We’re picking up where we left off yesterday …
DEFENSIVE END
On 2011 roster: 6 (Ford, Eguae, Bonomolo, Lemonier, Sanders, Delaine)
Projected signees: 1, more likely 2
Commitments: I’m going with none.
Analysis? A year after landing an outstanding crop of DEs, Tracy Rocker’s probably going to put most of his recruiting efforts towards shoring up the middle of the line rather than the edge. With just one junior amongst the six ends on the roster, it’s not a position of need. But they’ll probably want a blue-chipper or two here anyway, which is why they appear to be aiming high.
Targets? Auburn is firmly in the mix for mega-stud Ray Drew, and though there’s a lot of ground to make up with Xzavier Dickson, he appears to at least be giving Auburn a good look. Keymiya Harrell and Devaunte Sigler are two in-state possibilities, and hey, remember Terrance Coleman? Supposedly he would likely commit if offered, but that Chizik and Co. haven’t yet suggests they’re waiting to see what happens with targets like Drew and Dickson first.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
On 2011 roster: 5 (Fairley, Lykes, Travis, Whitaker, Carter)
Projected signees: 4
Commitments: JaBrian Niles, Angelo Blackson
Analysis? Aside from quarterback, probably the No. 1 position of need for Auburn in this class. Looking ahead to 2012, Fairley will be gone, and this isn’t the sort of position where true freshmen typically thrive, regardless of ability. So Auburn’s rotation will be made up of Lykes, Travis, Carter, Whitaker … and whoever Chizik and Co. can find in this class. You know Rocker’s going to want at least six viable candidates to choose from … and based on Travis’s burned special-teams redshirt, I doubt Rocker believes he’s going to be one. So there needs to be three of them this year, and preferably four.
Fortunately, in the super-sleeper Blackson (you think Auburn’s coaches are going to go up to Delaware just to bring in an average prospect? Right) and the offer-laden Niles, they appear to have two already.
Targets? The two big ones still on the board are D.C.-area big man Kevin McReynolds and–much closer to home–Columbus’s Gabe Wright. Auburn also appears to have serious interest in colossal JUCO DT Jonathan Jenkins, who at 6-4 and 330 (and attending a Mississippi JUCO) has drawn the inevitable Terrance Cody comparisons. Auburn High’s Jamichael Payne would love to get a firm Auburn offer and might depending on how things shake out elsewhere.
In the end, I’d expect Auburn to land one of McReynolds or Wright, add a JUCO (whether Jenkins or not), and then probably be done.
LINEBACKER
On 2011 roster: 8 (Freeman, Evans, Gaston, Bates, Curry, Owens, White, Holland)
Projected signees: 2
Commitments: Chris Landrum
Analysis? As with the DEs, a year after landing a boffo four-member class at linebacker and with 7 of the 8 current LBs still underclassmen, Auburn’s likely to go a bit easier this time around.
Targets? No doubt we’ll hear from a few more once the official-visit train gets rolling, but for now, A.J. Johnson (whose relatively “meh” guru rankings are more out of whack with his boatload of offers than just about any recruit I can remember) is the only ‘backer firmly on the Auburn radar … and it’s debatable how firmly on the radar even he is. We’ll see. I’ll be surprised if Landrum winds up the only LB in the class, but it’s not completely implausible.
CORNERBACK
On 2011 roster: 6 (Thorpe, Bell, Gulley-Morgan, Davis, White, Mincy)
Projected signees: 2-3
Commitments: None just yet
Analysis? Lots of promising young talent already on the roster, but as all of it save Mincy is coming over from a different position–and is young–how much of it is going to translate into SEC-caliber performers? No doubt Auburn will want a few more bullets in the chamber for a position that, again, will put three players on the field as often as not.
Targets? Jonathan Rose remains as strong an Auburn lean as a lean can be without actually being committed. Despite offers from the likes of Florida, Alabama, and Notre Dame, Auburn still leads for Chris Jones. So that’s a hell of a start. Ahmad Christian is another distinct possibility, and because of his nickname I have to note that Auburn just offered Robenson “Cadillac” Therezie.
The guess is that Auburn lands Rose and takes two other corners to boot.
SAFETIES
On 2011 roster: 5 (Cole, Slade, McNeil, McNeal, Smith)
Projected signees: 4
Commitments: Izauea Lanier, Anthony Swain
Analysis? Yep: assuming Bates stays at linebacker and Bell stays at corner, Auburn’s signed just two safeties in their last two classes. Meaning that Auburn doesn’t just need safety quantity–though that helps explain why Lanier and Swain were two of Auburn’s first three commitments–but they need quality as well.
Targets? Assuming the little whatever-it-was between Erique Florence and his Valley coaches was more blip than trend, Florence should wind up at Auburn, who virtually everyone agrees holds a huge lead for him. But Chizik and Co. aren’t likely to stop there: Kadetrix Marcus came to Big Cat and has been to Auburn a handful of other times. Jones and Therezie could both wind up at safety as well.
In the end, expect a four-member class of safeties consisting of Lanier, Swain, Florence, and one other player that should keep the position well-stocked for a while.
SPECIALISTS
On 2011 roster: 2 (Parkey, Clark)
Projected signees: 0
Commitments: None, none forthcoming
Analysis? With both a kicker and punter in the class of 2010, the chances of Auburn spending a scholarship on either position in ’11 are completely nil. And just for the record, Dakota Mosley’s long-snapping proficiency means that even if Chizik and Co. were of the mindset that it would be worth recruiting a long snapper, they’re not going to do it now.
Targets? None.
A FINAL WORD
If you were wondering how long it was going to take certain Auburn fans to get spoiled by Chizik and Co.’s 2010 success, the answer–predictably–has been “yep, just the one year.” There’s been more than a little grumbling in the wake of both tackle prospects (Jamar Lewter and Brey Cook) going elsewhere and the lack of movement (forward movement, I should say, since it seems Auburn may be moving backwards with Mike Blakely) on the running back front.
To which I can only shake my head. Auburn already has a consensus top-100 quarterback and is the heavy favorite to sign two lights-out, Rivals100 defensive backs; that’s already three players more highly-ranked than any Tubby signed in his final two classes or that joined up in the abbreviated 2009 class. We’ve complained ad nauseum about the need for better in-state recruiting and look: Auburn’s got big leads with both Nos. 2 and 3, has a commitment from No. 7, and if they can hang onto Jones will likely take half of the top eight and 7 or 8 of the top 15. Of the eight players currently committed, only three–Lanier, Swain, and Landrum–can be portrayed as even “average” Auburn recruits, and there’s certainly a case to be made that all three of them are above-average as well.
So what more do people want? No, it’s not going to quite live up to the ridiculous standard of the class of 2010, but it’s not going to be all that far off. And honestly, this past signing haul wasn’t ever likely to be repeated. It was a one-time thing, and that’s fine. Auburn’s fine. Auburn’s better than fine, way better. Anyone who doesn’t realize that needs a prescription for 50 pills of Chillaxiflan, stat.
Photo via.
Anything less than a recruiting national championship is a colossal disappointment.
I’m not satisfied with anything less than a 15-0 record this year. Maybe even 16-0.
Has anyone seen this new site http://www.smartestauburntiger.com?
It looks pretty cool and a fun game. Is this sponsored by the University?
Great post WBE! It’s this type of outside the box thinking that I like about this blog. I think Chizik & co. can at least maintain what they accomplished last year. If any recruits looked at our spring game on ESPNU they could see by our depth that there is a chance to play early. Besides once Cam Newton and these great group of seniors start winning big games, the recruiting will take care of itself! WDE
Im starting to think that the coaches are going to try to convince JaMicheal Payne to walk-on. I think they like him, but wont have room..
Rick, no way there’s AUfficial ties there. But it’s a cool idea.
BD, thanks. I do think the season itself will only help, and Chizik and Co. have shown themselves to be pretty adept at finding some big talents late in the process. The only hitch: if the season’s so good Malzahn (or Taylor, or Thigpen) moves on. But I can live with that.
WDR, that may be the case. But they may also find a scholarship on the back end of the class, a la Ryan Smith. We won’t know for a while.
Great post. As a non rivals/scout/etc. subscriber I was needing a synopsis of Auburn’s current recruiting to help me get an understanding of what it was really looking like. Though, I do have to take issue with your last paragraph.
Maybe it is because I grew up in the Dye era, and know very little personally about the Barfield and Bryant days, but I consider Auburn to be one of the premier programs in the country. So why is it outrageous to expect Auburn to finish in the top 7 or 10 in the country every year in recruiting and more importantly in the top 3 or 4 in the SEC? I don’t have time to fact check it but I thought I remembered that Auburn has won the same number of SEC Championships as bama since 1982 and has a winning record over Alabama since Dye came on. And no, I don’t think beating Alabama is the only thing that matters but I do think it is a good indicator that we are in a new era of college football.
I think, as you have illustrated in your great post here, that we have already gotten commitments from some great players in this class and will continue to build on that with some commitments from the other targets we have out there. But that is what I, as an Auburn fan, expect and I think the rest of the Auburn family is entitled to expect those things too. We love our football as much as anyone else in the country, and I think we love our University more than anyone. So why is it out of touch with reality to expect the best? Keep your pills, and I will keep my expectations of hard work and excellence.
Seriously though, I really do love the blog. Great work.
First off, AUAlum, thanks for the nice words. I don’t think we’re really that far off each other in terms of expectations–I agree that expecting a top 7-10 finish is perfectly reasonable (if maybe just a hair lower if we ever get around to signing a 16-18-member class) and that so is staying in the upper echelon of the SEC. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we’re on pace for–a top-10 class and a big season. The Chicken Littles out there seem to think that just because there’s not as much “buzz” as there was at this time last summer and a few out-of-state prospects of the sort we plucked away last year have gone elsewhere, that suddenly the staff is getting outworked and they were a flash-in-the-pan and maybe we shouldn’t get all that excited. Which I think is bunk.
Hard work and excellence, yes, that should be expected. A second straight top-5 class featuring five-stars at RB, QB, and WR and several other states’ best prospects … not necessarily.
Looks like the sleeper in Angelo Blackson has woken up. He is 4 star by scout. Good on the coaches finding him before many others.
It was always idiotic to think Auburn’s coaches would accept a commitment from an average player from Delaware. Niles got a bump, too, which also only makes sense when you look at his offer sheet.
Our coaches know what they’re doing.
WBE,
Good to hear. I think we share the same expectations. I am not speaking to the efforts of Chizik on Co. I was speaking more to the mentality of SOME (and I have faith it is a shrinking minority) Auburn fans that we must and will always play the role of the underdog. Auburn is great and the greats are never satisfied with and never settle for second place.
War Eagle.