Roster Management Analysis

[Zeek 16,643]

We have 35 seniors on the roster.

Three Juniors are "on the bubble" of possible declaring for the pros:

• Owen Pappoe - probably the most likely but as of now I'm leaning towards him staying.
• Nehemiah Pritchett - I don't think he will declare early.
• Bo Nix - believe it or not I think it was a real possibility before the injury. Now it feels like a guarantee he will return.

 

QB - 1 (Grant Loy)

• 4* Holden Geriner

RB - 1 + 1 walk on (Shaun Shivers and Jacob Jasinski*)

• 4* Damari Alston

WR - 3 + 1 walk-on (Demetris Robertson, Shedrick Jackson, Caylin Newton, and Malcolm Russell*)

• 4* Omari Kelly and 3* Jay Fair, 

TE - 1 + 1 walk-on (John Samuel Shenker and Hayden Brice*)

• 3* Micah Riley-Ducker

OL - 7 + 1 walk-on (Nick Brahms, Brenden Coffey, Tashawn Manning, Brodarius Hamm, Alec Jackson, Austin Troxell, David Shannon*, and Brandon Council)

• 3* Eston Harris Jr and 3* Drew Bobo

DL - 2 (Tony Fair and Marquis Burks)

• 4* Caden Story

Edge - 1 (TD Moultry)

• 3* Powell Gordon (might play LB)

LB - 2 + 3 walk-ons (Zakoby McClain, Chandler Wooten, Barton Lester*, Russ Logan*, and Brooks Walton*)

CB - 2 + 1 walk-on (Dreshun Miller, Trey Elston*, and Roger McCreary)

S - 3 + 1 walk-on (Malcolm Askew, Bydarrius Knighten, Smoke Monday, Devin Guice*)

• 4* Tre Donaldson (might be basketball only), 3* Ja'Kobi Albert, and 3* Caleb Wooden (might play LB)

K - 1 (Anders Carlson)

• #1 high school kicker Alex McPherson

P - 1 (Aidan Marshall)

Looking at this we still need 1 RB, at least 3 more OL, at least 1 more WR, 1 DL, 2 LB, 2 CB, 1 S, and some preferred walk-ons for depth.

 

I'm going to look later and see what our senior count looks like for 2023 and what our position numbers might be.

If I have 85 spots I'd probably spread it our something like this:

QB: 4

RB: 5

WR: 13

OL: 17

TE: 5

DL: 8

LB/Edge: 11

DB: 15

K: 2

P: 1

LS: 1

Something like that ideally.

[Tiger1992 999]

You think the injuries have Pappoe leaning towards staying?

Maybe he'll see what staying did for McCreary and hopefully decide to come back.

[Mikey 16,566]

12 minutes ago, Zeek said:

We have 35 seniors on the roster.

Somebody needs to be hittin' the 'crutin trail, while somebody else is scouring the transfer portal and yet a third person is dangling NIL packages in front of prospects and potential transfers in secret, since mentioning that before they sign is an NCAA violation.

With all the additional personnel Harsin has added to the recruiting staff, we should be in better shape than we are. I suppose we could be in better shape than is known to the public but so far adding all those people to help with recruiting hasn't produced any visible results. The early signing day is just about three weeks away. It's time to see some results.

[Zeek 16,643]

10 minutes ago, Tiger1992 said:

You think the injuries have Pappoe leaning towards staying?

Maybe he'll see what staying did for McCreary and hopefully decide to come back.

I think Zakoby returning might make OP inclined to stay as well. They're very tight and he might want to follow ZM's lead. Yes, injuries have to make him very likely to return after missing so much time. Which is very much needed on our end.

[Zeek 16,643]

1 minute ago, Mikey said:

Somebody needs to be hittin' the 'crutin trail, while somebody else is scouring the transfer portal and yet a third person is dangling NIL packages in front of prospects and potential transfers in secret, since mentioning that before they sign is an NCAA violation.

With all the additional personnel Harsin has added to the recruiting staff, we should be in better shape than we are. I suppose we could be in better shape than is known to the public but so far adding all those people to help with recruiting hasn't produced any visible results. The early signing day is just about three weeks away. It's time to see some results.

7 are walk-ons (technically 8 because I don't think Aidan Marshall ever got a scholly)

So really 27 seniors and we'll sign that much. The OL group scares the hell out of me though. 

[Sizzle 3,909]

Pappoe declaring would probably be the worst move he could make. He missed too many games this year.
 

He’s made some good plays throughout the years but he hasn’t made enough plays to where he could miss significant time in his junior year and still get a good draft grade.

The coaching staff got a lot of work to do. We need help everywhere. Other than RB there ain’t a position I feel comfortable with

[MadtownTiger 363]

2 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Pappoe declaring would probably be the worst move he could make. He missed too many games this year.
 

He’s made some good plays throughout the years but he hasn’t made enough plays to where he could miss significant time in his junior year and still get a good draft grade.

The coaching staff got a lot of work to do. We need help everywhere. Other than RB there ain’t a position I feel comfortable with

I don't feel that confident about RB.

I can't see Tank staying beyond next season.  Hunter is awesome, but everyone else is, to mix metaphors, an on-paper Tiger.

WDE!

[Sizzle 3,909]

45 minutes ago, MadtownTiger said:

I don't feel that confident about RB.

I can't see Tank staying beyond next season.  Hunter is awesome, but everyone else is, to mix metaphors, an on-paper Tiger.

WDE!

Tank was always going to be a 3 and done back. That’s not surprising but we know Hunter is good and I like what I see from our commit Alston. I think he’ll be the real deal

[Zeek 16,643]

7 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Tank was always going to be a 3 and done back. That’s not surprising but we know Hunter is good and I like what I see from our commit Alston. I think he’ll be the real deal

Agreed, I do think it's very important to add another RB in this class (even if it's just a depth piece). It is even more important we get a true RB1 in the 2023 class. Not saying Alston isn't but I think DA is the type of back that will thrive with a good one-two-punch.

[bigbird 60,460]

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

The OL group scares the hell out of me though. 

Just now?

[Sizzle 3,909]

49 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Agreed, I do think it's very important to add another RB in this class (even if it's just a depth piece). It is even more important we get a true RB1 in the 2023 class. Not saying Alston isn't but I think DA is the type of back that will thrive with a good one-two-punch.

Hopefully we can pull that RB from Texas that we offered recently. I like him

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,290]

Seeing this "on paper" in this way is terrifying. We're screwed without transfer help because the recruiting class is going to be thin.

[AUght2win 6,828]

Anybody going to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility?

[bigbird 60,460]

2 hours ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Seeing this "on paper" in this way is terrifying

Its not like it hasn't been discussed in painfully explicit detail here.

[steeleagle 2,945]

28 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

Anybody going to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility?

At this point it would be all speculation, since their reasons for staying or going could be nothing we would know.

There are those mentioned like OP, and maybe even Carlson, and some of the DBs that might want another year to improve.

For Bo, I think it all comes down to if Bo does draft analysis, and sees where he projects, and whether he can improve on that with another year undr Harsin.  Remember ,he will have almost a totally new OL to deal with.

I worry more about guys that decide to transfer bc of playing time or unhappiness with their production and the players around them (i.e. Tank).

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,290]

38 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Its not like it hasn't been discussed in painfully explicit detail here.

Right, I could tell there was going to be a problem from following all of your posts (all of you, not just @bigbird) over the previous few years. For me, though, seeing it in this chart/line by line version is much more tangible. It's how I handle information the best- I'm an Excel junkie 😂

[AUght2win 6,828]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

At this point it would be all speculation, since their reasons for staying or going could be nothing we would know.

There are those mentioned like OP, and maybe even Carlson, and some of the DBs that might want another year to improve.

For Bo, I think it all comes down to if Bo does draft analysis, and sees where he projects, and whether he can improve on that with another year undr Harsin.  Remember ,he will have almost a totally new OL to deal with.

I worry more about guys that decide to transfer bc of playing time or unhappiness with their production and the players around them (i.e. Tank).

I never thought Bo would declare early unless he was a consensus #1 overall. Maybe not even then. His love for Auburn is real, almost to a fault. This is his dream gig.

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,290]

22 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

I never thought Bo would declare early unless he was a consensus #1 overall. Maybe not even then. His love for Auburn is real, almost to a fault. This is his dream gig.

Yep. Everything in life after being QB at Auburn is a bonus for that kid. Couldn't be happier for him. Unless he wins the natty next year 😂

[Gowebb11 9,313]

11 hours ago, Zeek said:

Agreed, I do think it's very important to add another RB in this class (even if it's just a depth piece). It is even more important we get a true RB1 in the 2023 class. Not saying Alston isn't but I think DA is the type of back that will thrive with a good one-two-punch.

I know it’s from a small sample size, but when they got carries early in the season I like how Sean Jackson and Jordan Ingram looked. Especially Jackson. 

[AUlurker 178]

After seeing our Offensive Line this year, knowing that everyone we have available next year weren't good enough to beat out the guys we put out there this year makes me very nervous for guys like TJ and Holden, who are seen as pocket passers.

[au302 2,669]

Before the injury I would've agreed with Bo, as crazy as it may seem. Weakest Qb draft class in a bit. Declare and get someone to draft you on athletic ability in rounds 4-7 and let you develop. He's gonna need a monster season next year, and I really hope it happens for both his and auburns sakes.

 I'm of the opinion that it's better to rip the band aid off and tell most if not all of the seniors to move on if at all possible. Maybe let a couple of the OL like Jackson and Manning stay if they are cool being depth pieces again. Maybe keep Hamm on the condition he moves to guard, but I'm not even sure if he would beat out Keiondre Jones so he would have to try for LG

[abw0004 10,110]

Still need more punters.  Can never have enough punter depth.

[Guest MustardSeed]

7 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Still need more punters.  Can never have enough punter depth.

Well our incoming #1 kicker is also a top 10 punter I believe 😂