2023 Portal Discussion Thread

[gr82b4au 5,568]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Auburn visit makes big impression on Georgia State transfer wide receiver

4 hours ago

 

AUBURN, Alabama—A talented and productive receiver that played his high school football just down the road at Troup County High in Georgia before starring at Georgia State the last four seasons, Jamari Thrash is a player the Auburn Tigers have targeted from the transfer portal and he’s currently on campus visiting what Tigers.

Listed at 6-0, 180, Thrash has put up monster numbers for the Panthers in his four seasons in Atlanta with 104 receptions for 1,752 yards and 12 touchdowns. His best season came last year when Thrash caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the team.

A first-team all-state performer as a senior while catching passes from former Auburn and current UCF receiver Kobe Hudson, Thrash caught nearly 100 passes in his final two years at Troup County with 28 touchdowns.

New Auburn wide receiver coach Marcus Davis and the Tigers are looking to add a veteran presence to a room that needs productive help immediately in year one under Hugh Freeze. Thrash is a player that could deliver that type of ability right out of the gate in Philip Montgomery's system.

"I was really highly impressed with the new facility and talking with coach Freeze and coach Davis," Thrash said. "They really showed me I was going to be a point of emphasis in the recruiting process. Auburn really made a nice impression on me today."

Planning a second visit this weekend before sitting down and making a decision this weekend, Thrash said he's basically down to just two schools and it's all because of what Auburn showed him on Thursday.

"I'm going somewhere this weekend," he said. "I really already had my mind made up where I was going, but today made a big impact on me. It's going to be a long car ride home."

One of the biggest things for Thrash was getting to sit down with Davis and get a feel for what the new wide receiver coach is all about.

"I feel like he's a unique coach," Thrash said. "He's still a young guy, so I feel like I could relate to him a lot more. He's from Florida and my dad is from Florida, so I get along with Florida people good. I like his personality. He brings a lot of juice during the meeting room. I feel like I get a long with him pretty good."

Already very familiar with Auburn after making multiple visits during his high school career, Thrash knew Auburn went the Tigers were very run-heavy. With Freeze and Philip Montgomery running the show, he believes it's going to be a new day on the Plains.

"I actually did my research on coach Freeze and coach Montgomery," Thrash said. "Coach Montgomery was the head coach at Tulsa last year and I know they threw it around a lot, too. I'm really excited to see how things are going to be."

15COMMENTS

As to the question of what the quarterback position could look like for the Tigers, Thrash said the coaches told him all about it.

"I have to know who's getting me the ball," he said. "They told me about Robby (Ashford) and how he feels like he can polish Robby to the quarterback he can be. Last year Robby didn't have to throw the ball a whole lot, but obviously he probably will now. Coach Freeze has a lot of confidence in Robby and he talked highly about him in the meeting. I'm excited to see what happens in the future."

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Sounds like he is already going to Penn state. Hopefully he thinks long and hard about it 

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

13 hours ago, gr82b4au said:

Sounds like he is already going to Penn state. Hopefully he thinks long and hard about it 

Auburn is a great opportunity a lot closer to home!   With WR being a priority, I’m sure his NIL deal from AU is competitive.   We’ll see how it goes.  

[DAG 33,977]

59 minutes ago, AUinMS9528 said:

Auburn is a great opportunity a lot closer to home!   With WR being a priority, I’m sure his NIL deal from AU is competitive.   We’ll see how it goes.  

NIL isn’t the issue it seems. It’s QB. Nobody wants to risk their future with spotty QB play. 

[HAPvsOA 284]

On 12/20/2022 at 1:34 PM, AuburnNTexas said:

In the last few days we have had a lot more good news then bad news.  We have moved into 26th on 247 from 50 something and we seem to be looking solid for 3-5 Portal type O-line.  We have also passed 4 SEC teams after being dead last in the sec for what seems like eons. So we didn't get either of the Portal QB's we wanted it is not the end of the world. 

We are so much better off now then when He who shall not be named was let go was shown the door it is not funny.  It is time for some people to have realistic expectations and not think this could be a one year re-build and we would be competing with Georgia and Alabama. 

Right now we have some solid young O-line counting the ones coming in the 2023 class which bodes well for the future and we look solid for some Portal O-Line which could give us the best O-line we have seen in recent years. We have 2 solid RB's returning we lose our best TE but have a Portal TE with more potential and our WR's should be better this year. RA is returning at QB who just because of a years experience will be better plus Geriner so we are at least as good at QB as this year with what should be a better O-Line.

We have lost our best 2 D-Line wooden and Hall but have some solid players returning plus still working the Portal where we just picked up the Vandy player plus some freshmen coming in on D-Line. Mba was starting to look good before he was hurt so will be back and maybe James even though he is thinking about NFL.  With what we have picked up plus returning players DB should be a strength.  LB we need at least a couple from Portal and another Edge would be nice.  Plus we look solid for a Portal WR.

I am not predicting a stellar team next year but we will be better than this years team and we are starting to fill the holes we were left with.  Early NSDwill be ok on HS front but won't be a dream group but with a few HS late NSD types plus Portal and JUCO we should be decent by the time portal transfers are done after spring.

It is time some of the fanbase except reality that Freeze is doing a great job given where we were when he arrived but we will not be able to have the type team Auburn deservers in one year even with the portal.

 

I'll feel better when we get a decent QB, WR, and Edge, and at least 1 more OL to transfer. Although I like Ashford, we are still thin at QB and could be rough going if we keep losing out on the top QBs. I wouldn't want to transfer here as a QB without more on the OL and I wouldn't want to transfer here as a top WR without a top QB.

So it just feels like we are running out of time to do something meaningful for next year, so I agree that it'll be a multi-year rebuild even though our fan base does cartwheels every time we get a 3 star commitment that wouldn't play right away in Conference USA. It just exemplifies how bad things were under Harsin. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by HAPvsOA

[AUApostle 7,651]

9 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

I'll feel better when we get a decent QB, WR, and Edge, and at least 1 more OL to transfer. Although I like Ashford, we are still thin at QB and could be rough going if we keep losing out on the top QBs. I wouldn't want to transfer here as a QB without more on the OL and I wouldn't want to transfer here as a top WR without a top QB.

So it just feels like we are running out of time to do something meaningful for next year, so I agree that it'll be a multi-year rebuild even though our fan base does cartwheels every time we get a 3 star commitment that wouldn't play right away in Conference USA. It just exemplifies how bad things were under Harsin. 

I think we need a starting QB, 3 more OL, 2 WR, a depth piece RB, 2-3 DL, 2 LB, and a safety.

[bigbird 60,498]

Once the QB domino falls, everyone else will make a decision 

[HAPvsOA 284]

3 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Once the QB domino falls, everyone else will make a decision 

Is it just me or are we quickly running out of options for a decent domino to fall our way?

Every visitor I look up seems to be leaning to another program unless I am missing something. Granted, I've been super busy lately so I haven't kept up with all the hour by hour reports. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by HAPvsOA

[DAG 33,977]

1 minute ago, HAPvsOA said:

Is it just me or are we quickly running out of options for a decent domino to fall our way?

Every visitor I look up seems to be leaning to another program unless I am missing something. Granted, I've been super busy lately so I haven't kept up with all the hour by hour reports. 

Sanders who is coming to visit this weekend is absolutely decent despite how many people want to argue otherwise. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

Just now, DAG said:

Sanders who is coming to visit this weekend is absolutely decent despite how many people want to argue otherwise. 

Oklahoma State WR is visiting with him...might get 2 out of the deal.

[HAPvsOA 284]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

Sanders who is coming to visit this weekend is absolutely decent despite how many people want to argue otherwise. 

The OK state guy? That would be great. I thought I had read that we were not near the top for him, so hopefully he has a great visit. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by HAPvsOA

[DAG 33,977]

1 minute ago, AUDevil said:

Oklahoma State WR is visiting with him...might get 2 out of the deal.

That would be very nice. I totally believe we need to get our QB and that will work a lot of angst out.

[DAG 33,977]

Just now, HAPvsOA said:

The OK state guy? That would be great. I thought I had read, we were not near the top for him, so hopefully he has a great visit. 

There was reports that he was leaning to ole miss well before his visit here, but we supposedly had been slow playing him too. It seems that is no longer the case.

[ellitor 33,085]

3 hours ago, AUDevil said:

a safety.

Safety is not a portal need anymore. If we get 1 it will be a younger guy with a few years of eligibility for depth.

[ellitor 33,085]

3 hours ago, HAPvsOA said:

Is it just me or are we quickly running out of options for a decent domino to fall our way?

 

@HAPvsOA if you are speaking strictly WR there are and will be solid to good options both in this, and the May portal windows.

[HAPvsOA 284]

17 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@HAPvsOA if you are speaking strictly WR there are and will be solid to good options both in this, and the May portal windows.

Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. I just saw that we missed out on Ra Ra and that quite a few of the top rated transfers have already committed elsewhere. 

[Timeslider 6 269]

I noticed where two QBs from Miss St entered the portal, they seem to have some nice measurables: Braedyn Locke and Sawyer Robertson. I wonder if there is reason to think that CHF will check these out or have already checked them out. I'm sure many other QBs will be entering the portal between now and the summer. But how critical does CHF see the need to have a QB before spring practice or would he be willing to wait until the summer and get someone that fits more of what he wants? 

Anyone commenting with some insight about this, would be appreciated.

[AUApostle 7,651]

34 minutes ago, Timeslider 6 said:

I noticed where two QBs from Miss St entered the portal, they seem to have some nice measurables: Braedyn Locke and Sawyer Robertson. I wonder if there is reason to think that CHF will check these out or have already checked them out. I'm sure many other QBs will be entering the portal between now and the summer. But how critical does CHF see the need to have a QB before spring practice or would he be willing to wait until the summer and get someone that fits more of what he wants? 

Anyone commenting with some insight about this, would be appreciated.

4 stars from Texas...no thank you, too soft.

[DAG 33,977]

Are we going to ask about everyone who enters the portal ? Lol

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

Are we going to ask about everyone who enters the portal ? Lol

well he!! yeah!   

How else can I get credit for discovering our next big talent, win the admiration of the board and solidify myself as the most knowledgeable talent spotting guru.   

Eventually I will get to a good one.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

Prob be a good idea to go read up on Spencer Sanders . Stats, highlights ,etc......

[AUApostle 7,651]

2 hours ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

well he!! yeah!   

How else can I get credit for discovering our next big talent, win the admiration of the board and solidify myself as the most knowledgeable talent spotting guru.   

Eventually I will get to a good one.

Is that what everyone here is trying to do?

[ellitor 33,085]

Sounds like something may be coming today on big Kentucky DT Justin Rogers. Appearantly people at LSU & Bama see AU as the favorite.

[ellitor 33,085]

This could be something to track. A poster on On3 posted the tweet below & said both Freeze & Monty offered the kid out of HS. Keith immediately replied with "interesting".