begins this season ranked No. 4 in the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A preseason rankings.

“He’s very competitive, very physical,” Nix said. “He is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around.”

Faga was born in Las Vegas and moved to the South when his father, Adrian Faga, was transferred to Fort Moore near Columbus, Ga., in 2019. His father also was stationed in North Carolina and Alaska prior to the move to Georgia, according to Bamaonline.

Utah was the first school to offer Faga a scholarship, and he had a family connection there. His uncle, Lewis Powell, is defensive ends coach. But the chance to play at Alabama turned out to be too good to pass up.

“(Utah) made me feel as though I am a valued member of the Ute Family. But after a change of heart, my family and I have decided to decommit from the University of Utah,” he wrote in June, adding, ”It is an honor and a privilege to announce that I am committed to the University of Alabama.”

Nix said – like any player on the line of scrimmage – Faga will need to adjust to the physicality at the college level, especially in the SEC.

“But as far as work ethic, knowledge, those types of things, he will be able to step right in and really pick up quickly,” he said. “It won’t take him long physically to get in there because he is that type of worker.”

Garcia said Faga is likely to gain more weight at Alabama and work almost exclusively inside on defense.

“The pound-for-pound strength and quickness he shows on tape will have to become calling cards in his game while working against bigger and bulkier players in the SEC, depending on his true role,” Garcia said. “High-floor prospects like this typically don’t sit very long after making the move to college.”

A-LIST NO. 6: ISAIA FAGA, CENTRAL-PHENIX CITY

Position: Defensive line

Height/weight: 6-2, 285

College status: Committed to Alabama.

Randy Kennedy’s scouting report: The hardest kind of player to find on the recruiting trail is an athletic interior defensive lineman. Isaia Faga is exactly that. Faga has power, speed and a great motor to disrupt offenses by dominating the area near the snap.

THE 2024 A-LIST

No. 15: Josh Flowers, QB, Baker

No. 14: Bobby Pruitt, LB, Theodore

No. 13: JaCorey Whitted, TE, McAdory

No. 12: Kevin Riley, RB, Tuscaloosa County

No. 11: J’Marion Burnette, RB, Andalusia

No. 10: William Sanders, OL, Brookwood

No. 9: Jordan Ross, EDGE, Vestavia Hills

No. 8: Joseph Phillips, LB, Booker T. Washington

No. 7: Sterling Dixon, LB, Spanish Fort

No. 6: Isaia Faga, DL, Central-Phenix City