What’s your grade for the 2019 class?

[Cardin Drake 1,821]

Good lord, guys, this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum. This is a great class, especially considering the turmoil.  Our most pressing need is QB, and I'm very optimistic that we just landed a 4 year starter. The quality of this class is outstanding. The way the transfer market is shaping up, we are going to be glad we have openings and didn't take reaches. This class is an A. 

[Mikey 16,566]

4 hours ago, gr82b4au said:

Qb is A+ (best HS QB we ever signed IMO)

Nix is a good one. Pat Sullivan and Jayson Campbell are fully his equals as far as high school ability and recruiting attention. Stan White fits right in there too. Time will tell how Nix measures up to those three. For what it's worth, I hope Nix is our best ever when his time at AU is over.

[ellitor 33,080]

1 hour ago, Cardin Drake said:

This is a great class, especially considering the turmoil. 

There's no time or room for qualifiers. We gotta have talent On the OL & aren't getting it done. We need OTs badly & did not sign a single solitary sure fire 1. There is absolutely no way a class can be given an overall grade of an A when a needed position like OT gets an F. Especially considering we choked away big leads for guys like Wanya & Putnam.

[Mikey 16,566]

6 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Especially considering we choked away big leads for guys like Wanya & Putnam.

I'm tired of the arguments, but I cannot recall a single day when we had any sort of lead for Wanya Morris. He threw us a few, small bones of interest because Pappoe stayed on his case about Auburn but his commit to UT never wavered in the slightest. When did we have this big lead for Morris?

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

5 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'm tired of the arguments, but I cannot recall a single day when we had any sort of lead for Wanya Morris. He threw us a few, small bones of interest because Pappoe stayed on his case about Auburn but his commit to UT never wavered in the slightest. When did we have this big lead for Morris?

Early on in the process. April of last year we were his #1. 

[Mikey 16,566]

1 minute ago, ClaytonAU said:

Early on in the process. April of last year we were his #1. 

It must have been way, way early April. His commit date to Tennessee was 5/1/18. (Source, Rivals)

[ellitor 33,080]

5 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

Early on in the process. April of last year we were his #1. 

Yup. What I was referring to.

[Mikey 16,566]

4 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Yup. What I was referring to.

So we went from a big lead in April to Morris committing to Tennessee on May 1st? That doesn't pass the smell test.

[japantiger 4,051]

4th place finish in the West ...6th in conference....

[Gowebb11 9,313]

For our program to take the next step, something has to change. And nothing changed with this class. It’s a really solid class, with a lot of good athletes. We’ve had several years now of finishing with a near Top 10 class, which would be enough to rule the roost in most conferences. But we got beat again by the teams we need to get ahead of the most; Bama, UGA, and LSU. It looks like TAMU is about to join the list. Gus better coach his rear end off, have a huge season, and start recruiting closer to the level of our biggest rivals. Time will tell. 

[AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205]

Every SEC Coach was in our recruits’ ears - Gus won’t be coach throughout your college career. And as usual our PTB and fan base aided them in the process. How f****** good did you expect this is an amazing class for what went down.

[aujeff11 6,243]

49 minutes ago, AU-HANDLEY-TIGER said:

Every SEC Coach was in our recruits’ ears - Gus won’t be coach throughout your college career. And as usual our PTB and fan base aided them in the process. How f****** good did you expect this is an amazing class for what went down.

This is true though the class still stings.

1. Not top ten. (Would’ve been 6th with Pickens.)

2. Highest rated and longest commit jumps to hated rival at last minute.

3. Not enough quality OL and LB

4. 6 opponents next year are ranked higher than us.

5. Cox reconsidered Auburn after learning he was probably going to be moved to OL ( recruiting losses being compounded.)

6. Pickens delegitimized everything about recruiting relationships, and spurned Auburn, not because of their offense, but because Kirby was able to sell him on being a plant after he missed on Hasselwood. 

7. Putnam was Auburn until rumormongering scared him off. 

 

So of course, there is a little luster taken off tbe class which is full of high quality  Auburn men that signed and went about their recruiting business the right way. 

[AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205]

Calm down enjoy the ride with Bo Nix the next four years, SEC championship, Heisman Trophy and playoff bids on the way. It’s gonna be fantastic!

[AUApostle 7,651]

Looking at FSU’s class, they’ve lost out on a QB recruit 2 years in a row on signing day.  They’ve only got 1 Scholarship QB on the roster.

[ToomersStreet 795]

I think we can continue the trend of 8-5 with this class.  

[gravejd 3,270]

Solid B class. Take a grade off since we signed no OTs which was probably our greatest need behind QB. Small deduction for LB....I would have liked 1 more or atleast a higher rated guy to go with Pappoe. But hopefully Brothers balls out. He certainly has the size at 6'3" 230 to be an SEC caliber LB. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

To everyone who keeps talking about "turmoil" and such:

 GUS MALZAHN LOST THE GAMES.

It wasn't the fans, it wasn't the PTB, it wasn't the media. GUS MALZAHN LOST THEM. In year six of his tenure as our head coach, with a 2nd-year starter and future NFL draft pick at QB, with a very, very good defense that would have been great if they had gotten any help whatsoever from that putrid offense, with his own carefully curated staff, riding on a fat contract, GUS MALZAHN LOST TO ED ORGERON... AGAIN. GUS MALZAHN LOST TO TENNESSEE. GUS MALZAHN PUT UP 9 FREAKING POINTS AGAINST MISSISSIPPI STATE. GUS MALZAHN INTENTIONALLY RAN OUT 2 1/2 MINUTES OF GAME CLOCK... IN THE FIRST HALF... WHILE BEHIND IN THE IRON BOWL.

Gus Malzahn crapped the bed. Nobody else did. Gus did that. It's ridiculous and pathetic to blame others for saying that it smells bad. 

He almost cleaned up the mess but the whiffs at OL loom large. This class could've been a Ferrari. As it sits, it's a Ferrari riding on a donut. 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, ToomersStreet said:

I think we can continue the trend of 8-5 with this class.  

Oh man. This is the "bless your heart" of recruiting grades. 

Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, Toomers. 

[aucom96 1,618]

B minus. I think we recruited well defensively, all things considered. Nix was a huge pickup we'll likely need right away. Williams appears to have nice potential in the backfield. We continue to fail on offensive line recruiting, which will continue to reflect in our record going ahead. As always with Malzahn classes, we racked up stars on projects. We're going to have a tough time competing at the top of the league with that direction. 

[keesler 5,924]

2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

For our program to take the next step, something has to change. And nothing changed with this class. It’s a really solid class, with a lot of good athletes. We’ve had several years now of finishing with a near Top 10 class, which would be enough to rule the roost in most conferences. But we got beat again by the teams we need to get ahead of the most; Bama, UGA, and LSU. It looks like TAMU is about to join the list. Gus better coach his rear end off, have a huge season, and start recruiting closer to the level of our biggest rivals. Time will tell. 

It appears AU is now has now established a place hovering around the top 10 ranked slot in recruiting.  In this conference, and with AU's schedule it will keep them "in-line" with their historical trend of an 8-4 team.  

This class is a solid B, which when it all shakes out is basically about where the past 3-4-5 classes have been.  The end result is down the road in the W-L column and after the classes from '14/'15/'16 hit the field and produced, AU still ended up averaging 8-4 seasons.  

Like you said, nothing changed with this class.  It's good, it's solid in most areas but it's not on a cumulative level with our immediate rivals.  And unless the coaching takes a giant next step up then I think we can expect about the same results we've seen the past few years.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

18 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

To everyone who keeps talking about "turmoil" and such:

 GUS MALZAHN LOST THE GAMES.

It wasn't the fans, it wasn't the PTB, it wasn't the media. GUS MALZAHN LOST THEM. In year six of his tenure as our head coach, with a 2nd-year starter and future NFL draft pick at QB, with a very, very good defense that would have been great if they had gotten any help whatsoever from that putrid offense, with his own carefully curated staff, riding on a fat contract, GUS MALZAHN LOST TO ED ORGERON... AGAIN. GUS MALZAHN LOST TO TENNESSEE. GUS MALZAHN PUT UP 9 FREAKING POINTS AGAINST MISSISSIPPI STATE. GUS MALZAHN INTENTIONALLY RAN OUT 2 1/2 MINUTES OF GAME CLOCK... IN THE FIRST HALF... WHILE BEHIND IN THE IRON BOWL.

Gus Malzahn crapped the bed. Nobody else did. Gus did that. It's ridiculous and pathetic to blame others for saying that it smells bad. 

He almost cleaned up the mess but the whiffs at OL loom large. This class could've been a Ferrari. As it sits, it's a Ferrari riding on a donut. 

 

WHY ARE WE YELLING!!!

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

As always with Malzahn classes, we racked up stars on projects.

Who would you call a project?

The only candidates that come to mind for me are Osborne (but only because there's no consensus on whether he's a G or a T), Brown (who is a fantastic, experienced high school LB and is only deficient in measurables) and Wilson (who is an accomplished HBack but who was used erratically at ASU because both coordinators changed every year he was there). 

I tend to agree that Gus has had a tweener problem but I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts about it in this class. 

[triangletiger 1,599]

I'll reserve my grade until I see who we pick up from the transfer market.  I, too, am frustrated with our seeming inability to bring in high-level OL (particularly, at the OT position), but we may be able to ameliorate this with a transfer or two.  Not ideal, I'll grant you.  It'd be much better if we could bring them in out of high school and develop them.  But I don't think the situation necessarily spells doom and gloom.   

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

To everyone who keeps talking about "turmoil" and such:

 GUS MALZAHN LOST THE GAMES.

It wasn't the fans, it wasn't the PTB, it wasn't the media. GUS MALZAHN LOST THEM. In year six of his tenure as our head coach, with a 2nd-year starter and future NFL draft pick at QB, with a very, very good defense that would have been great if they had gotten any help whatsoever from that putrid offense, with his own carefully curated staff, riding on a fat contract, GUS MALZAHN LOST TO ED ORGERON... AGAIN. GUS MALZAHN LOST TO TENNESSEE. GUS MALZAHN PUT UP 9 FREAKING POINTS AGAINST MISSISSIPPI STATE. GUS MALZAHN INTENTIONALLY RAN OUT 2 1/2 MINUTES OF GAME CLOCK... IN THE FIRST HALF... WHILE BEHIND IN THE IRON BOWL.

Gus Malzahn crapped the bed. Nobody else did. Gus did that. It's ridiculous and pathetic to blame others for saying that it smells bad. 

He almost cleaned up the mess but the whiffs at OL loom large. This class could've been a Ferrari. As it sits, it's a Ferrari riding on a donut. 

 

Turmoil was caused by the product on the field, what we saw in early October from a HC in his 6th season was putrid.

Negativity will flow when players choose to leave the program after being "Auburn Men" for years. 

Negativity will pour out non-stop when a new player accidentally gets lost in the shuffle because our staffers lose count of his participation.

Negativity swirls around a program when a HC proceeds to crap the bed resulting in a premature elimination of any playoff contention by mid October.

Rumors, lies, negative innuendo will flow freely during a turmoil riddled season when the HC is sitting on a +$32M buyout.  When the fan base leaves games early, and the Big $$ Boosters/BOT/PTB/Donors don't have the stomach to watch their most beloved program on Saturday's.....even from their luxury boxes in JHS.

 

 

 

[keesler 5,924]

12 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

I'll reserve my grade until I see who we pick up from the transfer market.  I, too, am frustrated with our seeming inability to bring in high-level OL (particularly, at the OT position), but we may be able to ameliorate this with a transfer or two.  Not ideal, I'll grant you.  It'd be much better if we could bring them in out of high school and develop them.  But I don't think the situation necessarily spells doom and gloom.   

We could say the same for the QB position.  But I think the young sprout Dilly will do wonders mixed with the old timer Grimes and we'll see a lethal concoction in only 6 short months!