What’s your grade for the 2019 class?

[Zeek 16,615]

QB - A+

We only wanted one specific guy, we got him, he's awesome, he's a legacy, and he's upstanding man who didn't play any games. Not much more we could have accomplished here without wasting a spot on a 2nd QB.

RB - A

DJ and MAR might have instant impacts. However, out of spite, I'm not giving the "+" because we got both of them relatively late in the process. This lead to an obnoxious amount of derailments in threads about us not having any RB's and all the other schools having all of the RB's and blah blah blah. Not that they were invalid points but boy did that dead horse get beat.

WR - C-

We found a monster in the slot (JJ) but anytime a 5* flips away from you it's painful. We may be thankful in the future that we didn't have to deal with a headache but we could also watch him burn us for years to come. Regardless, as E already pointed out, we didn't find our big bodied receiver we were aiming for in this class. Hope the door hit GP on the butt, had we known sooner we could have already been on the hunt for our backup plan.

TE - A+

We wanted two, we got two, they stayed unwavering in their commitment. Now if we use them properly is a different question but I'm pleased with the two that we have.

OL - F+

Missed on a lot of targets. Didn't hit our desired numbers. Definitely didn't instill confidence in Grimes as a recruiter; even if he were the best developer in the country he would need to recruit much better than this. Utterly disappointing position which should have been easier considering the need for it.

DL - A+ or A-

It's out of the staff's control but if Moore isn't academically eligible than we lose some points here. Outside of that one worry, this is a tremendous group of players and I really think Derick Hall will be a sleeper for us. Tremendous group.

LB - B

Numbers are there but I really thought we'd find two absolute stud LB's to pair with OP.

Secondary - A

I think we have 5 guys we'll see in rotation throughout the season that will contribute early. Excited about this group and some of the FROSH we already have on campus at the position.

So overall a B-ish. Had the OL recruiting been less horrendous and if we could have picked up one more stud LB I think it's an excellent class. 

[AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205]

2 minutes ago, Zeek said:

QB - A+

We only wanted one specific guy, we got him, he's awesome, he's a legacy, and he's upstanding man who didn't play any games. Not much more we could have accomplished here without wasting a spot on a 2nd QB.

RB - A

DJ and MAR might have instant impacts. However, out of spite, I'm not giving the "+" because we got both of them relatively late in the process. This lead to an obnoxious amount of derailments in threads about us not having any RB's and all the other schools having all of the RB's and blah blah blah. Not that they were invalid points but boy did that dead horse get beat.

WR - C-

We found a monster in the slot (JJ) but anytime a 5* flips away from you it's painful. We may be thankful in the future that we didn't have to deal with a headache but we could also watch him burn us for years to come. Regardless, as E already pointed out, we didn't find our big bodied receiver we were aiming for in this class. Hope the door hit GP on the butt, had we known sooner we could have already been on the hunt for our backup plan.

TE - A+

We wanted two, we got two, they stayed unwavering in their commitment. Now if we use them properly is a different question but I'm pleased with the two that we have.

OL - F+

Missed on a lot of targets. Didn't hit our desired numbers. Definitely didn't instill confidence in Grimes as a recruiter; even if he were the best developer in the country he would need to recruit much better than this. Utterly disappointing position which should have been easier considering the need for it.

DL - A+ or A-

It's out of the staff's control but if Moore isn't academically eligible than we lose some points here. Outside of that one worry, this is a tremendous group of players and I really think Derick Hall will be a sleeper for us. Tremendous group.

LB - B

Numbers are there but I really thought we'd find two absolute stud LB's to pair with OP.

Secondary - A

I think we have 5 guys we'll see in rotation throughout the season that will contribute early. Excited about this group and some of the FROSH we already have on campus at the position.

So overall a B-ish. Had the OL recruiting been less horrendous and if we could have picked up one more stud LB I think it's an excellent class. 

F+ 😂that is an ugly grade. I almost had a D 😂

[WFE12 9,191]

I give it a B+ . Thank the Lord for T-WILL and Bo's history with AU and apparent relationship with Gus. We are very fortunate that the class didn't suffer as much as it could have as others have said. That was a crapfest of a season and I don't see things getting much better. Malzahn has about 50 rabbit's feet at his house on the ready. There's no way we should have the class we have now but we do. These players are hopeful to get us out of what's sure to be another mediocre season and I admire that.

Edit: also Coach Woodson and Garner

[DAG 33,955]

Based on my post I will give this class a solid B, mainly because the coaching staff did a great job keeping it intact. However, even if we did have Pickens, I wouldn't give it more than a B. Again, it really doesn't matter if we have Pickens, if we don't get the appropriately people in place. This is a run first team. It is imperative that we start getting the beef up front if we want to be successful. 

[tbone1430 1,346]

QB - A+, BO knows 

RB - A-, Hopefully MAR is the next KJ with DJ being a solid contributor.  

WR - B-, (if we can get Pettway as a grad transfer, bump to B+) Honestly after having a day to ruminate on it, Pickens not here may be a blessing in disguise

TE - B+, too bad we never use them...

OL - C, Got a great feeling about Jones. Think Bell will be a project, don't know about Osborne. 

DL - A, Hall, Wooden, Handy, Moore. All four stars, think all will be great contributors in future. Like Derrick Brown said time to call us DLU haha 

LB - B+, Pappoe of course is the gem. Wish we could have picked up one more beast but hopefully OC and baby Brown show out. 

Secondary - A-, Thank you Marcus Woodson. I remember in the past always worrying about us always getting good D line classes but not getting good secondary talent. Seems like the last couple years we've been raking in secondary talent. 

Overall I'd say B, if we could have closed on one 5 star or another 4 star OT or OG I'd have said A-. 

[Beaker 2,457]

I like how you guys broke it down by position.  Really do...

I am a simpleman and  I give the program a C-   for this cycle.    

 

1. yes  - we got Bo (thanks to Pat Nix 20 yrs ago) & yes some positions we did great.  Best recruit in 15 yrs prob (out of HS)

2. the truth is, we just  regressed in OL development b/c we lose everyone of our OL next year ( I think ) and with that kind of carrot out there, we got two OL?   No elite players to replaced those leaving or the major whiff on C Ashley!   With those kind of holes, we can't do better?    WOW  This was our #1 NEED.

3.   we only filled 21 slots, our competition brought in 20% more players to develop and share reps which helps with injuries and development.  HUGE PROBLEM that we can't find 25-26 prospects we like, that like us enough.

4.   We have 6 opponents we play that had higher ranked classes.   Do we think Gus will be able to outcoach those 6 opponents and have less talent?   ( I know, "but we won't play Oregon or UF in 2-3 yrs."...whatever, it will be someone else that is very competitive, you get my point:  we are getting passed by TAMU now in our division and outgunned by 4-5 SEC schools every year).   This is becoming a trend.

 

Something has to change with our staff or recruiting to address the systemic problems I listed above. 

War Eagle, bring on A Day!

[AubFanCT 180]

I wanted to wait 24 hours before weighing in and giving my thoughts to ensure I was objective and didn't let emotion influence me. 

The positives: the overall average was great in terms of quality, 6th I believe. Bo is probably the best 4 year qb prospect we signed since Jason Campbell and some who I think will be special. 2 great RBs at position of need, amazing DLine haul, got Pappoe who is off the charts and could be a difference maker, continued on last years haul of some really nice DBs and did it once again.

Not so positive: needed more Oline quality and depth. That killed us. Losing Pickens so late felt like a kick in the groin.

Overall: B-. The need on OLine was too big to address so poorly. That hurt. Losing Pickens bothers me from a Class standing perspective but I don't think in our offense with Gustav we would ever max out a stud WR and get 5 star results out of them or TE for that matter, besides for blocking. Bo could be a true stud at QB and possibly start from day 1. The staff could have filled a few more last minute bodies to push us up close to a top 10 class but glad they held off and will try to use those for transfers hopefully OLine related. Every team ahead of us in team rankings signed 3-6 more total players than we did but our overall quality was top 6ish. Hats off to Garner, TWill & Woodson

 

 

[around4ever 4,139]

7 minutes ago, AubFanCT said:

I wanted to wait 24 hours before weighing in and giving my thoughts to ensure I was objective and didn't let emotion influence me. 

The positives: the overall average was great in terms of quality, 6th I believe. Bo is probably the best 4 year qb prospect we signed since Jason Campbell and some who I think will be special. 2 great RBs at position of need, amazing DLine haul, got Pappoe who is off the charts and could be a difference maker, continued on last years haul of some really nice DBs and did it once again.

Not so positive: needed more Oline quality and depth. That killed us. Losing Pickens so late felt like a kick in the groin.

Overall: B-. The need on OLine was too big to address so poorly. That hurt. Losing Pickens bothers me from a Class standing perspective but I don't think in our offense with Gustav we would ever max out a stud WR and get 5 star results out of them or TE for that matter, besides for blocking. Bo could be a true stud at QB and possibly start from day 1. The staff could have filled a few more last minute bodies to push us up close to a top 10 class but glad they held off and will try to use those for transfers hopefully OLine related. Every team ahead of us in team rankings signed 3-6 more total players than we did but our overall quality was top 6ish. Hats off to Garner, TWill & Woodson

 

 

Should we even hope Gus and JB have at least 3 OL GT targets in mind or not?  

[japantiger 4,051]

4th in the West and 7th overall class....behind Tennessee....its truly the Apocolypse....I have lived long enough to see the 2nd coming of Doug Barfield.  Behind TN.  Let that sink in......the University President is obviously a Russian bot.. 

[CameronCrazy 1,058]

Overall this is a very solid class. I’m very pleased with QB, RB, and DL groups. I think everyone is disappointed with the OL, the #’s at LB, and the Pickens flip.

But I think an overlooked position is safety. Most people are grading secondary as an A, but I would give it a “B”. I think we needed to sign at least two true safeties in this class. After Dinson & Thomas graduate there is no true safeties behind Sherwood & Monday. I hope we can keep Kelley & Puckett at corner or nickel to give us more size and talent at those positions.

As a result, I think we need at least two true ball-hawking safeties in next year’s class.

[AubFanCT 180]

40 minutes ago, around4ever said:

Should we even hope Gus and JB have at least 3 OL GT targets in mind or not?  

I pray....yes I pray. But, unless the quality is there for a GT, our OLine is pretty set, I'd take a few undergrad transfers with a few years of eligibility.  We need that for the years ahead with no depth.

[JFDTiger80 790]

Considering that to win the SEC you need to be awesome at the line of scrimmage, the best I can give this class is a C. We did well at DL. Gotta admit, Garner is a stud coach and recruiter. Most of us harp on this a lot, but we have a need at OL and we also had and have scholarships available but we did not get what we needed. We only had 21 signees. That is not acceptable. We got some great kids. Killed it at QB, RB, etc. 

Todays  ommit at OL is a good start for 2020. We need to get after it early afternoon on this.

 

[around4ever 4,139]

2 hours ago, AubFanCT said:

I pray....yes I pray. But, unless the quality is there for a GT, our OLine is pretty set, I'd take a few undergrad transfers with a few years of eligibility.  We need that for the years ahead with no depth.

Yes!  Or a couple of JC transfers that got their crap together in a year or two of JC. 

[Mikey 16,550]

17 hours ago, Rednilla said:

 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.

Although it's intensified since the flip, there were any number of posts expressing worries about Pickens qualifying when he was supposedly headed to Auburn. The most positive I saw were along the lines of "He has a lot of work to do, hopefully he's getting it done."

All things considered, I think our class is better off without him.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

7 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Although it's intensified since the flip, there were any number of posts expressing worries about Pickens qualifying when he was supposedly headed to Auburn. The most positive I saw were along the lines of "He has a lot of work to do, hopefully he's getting it done."

All things considered, I think our class is better off without him.

While it’s hard to miss on a NFL talent WR, I agree. 

Id give this class a solid B grade. Missing on a OT has bad but damn good class overall. 

bama wanted the WR from HT a lot more than Pickens and made s huge run st him this year. Props to Gus and Kodi for holding on to him. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

bama wanted the WR from HT a lot more than Pickens

So did I. I know they're different receivers and Pickens leaves a hole but I think Johnson is a more valuable playmaker in this offense. 

[WarEagle1982 447]

I would give it a B.  I think they recruited well at several positions.  Getting a legacy guy like Bo Nix to commit and sign was important especially after what happened with Rashaan Evans a few years back.  I will say that Patrick Nix's experience at AU was a much different one than that of Alan Evans so that helped a ton.  I hope Gus will give him the legitimate shot to win the job if he is the best guy.  I think they recruited well on defense and set themselves up to continue being a solid defensive unit.  I won't say dominant because they were not that this past year.  The thing that stings, and I know I am beating a dead horse here, is the lack of OL signees.  I think the guys that are coming in are going to be really good players, but quantity is a concern.  The worst part is watching TurdTown bring in more elite OL talent (which BTW their O Line was the biggest reason behind Tua's success this past season), watching UGA pull the best O Lineman in the state to Athens, and watching, of all places, Tennessee pull in an elite O Line class.  That is a huge area of concern, and something has to change.

[WarEagle1982 447]

31 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

bama wanted the WR from HT a lot more than Pickens and made s huge run st him this year. Props to Gus and Kodi for holding on to him. 

One reason he wasn't as big as Pickens in rankings was that he played at a smaller school before transferring to HT his senior year and then blew up on a lot of people's radars.

[augolf1716 21,096]

33 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

While it’s hard to miss on a NFL talent WR, I agree. 

Id give this class a solid B grade. Missing on a OT has bad but damn good class overall. 

bama wanted the WR from HT a lot more than Pickens and made s huge run st him this year. Props to Gus and Kodi for holding on to him. 

I actually thought they maybe could get him to flip.

[McLoofus 35,182]

53 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Props to Gus and Kodi for holding on to him. 

By the way, this is really an odd flex for somebody who hates Gus more than they love Auburn.

[Rednilla 5,383]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

By the way, this is really an odd flex for somebody who hates Gus more than they love Auburn.

Pot meet kettle?

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

Pot meet kettle?

I'm sorry?

[ToomersStreet 795]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:18 AM, 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. 

 

THANK YOU!