BaldEagle

It seems fairly obvious huh? I guess we will find out soon enough if he(and the power brokers at AU) have the gumption to start taking full advantage of this new landscape in CFB.

I’m old enough to remember when we expected to not only be on a level playing field with Bama and UGA but we expected to be better than them. And guess what, they had a ton of talent back then too. Maybe that’s not what AU fans want or expect anymore but if it is, we are going to have to start playing a lot dirtier and working a lot harder to get our share of the OL and DL talent. I personally think that means actively recruiting players from other teams rosters(including Bama and UGA’s). We need to have middle men reach out to every potential transfer that we want and offer them lucrative NIL deals. That is the only we we can use this née rule to level the playing field and get back to a place where we can expect to win SEC championships on an annual basis like we did in the late 80s. If we don’t, we may catch lightning in a bottle once every 7 or 8 years and make it to the SECCG but that’s about the best we can hope for when we’re playing with less talent and depth.

Well... he wasn’t willing to sign today. I’d say that’s a pretty strong indication that he isn’t really “committed”. I don’t follow recruiting that closely anymore but I’ve seen this song and dance enough times to know how it ends.

I would be shocked it Story doesn’t decommit at some point. Sledge is a good add for depth but not a game changer. Leota is decent but just doesn’t have the athleticism. Hall has potential. I like your optimism but when you look at our DL and OL vs Bama and UGA, it’s not even close. No one on our OL or DL would start for UGA. If you want to compete for championships, that can’t be the case.

We need him(and others) to do more that. We are set on skill players but this DL/OL class is super weak. We need to start recruiting freshman and sophomore studs from other teams who are waiting for playing time. Offer them big NIL deals and immediate playing time. We can’t compete with what we currently have in the trenches.

I hope so. We are not really addressing the most important areas of need in this class. If you are consistently out recruited for stud OL and interior DL, you can’t compete in the SEC. Skill players are great but you have to get more than your fair share of the top-tier talent in the trenches to be able to play with the big boys. We have landed a few studs but not nearly enough over the past 6-7 years.