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2017 4* RB Devan Barrett signs with AU (Updated)


ellitor

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I trust our coaches ability to evaluate running backs. They've been largely successful in recruiting that position. It is interesting to me to see the disparity in rankings from site to site though. I wonder what 247 doesn't like/see in him. Pure curiosity. I have zero reason to question our coaches at the RB position. 

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21 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I wonder what 247 doesn't like/see in him.

Yeah. No kidding. I have seen some ranking disparities but never seen a recruit as high as 71 on one site & as low as 830 on another. It's crazy.

 

FWIW I just tweeted Barton Simmons & Ryan Bartow asking them about his 247 grade.

Edited by ellitor
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I'm not a huge fan of this recruit however I have never seen him in person.  Seems to have good feet but isn't big, isn't fast, doesn't break a lot of tackles.  Looks more like a lower 3 star like an 85 rating then a lower 4 star.   We missed on some good backs this year but I have confidence in our coaches to turn all these "athletes" into running backs.   I'm a huge fan of Cam Akers.  He's built for our offense.  Not that I don't want Devan to be an Auburn Tiger, I do, but I also don't see him as a 4 star player.  

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4 hours ago, ellitor said:

There are a few every year & have been since before Butch.

I came close to going to UT with my best friend. He as the football recruit and me for golf and that was way back when. UT has always been in some battles for recruits 

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53 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Seems to have good feet but isn't big, isn't fast, doesn't break a lot of tackles.  Looks more like a lower 3 star like an 85 rating then a lower 4 star.   We missed on some good backs this year but I have confidence in our coaches to turn all these "athletes" into running backs.   I'm a huge fan of Cam Akers.  He's built for our offense.  Not that I don't want Devan to be an Auburn Tiger, I do, but I also don't see him as a 4 star player.  

Isn't fast? He may not have blazing speed but nobody made any ground up on him & he pulled away from most. He has more than good feet. He sets up tacklers well & makes good cuts. He also has very good vision which means he can cut while going forward so he's not having to break many tackles. He explodes through holes & shed high tackle attempts well. All that spells out to be a solid 4* to me. We have not missed on the staff's top targets yet. Barrett & Alaric were always top targets for the staff. They are still working on Akers. They backed off Trey Sermon at least a month before he committed to OU. The others like Ty Chandler were in the same group as Barrett on the staff's board but not higher. If we miss on Akers, who is no question a stud, he will be the only RB we miss on if we get Devan & Alaric.

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3 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Isn't fast? He may not have blazing speed but nobody made any ground up on him & he pulled away from most. He has more than good feet. He sets up tacklers well & makes good cuts. He also has very good vision which means he can cut while going forward so he's not having to break many tackles. He explodes through holes & shed high tackle attempts well. All that spells out to be a solid 4* to me. We have not missed on the staff's top targets yet. Barrett & Alaric were always top targets for the staff. They are still working on Akers. They backed off Trey Sermon at least a month before he committed to OU. The others like Ty Chandler were in the same group as Barrett on the staff's board but not higher. If we miss on Akers, who is no question a stud, he will be the only RB we miss on if we get Devan & Alaric.

Seriously...elite vision, likes contact, and runs away from every defender in almost all the clips.  Not sure about his frame, but he could be the closest thing to Tre that we've seen since.

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I was just speaking my opinion on what I have seen in his highlights.

However, you guys realize in high school if you run a sub 5.0 forty you are more then likely to pull away from most defenders, right?  All these 4.4, 4.3, 4.2 guys probably really run about a 4.6 or.7 in actuality.  The 4.4 guys are like all-american type sprinters in high school.  They are few an far between.  

His vision is pretty good, you can tell he's been a running back probably his entire life.  A low 3 star is an absolute stud in high school  Especially a smaller school levels they will look like beasts.  Anyone know what classification he plays in?   

His feet are good.  Makes pretty good cuts, I don't see that he likes contact, and I'd bet he doesn't run a 4.6...  IMO  

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21 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I was just speaking my opinion on what I have seen in his highlights.

However, you guys realize in high school if you run a sub 5.0 forty you are more then likely to pull away from most defenders, right?  All these 4.4, 4.3, 4.2 guys probably really run about a 4.6 or.7 in actuality.  The 4.4 guys are like all-american type sprinters in high school.  They are few an far between.  

His vision is pretty good, you can tell he's been a running back probably his entire life.  A low 3 star is an absolute stud in high school  Especially a smaller school levels they will look like beasts.  Anyone know what classification he plays in?   

His feet are good.  Makes pretty good cuts, I don't see that he likes contact, and I'd bet he doesn't run a 4.6...  IMO  

I always like looking at video that shows how they handle contact between the tackles...most of those clips are in the last 3rd of the second video.  He does a really good job of falling forward and shedding tacklers.

Just watched Tre's high school video...very similar vision and speed, but he often liked to take on tacklers in the open field more so than Barrett.

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2 hours ago, corchjay said:

you are more then likely to pull away from most defenders, right?

Not in South Florida my friend, which is where he plays.

Quote

Anyone know what classification he plays in?   

He plays where Nate CM did, Tampa Catholic. There are some damn good smaller teams in Florida. Just ask Golf.

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14 hours ago, corchjay said:

I was just speaking my opinion on what I have seen in his highlights.

However, you guys realize in high school if you run a sub 5.0 forty you are more then likely to pull away from most defenders, right?  All these 4.4, 4.3, 4.2 guys probably really run about a 4.6 or.7 in actuality.  The 4.4 guys are like all-american type sprinters in high school.  They are few an far between.  

His vision is pretty good, you can tell he's been a running back probably his entire life.  A low 3 star is an absolute stud in high school  Especially a smaller school levels they will look like beasts.  Anyone know what classification he plays in?   

His feet are good.  Makes pretty good cuts, I don't see that he likes contact, and I'd bet he doesn't run a 4.6...  IMO  

Jay I agree. 

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Awesome E.  I'll take him for depth for sure.  I'm not trying to talk down on the kid.  I'm just around a lot of players and I think I have an eye for talent.  Like I mentioned his 85 rating on 247 is about what I'd give him.  That would put him inside the top 40 players in Alabama.  He could hit the gym harder this summer and through fall and bump himself up to an 88-89 with greater strength and possibly would help his top end speed as well.  I still like his feet a lot and that's harder to coach up then strength or speed.  Hope he comes to the good guys.  

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As you mentioned his feet are quick, but what I noticed most was his vision in the hole and his ability to read his blocks. I Also noticed how many angles he broke. That might be speed, but it very well could be bad angles by the defenders.

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7 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Awesome E.  I'll take him for depth for sure.  I'm not trying to talk down on the kid.  I'm just around a lot of players and I think I have an eye for talent.  Like I mentioned his 85 rating on 247 is about what I'd give him.  That would put him inside the top 40 players in Alabama.  He could hit the gym harder this summer and through fall and bump himself up to an 88-89 with greater strength and possibly would help his top end speed as well.  I still like his feet a lot and that's harder to coach up then strength or speed.  Hope he comes to the good guys.  

Understood but do you agree w/ 247 having him the  #820 player in the nation. Seems low to me still but I respect your opinion.

 

FWIW for those that think he should be higher it looks like 247 has not rated him in over a year so his rating likely will go up.

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2 minutes ago, bigbird said:

As you mentioned his feet are quick, but what I noticed most was his vision in the hole and his ability to read his blocks. I Also noticed how many angles he broke. That might be speed, but it very well could be bad angles by the defenders.

And to my untrained eye I thought it was explosiveness when there was an angle or opening.

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E I would go slightly higher then 820 but definitely not in the top 250.  He could be a great back in the future.  But Auburn should be able to sign a top 10 back every year based on offensive style and history.  

And with our offensive lineman we appear to be putting in place plus the depth we are building on the defensive side the drum I keep banging is Cam Akers.  His sophomore/junior season I think he could lead this group to an SEC title with a shot at a NC.  But maybe/hopefully after about 5 games this season and Jovon is sitting at 800 yards rushing he looks deeper at us.  

But definitely keep Barrett, he can be a player no doubt.  If he has the work ethic to compete, the mentality to play strong, and the guts to stick his nose in there he can be very solid.

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Running style reminds me of a past Auburn Great.  Stephen Davis.  Kind of straight up runner but bent over a little at the top not a true body lean.  Feet is more what I'm talking about.  Davis had elite size and speed to go along with the feet.  But he reminds me of Davis in overall running style in the hole and coming out of the hole.

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20 minutes ago, corchjay said:

E I would go slightly higher then 820 but definitely not in the top 250.  He could be a great back in the future.  But Auburn should be able to sign a top 10 back every year based on offensive style and history.  

And with our offensive lineman we appear to be putting in place plus the depth we are building on the defensive side the drum I keep banging is Cam Akers.  His sophomore/junior season I think he could lead this group to an SEC title with a shot at a NC.  But maybe/hopefully after about 5 games this season and Jovon is sitting at 800 yards rushing he looks deeper at us.  

But definitely keep Barrett, he can be a player no doubt.  If he has the work ethic to compete, the mentality to play strong, and the guts to stick his nose in there he can be very solid.

I thought I would through my 2 cents in:

-  Barrett plays in Florida. The overall competition in Florida may be considered the best in the country. Tampa Catholic is in Class 3A in FL. They were District and Region champs last year. Competition is not at the highest level in FL, but it would be considered good when compared to competition in AL, and even higher when compared to MS where Cam Akers plays.

- Barrett plays for the same team that Nate Craig Myers played for. Nate, until he got injured was considered the number 1 recruit in the country at the end of his 2nd year in HS. So, basically, they field quality players.

-  I personally think his best trait is what coaches used to say, "See the hole; hit the hole". I think he does this better than most. Kerryon does this well on our team today.

- I would not call his speed elite. I would call it good enough.

- He does not shy from contact and he has what I would call good moves.

- Now on Cam, I watched his junior film, he is elite. He is potentially a game changer. Frankly, on film he reminds me of Leonard Fournette. If Akers wants to come to AU and we already have Barrett, our coaches will take him too. Akers seems to have it all, speed, power, moves. I hope the staff is doing everything they can to get him to campus.

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1 hour ago, corchjay said:

But Auburn should be able to sign a top 10 back every year based on offensive style and history.  

And the staff sees him as a top 10 back as they have been on him pretty hard for a long time. Not saying you are wrong. Just saying the staff sees different.

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21 minutes ago, JFDTiger80 said:

"See the hole; hit the hole"

She smiles...Sorry. I could not resist.

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23 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Running style reminds me of a past Auburn Great.  Stephen Davis.  Kind of straight up runner but bent over a little at the top not a true body lean.  Feet is more what I'm talking about.  Davis had elite size and speed to go along with the feet.  But he reminds me of Davis in overall running style in the hole and coming out of the hole.

What of you think of his style & how it fits our offense? 1 Cut and go seems like a good fit to me.

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4 minutes ago, ellitor said:

She smiles...Sorry. I could not resist.

I feel your pain. I love me some "that's what she said" jokes.

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49 minutes ago, JFDTiger80 said:

- Now on Cam, I watched his junior film, he is elite. He is potentially a game changer. Frankly, on film he reminds me of Leonard Fournette. If Akers wants to come to AU and we already have Barrett, our coaches will take him too. Akers seems to have it all, speed, power, moves. I hope the staff is doing everything they can to get him to campus.

I honestly don't know why any running back wouldn't be chomping at the bit to go to a school that took a relatively unknown, 3rd string, 3-star back and got a 1000 yard season out of him, even with him sharing carries, when by all accounts the team was a dumpster fire.  If Horton and the rest of the crew can pull that off, then they should be able to provide the best opportunity for a top back to shine.

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2 hours ago, corchjay said:

E I would go slightly higher then 820 but definitely not in the top 250.  He could be a great back in the future.  But Auburn should be able to sign a top 10 back every year based on offensive style and history.  

And with our offensive lineman we appear to be putting in place plus the depth we are building on the defensive side the drum I keep banging is Cam Akers.  His sophomore/junior season I think he could lead this group to an SEC title with a shot at a NC.  But maybe/hopefully after about 5 games this season and Jovon is sitting at 800 yards rushing he looks deeper at us.  

But definitely keep Barrett, he can be a player no doubt.  If he has the work ethic to compete, the mentality to play strong, and the guts to stick his nose in there he can be very solid.

I certainly hope Barrett is better than his rank indicates.

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