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2018 AU Football Man Crush


ValleyTiger

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  • 4 weeks later...




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My assumption is that with 1,000,000 yards & 10,000 points my man, Big Prince, must be doing his job. 😁

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My man Mathew Hill with a big hit! Can’t wait to see him catching next season!

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My man Stid.  Thank you for going out with your most efficient and beautiful game as an Auburn Tiger. It was wonderful to watch.  We may have had some rocky times this year but you saved the best show for last! Congrats on your upcoming wedding to your beautiful bride to be.  Keep that positive outlook on life, and go tear up the league! You will be a wonderful ambassador for Auburn and for her fans. Thank you, and look forward to watching you play for many years.  God bless!

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  • 2 months later...

Gotta give my crush from last year some props!

Matthew Hill has ‘new life’ after redshirt year, and Auburn has ‘high expectations’ for him

Today 1:33 PM

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Former four-star receiver Matthew Hill has been seeing time with the first-team offense this spring, according to Gus Malzahn.

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By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

There’s a phrase Gus Malzahn tossed around a couple of times this week that haven’t often been used around Auburn’s athletics complex: New life.

The Tigers’ seventh-year head coach used it to refer, interesting enough, to the two highest-rated players from the program’s 2018 recruiting class, quarterback Joey Gatewood and wide receiver Matthew Hill. Both were top-100 prospects when they signed with Auburn, and both wound up redshirting during their first season on the Plains.

Now, Gatewood is in the four-man competition for the starting quarterback job this offseason. Hill, meanwhile, is primed for a golden opportunity for a breakthrough at receiver following the graduation of Ryan Davis and the fact that Will Hastings is still limited while recovering from a second ACL surgery in October.

“Matthew is a guy, too, that when we recruited, we really felt that he has great potential,” Malzahn said. “You can tell that he’s kind of got new life this year. He’s getting an opportunity this year…. He can show what he truly can do. I have a lot of high expectations for him.”

A former four-star prospect, Hill was rated as the No. 17 receiver in the nation and the No. 92 overall recruit in the 2018 class. He was the highest-rated of Auburn’s five receiver signees in that class, but he didn’t have the kind of immediate impact that Seth Williams or Anthony Schwartz had, nor did he find his way onto the field the way Shedrick Jackson was able to last season.

Instead, Hill appeared in just four games in 2018 and did not record a catch, nor was he targeted in a game, finishing the year with just two carries for 21 yards while being used on a pair of jet sweeps against Alabama State and Purdue.

Seth Williams wants to turn Auburn into ‘Wide Receiver U’

While Hill was the most highly touted of Auburn’s receiver signees in 2018 and was the Tigers’ second-highest rated recruit in that class, he was playing the same position as Ryan Davis — the program’s all-time leader in receptions. Malzahn also admitted Tuesday that the Snellville, Ga., native needed some time to mature and adjust to the college game before he could be an effective piece to the Tigers’ offense.

“You can see that he’s grown,” Malzahn said. “His maturity level, you can just tell it’s a little bit different than it was last year when everything happened pretty quick sometimes for freshmen. But I think he’s very determined. I think he’s set up to have a good spring. Like I said, he’s a talented young man, and I’m looking forward to watching him.”

This spring, Hill is getting opportunities to work with the first-team offense at slot receiver, according to Malzahn. During last week’s open viewing window, Hill was seen repping with the second-team offensebehind Eli Stove in the slot. Given the amount of information the coaching staff already has on Stove, despite his limitations last year while recovering from his own ACL surgery, Malzahn said Hill is expected to see more time with the starters to “show what he can truly do.”

So, what exactly is Hill capable of?

According to Davis, it’s a lot of the same things he showcased over the last two seasons while becoming Jarrett Stidham’s favorite target, utilizing his speed and shiftiness to turn short routes into bigger gains. The words “savvy” and “smooth” were both brought up by Davis when Williams first arrived on campus last year.

“He has a similar skill set as me as well,” Davis said in December. “I feel like once he gets the repetition and gets that confidence level going, because he’s a great player and has a lot of athleticism and is a guy you want with the ball in his hands.”

Stove described Hill as “quick-twitch” with the ability to make people miss in the open field — something Davis often did during his career. When asked who is shiftier in the open field, Davis or Hill, Williams laughed before conceding that Hill, at least, thinks he holds the advantage in that aspect.

That type of skillset, paired with Hill’s adjustment to the college game over the last year, makes him a potential breakout candidate for 2019 on offense for the Tigers.

“My boy Matt is explosive,” Williams said. “Like, he gets the ball, and you never know what’s going to happen. He’s like a baby R-Dave. He’s got the potential, like, to where when he catches the ball, it’s probably going to the house. He’s going to make at least three people miss.”

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  • RunInRed unpinned this topic
  • 2 months later...
23 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Almost time to reboot this thread!

If you do it, IM me before you do so.  I need to be ready to stake my claim 

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4 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Almost time to reboot this thread!

I’ll be ready to make the first overall pick like last year. I’ll refresh until it happens lol

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On 8/5/2018 at 7:05 PM, Maverick.AU said:

Shaun Shivers, let’s ride

 

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Still the only favorited pic on my phone. I see it every time I go to photos. Legend

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12 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

Still the only favorited pic on my phone. I see it every time I go to photos. Legend

I knew somebody was going to beat me to him. But I thought it was going to be his mom.

:laugh:

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40 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I knew somebody was going to beat me to him. But I thought it was going to be his mom.

:laugh:

I’m just lucky that momma gave me her blessings lol

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Seriously though, let's set a date and time for the new thread. 

Could tie it to the SEC Media Days since that's the unofficial kickoff for CFB. Makes it strategeric too - are people ready to grab their crush without seeing how the Fall Practice is going? Or are you going to risk waiting and grab the dark horse in August?

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I think that whoever had a player last year should get dibs! I had Mathew Hill and would love to have him again. I really thought he would do what Seth Williams did last year.

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@ValleyTiger is the one who does this thread, so I will let him make the call!  I know he does it in August.  I'm just here to get the hype train rolling.

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12 hours ago, 3rdgeneration said:

Should I take the bullet again and go for Gus? I actually think he'll have a better year...

Whatever you decide, I really appreciate your team-first attitude.

:thumbsup:

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Come on now....  We should be allowed to inherit the player we picked last year if we want.  There is no way I want to give up Iggy!!!!

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8 minutes ago, LKEEL75 said:

Come on now....  We should be allowed to inherit the player we picked last year if we want.  There is no way I want to give up Iggy!!!!

I've had the same the last two and am hoping for his last too.

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