What’s your grade for the 2019 class?

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

We might not be so bad with the OL. 

I undersatnd we want some depth but I’m looking at:

Troxell, Stutts, Brahms, Jones, Ashley. 

No they’re not proven, but those are names with some high promise. Add in guys like Irvin, Hamm, Sammons and we’ll have some options. Ashley, Brahms, Troxell, Sammons, Jones were all big recruits. 

Dont think we are “set” by any means, but we’ve got big time names still around. 

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

9 hours ago, Mikey said:

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

Yes, a quick look at his thread as well as what we knew at that time of Wanya and OP’s recruitment was that we were in a good spot at that time. We couldn’t close, not a narrative, just the truth.

[triangletiger 1,599]

7 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

We might not be so bad with the OL. 

I undersatnd we want some depth but I’m looking at:

Troxell, Stutts, Brahms, Jones, Ashley. 

No they’re not proven, but those are names with some high promise. Add in guys like Irvin, Hamm, Sammons and we’ll have some options. Ashley, Brahms, Troxell, Sammons, Jones were all big recruits. 

Dont think we are “set” by any means, but we’ve got big time names still around. 

Is Ashley still on the team?

[Mikey 16,545]

1 minute ago, ClaytonAU said:

Yes, a quick look at his thread as well as what we knew at that time of Wanya and OP’s recruitment was that we were in a good spot at that time. We couldn’t close, not a narrative, just the truth.

I think what we have here is the legendary "two people looking at a wreck and seeing different things". Were we recruiting Morris? Certainly. If there was ever anything except our fans hoping to get him and posting optimistic opinions I didn't see it. There's a better case for us having a lead on Putnam, however tenuous it might have been.. He was all FSU, then we seemed to move ahead for a while. As soon as Clemson came into the picture it was Game Over.

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

Yes, a quick look at his thread as well as what we knew at that time of Wanya and OP’s recruitment was that we were in a good spot at that time. We couldn’t close, not a narrative, just the truth.

Morris even brought that center here who committed and then had his offer pulled for some "communication issues". 

[aujeff11 6,243]

34 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Morris even brought that center here who committed and then had his offer pulled for some "communication issues". 

Communication issues aka he lied to the staff about visiting Tennessee.

[aujeff11 6,243]

37 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

Is Ashley still on the team?

He’s back on the team per tbe rant 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

Like everybody I wanted two more QUALITY O-Line at least one who would have been an OT.  What we got is Osborne who has potential to be a Tackle, Bell who could be a Center or Guard,  and Jones who is going to be a great Guard.  We did well on D-Line , well on DB, well at LB, well at RB, well at TE, well at QB and well at WR.  

I think this is a solid B Class and we might still pick up a GT or a regular transfer

 

 

 

[augolf1716 21,096]

1 hour ago, AUDevil said:

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.

Technically two they have a transfer from Louisville, Jordan Travis, and Blackmon and one walkon. They are in a world of hurt at QB especially if Blackmon goes down.

Also Travis is waiting on an appeal to play immediately so they could be down to only 2 total with one being a walkon..................yikesssssssssssssssss

[AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205]

I find it laughable when people that know nothing about a subject have an opinion. There are only a couple of people that know anything about recruiting on this board - and no I’m not one of them, and there are about a hundred programs that would trade classes with us this morning. Doesn’t mean anything until they produce , I’ll take Ellitor’s word on Pickens and not worry about someone that probably won’t make the grades just so we can be at a higher ranked position. Yes the PTB once again aired Auburn’s dirty unmentionables in public and it cost us recruits who ever “leaked” info to Moon should be shown the door.

[AU64 10,122]

Ask me again in two years... Too early to tell

[auburnphan 6,050]

Considering the mess the failure of our head coach put the team in, this class is solid.  It could have gone south in a hurry if it wasn't for some great recruiting efforts by some coaches, players and recruits.

[AuMarine 1,372]

I would give this class a C. only because of the OL we can't seem to recruit. We are solid at every other position but the OL..and they are the ones who dictate the show on offense. ... so unless we have dramatic improvement from last year.. it will not matter who our QB is, who our RB or WRs are.. we need to be solid upfront and we have whiffed in recruiting for several years now. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

22 minutes ago, AU-HANDLEY-TIGER said:

I find it laughable when people that know nothing about a subject have an opinion. There are only a couple of people that know anything about recruiting on this board - and no I’m not one of them, and there are about a hundred programs that would trade classes with us this morning. Doesn’t mean anything until they produce , I’ll take Ellitor’s word on Pickens and not worry about someone that probably won’t make the grades just so we can be at a higher ranked position. Yes the PTB once again aired Auburn’s dirty unmentionables in public and it cost us recruits who ever “leaked” info to Moon should be shown the door.

Interesting take. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

I’m probably not saying anything that wasn’t said above, but I’d give it a B or a B+.

Getting Pickens would have made it better, but I’m not sure he ever would have seen the field due to grades, drama, or both. That plus the fact that we are in pretty good shape at receiver this year (people keep forgetting we get Stove and Hastings back) makes the loss of Pickens not that bad.

Im really happy with the defensive signees including the linebackers who I think were all underrated. On offense, I’m happy with almost every position. I’m really excited to see the Hback position battle this year. My main concern is OL. We got an adequate number, but I’m just unimpressed with who we signed. I’m less worried about next year, but I’m worried about the 2020 and 2021 OL. There’s some talent behind the current line, but not enough to make a really strong line in 2020. Hopefully we can grab a few quality grad transfers. If we do that and sign a strong class next year, we should be okay, and hopefully one of the guys we signed this year will pan out.

 

As a side note, I’d put our offensive backfield signees above every other school in the country. While I’m not convinced he starts this year, Bo Nix is probably going to be something really special. DJ Williams is very very underrated. Antony-Richards is electric to watch. Can’t wait to see these three on the field.

[keesler 5,923]

10 minutes ago, AU-HANDLEY-TIGER said:

Yes the PTB once again aired Auburn’s dirty unmentionables in public and it cost us recruits who ever “leaked” info to Moon should be shown the door.

I agree with you somewhat ......but Gus and Gus alone ignited the spark in mid-October when his team looked ill prepared, disjointed, ineffective and failed to execute his game plan resulting in horrible losses to MSU & UT.  It's hard for folks/fans to keep "sweet" when the 6th yr HC puts an unmentionable team on the field and they lose to 2 first time HC's rendering the program completely out of contention anything meaningful.  Things could only go downhill in the wake of that loss to the Vols.

The PTB over-reacted in the Fall of '17 with that absurd buyout, they turned around acted very poorly in the Fall of '18 by airing internal business for weeks on end.  (You either cut the buyout check and fire his ass or STFU, and move on with him at the helm.)

I agree 100% that who ever "leaked" that $#!t to Josh Moon regarding the pursuit of freaking Bob Stoops (forcing Stoops to publicly refute the notion and call it ridiculous) should be terminated and revoked of any connections to the AU AD. 

The person that leaked Leath's trip to DC, leaving Harbert at the "negotiating table" with Gus and continued to provide minute by minute details of private conversations going on within the AD should be fired.  The constant crap about the PTB trying to delegitimize the very contract they inked only 11 months prior was in bad taste and put a black-eye on the Administration.  Allen Greene  appears to be a competent man and he shouldn't a hard time sussing out the details of the inner connections within his AD - he should be able to identify the culprit and could've dealt with them by now, it's 2 months after the fact - something could be done.

It was a sad saga that was ignited by CGM when he tallied another mediocre season in the AU record books.  It inevitably pushed the power brokers that work so hard to control Auburn to the brink of near disaster, all of which Gus was left to clean up as best he could with the positive recruiting class and his guarantee and promises to "turn this thing around" again.

 

[Gene Loblaw 636]

Malzahn has plenty of deficiencies but chief among them is his inability to regularly prioritize and sign high quality offensive tackles. Until he can actually do that no class he ever signs will be an “A” or anything like that. He just keeps digging himself into holes with o line recruiting and it kills the team

[Tiger 8,817]

What does our RB outlook look like? Seems we will need to feed Boobie, Shivers (NEEDS MORE TOUCHES), Kam Martin & now 2 more in the fold. What are the chances all incoming FR and our sophomores exhaust their eligibility at AU? 

[leglessdan 1,934]

12 hours ago, Cardin Drake said:

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. 

Umm...no. the most pressing need is OL depth. Nothing else matters if the units cant block. Transfers are band aids and just as unpredictable as anything else. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

49 minutes ago, keesler said:

I agree with you somewhat ......but Gus and Gus alone ignited the spark in mid-October when his team looked ill prepared, disjointed, ineffective and failed to execute his game plan resulting in horrible losses to MSU & UT. 

YUP. The problem isn't that people said stuff about Gus's tenuous grasp on his job. It's that it was extremely easy to believe.

Quote

I agree 100% that who ever "leaked" that $#!t to Josh Moon regarding the pursuit of freaking Bob Stoops (forcing Stoops to publicly refute the notion and call it ridiculous) should be terminated and revoked of any connections to the AU AD. 

Unless that person came from Gus's camp. 

[DAG 33,955]

This is why I say recruiting is so subjective . If we had gottn Pickens, 247 says we would’ve been #6 nationals but since we dropped him, we fell 5 spots. One Guy could do that to your rankings! Although he is Uber talented . Also, Clemson just came off of a national championship and they had #10 recruiting class in the nation. Think about that..we were 7-5 last year and could’ve easily been in the top 6 of recruiting.

I argue that two things should be prioritized with these recruits. 1: the ability to recruit the right guys for what you want to do. Based on rankings and team records, having talented guys is not enough. 2: being able to coach these guys up. You do those two things and everything should fall into place.

[chimes 442]

16 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Gotta be an F.

 

We had a mission of getting quality O linemen and miserably failed. 

 

E, what’s our biggest OL class under Gus?

I was thinking anywhere from a C+ to a solid B, but I think a case could be made for a D or F based on the bad OL haul. OL is arguably the most important position (group) on offense- especially ours- and we NEEDED quite a few quality guys in this class. We didn’t sign nearly enough and the guys we got are talented but not all-world day 1 starters. Getting Nix and those 2 talented backs won’t mean much if our line is garbage.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

3 hours 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. 

 

I could not have said it better myself.  If Gus in year 6 doesn't crap the bed in a bad way like he did then there is no way coaches could have negatively recruited against him.  Gus made it extremely easy to point out all of the reasons not to come to Auburn.  Gus even set the bar high before the season with talk of how good this team was.  To further compound the problem, he still has not learned his lesson.  Grimes and anyone else that he brings in as a "comfortable hire" is not going to get it done.  This is a QB and trenches game.  You can be good with an average QB and a great oline.  You will be awful with a great QB and poor OL.  He better keep Grimes on campus and put Garner on every OL prospect he can because kids are not relating to him.  It's time to swap job titles and duties for grimes and Kendall Simmons.  

[Rednilla 5,383]

I'd give it a B+. Obviously, we missed on offensive linemen, and we were a little thin at LB, but everywhere else we needed quality athletes, we got them. The average recruit ranking being at #6 in the country underscores the quality of the class, and the #11 overall highlights the lack of quantity a couple of places. Frankly, much as I wanted Pickens, my overall class grade would be the same even if he'd followed through and signed with us, because WR is not a place of need. I do wonder at all the remarks about him likely not qualifying, if perhaps that's more sour grapes talking or if he's genuinely at risk of having to go to JUCO. To be completely honest, I'm more excited about Tyler Fromm and Luke Deal, because we've been in need of a couple quality TEs for years.

[WFE12 9,191]

6 hours 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.