TigerVII

No offense taken on my part. I love Auburn and I love Auburn fans. The bottom line to me is that we (AU) strayed from winning the game in the trenches in the past 10 years. It's embarrassing that lesser SEC teams have better OL and DL than we've had since 2017, and it's our own fault (or at least the fault of our coaches and university administrators). I hope and believe Coach Freeze is correcting this problem.

I was not attacking Gus (for those Gus disciples on this board), but answer me this question. Why was Jarrett Stidham a shell of himself in 2018 (with basically the same receivers but minus Braden Smith - the last 1st round OL draft pick from AU - and others on the o-line)? If all you care about is recruiting rankings when your head coach signs high rated players (as in 2-3 4* tight ends per year) when you are not filling the team's needs with 3* offensive lineman capable of playing SEC football (like Dye and Tuberville did), then you deserve what you get (2015-2020) under Malzahn with one solid victory (2017) and one lucky victory (2019) over your cross-state rival. I am celebrating today that we finally attracted a starting SEC QB for the first time since Stidham (because we are rebuilding the OL). No offense to Bo Nix, who should never have been thrust into starting as a true freshman with a Sun Belt conference O-line.

It helps when we have a head coach who knows what he is doing. Thorne would never have left MSU for Harsin (and probably not Gus). We need the big uglies up front.

At least one of our tight ends is - hopefully the coaches are just as aggressive

I think we just have to be patient. Thorne graduates this weekend, so I don't believe he will visit before Sunday/Monday at the earliest. If we are interested in Thorne, then getting his commitment probably won't happen for another week or so. If we aren't interested in Thorne, then we are probably negotiating with Thompson. I just hope we get one or the other (preferably the healthiest one).

CB Will James of Theodore visited in January and is a possible addition to the 23 class. If we don't offer him, he'll probably sign with MissSt.

THIS! We have mostly signed fringe high school QBs in the past 8-10 years, but we also failed to properly evaluate and develop 4* Kodi Burns, 5* Kiehl Frazier, and 4* Jeremy Johnson in the past 15 years. We've been a graveyard for high school QBs since Brandon Cox graduated.

Need to add Mosiah Nakili-Kite to the DL. We need to sign a good edge rusher and another LB and I'll feel a lot better about the defense. I agree with Zeek that we desperately need to sign a seasoned QB from the portal in May.

Stidham was a very good QB in 2017 (when the OL was still adequate). Once Braden Smith went pro after 2017, the offensive line steadily declined to the point that we've had to practically rebuild from scratch in one year. Stidham looked like a different QB in 2018 because the running game was weaker and the O-line was weaker than in 2017. Bo was at best an average QB during his time at AU. Despite the stats, his highlights are primarily the 2019 Iron Bowl and 2021 win in Baton Rouge. Beyond these two games, I mainly remember numerous pass attempts hitting the ground in front of the intended receiver. I'm not sure how much of his errant passing can be attributed to having to run for his life on each play as the O-line broke down. We looked terrible against thUGA during the Bo Nix years because they dominated both lines of scrimmage.

More likely a lingering and slow-healing injury

Exactly. I don't know anything specific, but Sanders has been in the portal for more than a month, and we haven't even offered a visit. I fear he could be Calzada 2.0. We cannot afford to waste NIL money and a roster spot on a transfer QB that won't contribute in 2023. That would be Harsin-level dumb.

We agree that the 2023 schedule is more favorable to AU than it has been recently, and we agree that a QB upgrade probably means +2 in the win column. If 2024 is going to be the year that we get back into the Top 10 recruiting classes, then we definitely need the +2 wins to show we can be better than an 8-5 program. We also need to take the bowl game seriously for the first time since losing to FSU in January 2014.

If RA is the starting QB for the 2023 season, we will be fortunate to win 6 football games. I know it, you know it, and Coach Hugh Freeze knows it. We just have to be patient until the right transfer QB becomes available and signs with AU.

War Eagle and welcome to the Plains! May 2023 be his most productive season yet!

Things are trending in the right direction after five years of being lost in the wilderness. The 2019 Iron Bowl is the only consolation from that period. I believe we'll have a lot more "positive" posts on this board by Monday.

And offer the right NIL package. We will sign a QB from the portal - probably in the next 10 days. He won't be as good as McCall, but he'll be better than what we have now.

I think Sanders is our first choice of what is currently available, but more options may become available in the next 10 days. Keep your eyes open for the visitor list for January 6 and 13 - it will reveal our intentions for QB as well as other key positions.

Maybe it's harder to recruit tight ends to UCF?

Kight to UCF per al.com

NIL has changed college football in multiple ways, but one change will be especially noticeable now that ENSD has passed. The portal players that we actually sign will most likely be coming to AU because of NIL money. If we don't get a player we want (such as QB Leary), we probably aren't willing to match the NIL money that player is getting elsewhere, but that money (AU NIL money) will get spent on other player(s) we need and want for 2023.

On3 says that he signed the NLI about 3 hours ago

AU has prettier women.

Be confident. Leary wouldn't be here if Montgomery didn't want him. He has experience against tougher competition than McCall. McCall's no-show is somewhat an indicator of the path forward, but I would be thrilled to have had McCall to commit.

Probably, but we can not afford to roll snake eyes here.

I don't believe McCall is in Auburn. Hope I'm wrong.