2022 Class Update: Jan 11th

[TigerHorn 1,351]

10 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Former resident of Cedar Park here, now living in the next suburb over.  That high school program there is the real deal.

How 'bout that, we're neighbors. RR, Leander, or Lago for you?

[TigerHorn 1,351]

1 hour ago, augolf1716 said:

Isn't everything a long ways from Lubbock???

Fair point. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

3 hours ago, AUwent said:

Regardless, the current staff has so far shown an ability to attract defensive talent. They have so far not shown an ability to attract offensive talent. And if that continues, they won’t last long. Maybe Joiner represents a turning point.

A highly rated QB, a highly rated RB, a TE  and three WR's in the early signing period.  The issue is only on the O-Line which has been an issue for a long time.  We are still waiting on late signing period and Portal to determine how bad we are on the Offensive side. Like everybody else on the board we know we have O-Line issues both short term and long term. Late signing period and 2023 class will determine if we can recruit O-line.  Portal will determine if we have addressed short term.

Edited January 13, 2022 by AuburnNTexas

[Hank2020 3,195]

8 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

A highly rated QB, a highly rated RB and three WR's in the early signing period.  The issue is only on the O-Line which has been an issue for a long time.  We are still waiting on late signing period and Portal to determine how bad we are on the Offensive side. Like everybody else on the board we know we have O-Line issues both short term and long term. Late signing period and 2023 class will determine if we can recruit O-line.  Portal will determine if we have addressed short term.

Great points. Appreciate you pointing them out.

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

Where was he going to go?  He's a middle of the road 3* kid that only had other options of Duke, App State, etc.  It's not like he was a Dylan Brooks type situation that would have dozens of P5 offers if he could get out of his NLI.  He signed knowing he had no coach, he was committed to the school

One you conveniently left out that he had an offer from Baylor. He was middle of the road because of weight. At 6'7" 270 pounds he is to light to play at P5 level. He had options but liked the school If after talking with Harsin and new staff we would have allowed him to leave as Harsin does not want players who don't want to be at Auburn. Watch his film he moves very well for a man his size. He is the type player by his 2nd or 3rd year can be a starter after getting bigger and stronger.  

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

One you conveniently left out that he had an offer from Baylor. He was middle of the road because of weight. At 6'7" 270 pounds he is to light to play at P5 level. He had options but liked the school If after talking with Harsin and new staff we would have allowed him to leave as Harsin does not want players who don't want to be at Auburn. Watch his film he moves very well for a man his size. He is the type player by his 2nd or 3rd year can be a starter after getting bigger and stronger.  

Ok, sorry.  He had a singular other option at a P5 school who may or may not have still wanted him after NSD.

I hope he does well at Auburn and grows into a starter, but that doesn't mean he was going anywhere and Friend should be commended for "hanging on" to him.

Friend has recruited and secured 2 OL in 1.5 classes and 0 in two portal classes.  That's not getting it done.  None of the players in 1.5 classes are knocking the door on upper echelon players.  He's gotten them in the past at prior schools.  He's not getting it done here.  Even so when we add 2 3* kids in February.

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

9 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Ok, sorry.  He had a singular other option at a P5 school who may or may not have still wanted him after NSD.

I hope he does well at Auburn and grows into a starter, but that doesn't mean he was going anywhere and Friend should be commended for "hanging on" to him.

Friend has recruited and secured 2 OL in 1.5 classes and 0 in two portal classes.  That's not getting it done.  None of the players in 1.5 classes are knocking the door on upper echelon players.  He's gotten them in the past at prior schools.  He's not getting it done here.  Even so when we add 2 3* kids in February.

I can't deny so far our O-line recruiting is not what I would like it to be. But with Colby and Harris we have 2 legitimate players who can develop into SEC OT's. We all knew when this staff came in late we had no shot at the High 4* and 5* O-linemen as we were starting late. But these two along with Langlo are the type players the old staff didn't recruit that could develop.  We have a 4* in the 2023 class.

Look at the Portal O-linemen we and many others are pursuing all of them or more like Colby, Harris and Langlo as they were not highly rated but they added weight and strength and became very good.  The thing I like about the three we have signed so far is height 6'6" or taller, how well they move, frame that can add weight and all three seem to play until the whistle in any film I saw on them. All three seem to be good athletes not just big. That is the type of player you need to sign if you don't get the stud out of HS.   

As for the Portal so far nothing you are correct but the players we are pursing have not committed anywhere yet so still a chance. If we strike out completely  in Portal then we are hurting for next year and probably year after as it takes time to develop the type players we have signed.

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

47 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

But with Colby and Harris we have 2 legitimate players who can develop into SEC OT's.

You're right, I think both are good developmental players.  We just need more b/c these guys are a very low hit percentage.

 

[steeleagle 2,945]

52 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I can't deny so far our O-line recruiting is not what I would like it to be. But with Colby and Harris we have 2 legitimate players who can develop into SEC OT's. We all knew when this staff came in late we had no shot at the High 4* and 5* O-linemen as we were starting late. But these two along with Langlo are the type players the old staff didn't recruit that could develop.  We have a 4* in the 2023 class.

Look at the Portal O-linemen we and many others are pursuing all of them or more like Colby, Harris and Langlo as they were not highly rated but they added weight and strength and became very good.  The thing I like about the three we have signed so far is height 6'6" or taller, how well they move, frame that can add weight and all three seem to play until the whistle in any film I saw on them. All three seem to be good athletes not just big. That is the type of player you need to sign if you don't get the stud out of HS.   

As for the Portal so far nothing you are correct but the players we are pursing have not committed anywhere yet so still a chance. If we strike out completely  in Portal then we are hurting for next year and probably year after as it takes time to develop the type players we have signed.

 

That's what bothers me with the current starters coming back for their 5th and even 6th years. It seems all of our starters(not sure about Council), are returning, off a team with avg to below production.

If Harsin felt comfortable with getting Portal experience and good enough to beat out any of these guys, I felt that some of them would not want to come back to be backups. 

So It seems maybe Harsin needed them to come back bc we may strike out again w/ OL portal/JUCO players?

Is so, that indefinitely on Friend and we need a big recruiting change there..

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

3 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

How 'bout that, we're neighbors. RR, Leander, or Lago for you?

Leander

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

That's what bothers me with the current starters coming back for their 5th and even 6th years. It seems all of our starters(not sure about Council), are returning, off a team with avg to below production.

If Harsin felt comfortable with getting Portal experience and good enough to beat out any of these guys, I felt that some of them would not want to come back to be backups. 

So It seems maybe Harsin needed them to come back bc we may strike out again w/ OL portal/JUCO players?

Is so, that indefinitely on Friend and we need a big recruiting change there..

We essentially have 4/5 starters from the end of the season coming back.  Second bullet might be a bit telling of where Harsin things we are w/ portal transfers.  No one is playing a 6th year on the bench.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

17 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

We essentially have 4/5 starters from the end of the season coming back.  Second bullet might be a bit telling of where Harsin things we are w/ portal transfers.  No one is playing a 6th year on the bench.

Could be a bit of a bird in the hand type of situation. Honestly, none of these guys were going pro IMO, so what do they have to lose to elect to come back? If they get beat out by a transfer then they can either be a depth piece and finish out their last year before being a Flight instructor and whatever the hell Trox plans on, or they can quit.

It just doesn't make sense to me for Coach Harsin to tell them I don't want you back if they wanted to come back. We could strike out in the portal with these guys or without them. I don't think any of them are good enough to scare a guy away from coming to AU who was good enough to beat them out and if they aren't good enough to beat them out are we really missing anything?

[W.E.D 11,070]

4 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Could be a bit of a bird in the hand type of situation.

Agree and said that in another thread.  Could also be some insight into how confident they are at getting any of these guys.  We've had 2 of 3 on campus so far, then Brahms/Trox all of a sudden announce after.  Nozourd or whatever his name is, is a post spring transfer.

Brahms is the pilot I believe.  He graduated last year and there was talk of him being 50/50 even last spring of coming back.  

7 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I don't think any of them are good enough to scare a guy away from coming to AU who was good enough to beat them out

I agree.  We kinda touched on this before or in another thread.  It's human nature to avoid risk.  You've got 4 6th year seniors, returning starters.  You've got 1 transfer opportunity to move up a division.  Do you want to battle an incumbent starter or go somewhere that has a gaping hole?

[auburnphan 6,050]

35 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Agree and said that in another thread.  Could also be some insight into how confident they are at getting any of these guys.  We've had 2 of 3 on campus so far, then Brahms/Trox all of a sudden announce after.  Nozourd or whatever his name is, is a post spring transfer.

Brahms is the pilot I believe.  He graduated last year and there was talk of him being 50/50 even last spring of coming back.  

I agree.  We kinda touched on this before or in another thread.  It's human nature to avoid risk.  You've got 4 6th year seniors, returning starters.  You've got 1 transfer opportunity to move up a division.  Do you want to battle an incumbent starter or go somewhere that has a gaping hole?

These guys are also the type of leaders that are critical for this off season going into year two for Harsin

[Old fan 47 765]

38 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

These guys are also the type of leaders that are critical for this off season going into year two for Harsin

I agree as well. We are making very little progress in the portal anywhere on the team, but getting some starters to return is never bad even if they are only average. Another year of coaching may or may not help them. As for Friend, I think his job will be on the line this year. We may also need a dual threat QB with this line. Something tells me that DD has not impressed enough of the coaches, or maybe then again, he gets a legit shot in spring to showcase himself, since nobody on the roster is a necessary incumbent this year. Just my thoughts. 

[gman87 398]

1 hour ago, Old fan 47 said:

We are making very little progress in the portal anywhere on the team,

I think we scored pretty big at DL and DB.

[TigerHorn 1,351]

4 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Leander

Same. Better take the details to PM before Golf doxes us! 😜

[augolf1716 21,096]

9 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

Same. Better take the details to PM before Golf doxes us! 😜

I'm watching

[Old fan 47 765]

1 hour ago, gman87 said:

I think we scored pretty big at DL and DB.

True, but a lot of our DL is due to returning players and we signed a larger class at DB and Safety. Makes me wonder what our O coaches are doing to address the glaring needs at OL, WR and honestly, QB. Our D was not the cause of most losses last year. 

[Rednilla 5,383]

1 hour ago, augolf1716 said:

I'm watching

Pervert. 

[augolf1716 21,096]

20 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

Pervert. 

You should know 

[auburndkel 100]

8 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Friend has recruited and secured 2 OL in 1.5 classes and 0 in two portal classes.  That's not getting it done.  None of the players in 1.5 classes are knocking the door on upper echelon players.  He's gotten them in the past at prior schools.  He's not getting it done here.  Even so when we add 2 3* kids in February.

In 2019, Friend was responsible for utk signing 5 OL in a class of 22. Two plug and play 5-star OTs (Wayna Morris was one), one 4-star OG, and two three star OL. Looking back, that entire class now reeks of McDonald’s bags. Of all the position coaches, I still believe the strongest has to be our OL coach (the reason I wanted Cristobal pre CBH then prayed we’d roll a Brinks truck up to Jeff Grimes house after Bobo was canned). We are so far behind, and have been. As you said, Friend isn’t getting it done, and he’s not even close. We can’t hire a great OL coach soon enough. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by auburndkel

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

3 hours ago, Old fan 47 said:

True, but a lot of our DL is due to returning players and we signed a larger class at DB and Safety. Makes me wonder what our O coaches are doing to address the glaring needs at OL, WR and honestly, QB. Our D was not the cause of most losses last year. 

We signed 3 HS WR's, one TE, one QB, one RB, and one OT.  The QB should have been enough until Bo Nix went in the Portal and a top WR from this year also went Portal. prior to that we had addressed most of our Offense needs except O-Line. We are trying to sign one more RB Citizen or one from Portal and we are trying to sign a WR from Portal. We have gotten one QB in Portal and are are trying to get another QB from Portal and we are trying to get 3 different O-Line in Portal plus we hope for at least 2-3 more HS O-line in late signing. 

So far no Offensive players have committed in Portal except Calzada at QB. O-Line types are our biggest need. We need at least two starters from Portal. Calzada depending on poster is a little worse then Bo, equal to Bo, or a little better than Bo. So at QB we have the QB of the future Geriner and we have Calzada so we should have some competition this spring to see who rises to the top even if we get another QB in Portal. All 3 of the HS WR's look solid but until we see them play can't say if any will be elite. 

What is crucial for next year is getting at least two starting O-Line in Portal (ideally with at least 2 years eligibility but one will do) and to see how well our freshmen and sophomores have developed.  If Friend does not get the Portal O-Linemen then he has basically failed.  Our need is so big for starting O-Line we should be willing to outbid other teams via NIL to get the portal starters we need. I hope Friend has contacted the money men to ante up.

[Mikey 16,550]

13 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

We have gotten one QB in Portal and are are trying to get another QB from Portal and we are trying to get 3 different O-Line in Portal plus we hope for at least 2-3 more HS O-line in late signing. 

I checked the Rivals 250. I found ONE unsigned high school lineman who is a maybe for AU, that's the Woody kid from Lafayette who is currently committed to FSU. Any line help we get will have to come from the portal. The high school kids worth having are simply already gone.

So far, the portal has taken away and given little back. There is time for a turnaround but with each passing day it's looking more and more like the portal is doing us more harm than good.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Hars just tweeted War Eagle which is usually means that we just picked up a commitment. No clue who.