Talent levels

[Rednilla 5,406]

I know how some of you view stars out of high school, and they absolutely are not the end all, be all of tells with who will be good and who won't, because there's a lot more that goes into it. However, having a bunch of highly sought after players, which 4 and 5 star guys almost always are these days, generally means there's a fair amount of talent there.

In looking over the roster, I was taken by how many players we have who were rated either 4 or 5 stars (per rivals) when we signed them. Here's a breakdown, by position and class, of the players who fit that bill:

QB:

Jr-1

Fr-1

RB

Jr-3 (Including Corey Grant, who was a transfer rather than a signee, so his rating is from high school)

Fr-1

WR

Jr-3

So-1

Fr-3 (including Jason Smith, who I believe will play receiver on the Plains)

TE

Jr-1

Fr-1

OL

Jr-1

So-3

Fr-5

DL

Sr-3

Jr-2

So-1

Fr-4

LB

Sr-1

Jr-1

So-2

Fr-1

DB

Sr-1

Jr-2

So-1

That's 42 players total, by my count. There are some three stars who have played higher than their high school rating (Chad Slade, Nosa Eguae, etc) just as much as there are 4 and 5 stars who have, to this point, been disappointing. However, with that much talent on the team, a mastermind of a new coach breathing new life into the players as well as the fan base, and recruiting already picking up speed before the season has even started (with a new coaching staff, no less), I can't help but to think very, very good things are just around the corner.

[corchjay 5,311]

I agree with you for the most part.

But....

It takes a while to undo poor coaching or lack of coaching. Plus our Jrs and Srs are essentially at the strength levels of Sophmores. So physical maturity is a year or so behind. Although I have to admit body changes can be made in strength gains in a matter of 6-9 months. That's why you see that CGM first priority was to get Auburn's "edge" back and what he means by that is the traditionally physical Auburn teams.

[Newbomb 193]

Had JP been a signee from a JC with the acclaim he had as a transfer he would of been at least a 4*...

[TheBlueVue 177]

I really don't know what to make of Auburn's talent. I wish that talent was all that mattered. Every team in the SEC has talented players...that much is a certainty. Do some teams have more than others? Of course, and I would continue that line of thinking by adding that some of the teams with less than Auburn whipped our butt last year. I also don't know how the statement can be made that Auburn is a year behind in strength and conditioning. Chizik was there for 4 years. If you believe Auburn is behind in strength and conditioning why wouldn't they be 4 years behind? I do know that traditionally speaking, Auburn has shown an ability to bounce back quickly behind coaching changes. Who can forget Bowden's 20 game win streak or Tubs winning the West in his 2nd year? After having bought into all the pre-season sunshine pumping of greatness last year, I am cautiously optimistic that results will show improvement this year but am not sure how much improvement. So much hinges on the play at the QB position. Obviously, football is the ultimate team sport and for the QB to be effective, he has to have support from 10 other players. I expect the O-line to b improved and I feel good about AU's RBs but the play of the WRs and the QB play has got to improve A LOT to win more than 6 games. As bad as our defense was last year, in reality, Auburn's opponents didn't have to score much to beat them. I also expect some improvement of play on defensive side of ball but am not predicting that Auburn will be fielding a "steel curtain" by any stretch of the imagination. I guess the bottom line is...I want to believe Auburn has some players but I guess I need to see them getting it done before I get too excited about what the immediate future holds for this team.

[IronMan70 3,315]

I think that is a good point Red. We have been consistently hovering around the 50% level for 4* and 5* players on scholarship and as you have shown, this year's team continues that trend. But I think what will make the biggest difference this year is that we have added some of the very best position coaches that are teaching detailed, sound fundamentals to maximize that talent. That is something to be cautiously optimistic about.

[JMassie11 1,613]

Looking at that list the most disappointing position lasy season was the dl....qb can some what get a pass bc many times its a coin flip on how a player pans out...the lbs ol and dbs explain a lot of last season as well

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

I agree with you for the most part.

But....

It takes a while to undo poor coaching or lack of coaching. Plus our Jrs and Srs are essentially at the strength levels of Sophmores. So physical maturity is a year or so behind. Although I have to admit body changes can be made in strength gains in a matter of 6-9 months. That's why you see that CGM first priority was to get Auburn's "edge" back and what he means by that is the traditionally physical Auburn teams.

+1

[AUpreacherman22 3,910]

Very few Seniors on that list. With another year of weights, experience, and coaching, I expect 2014 to be a very good year! (I'm not writing 2013 off yet either)

[milehighfan 1,240]

If you don't develop the players and continue to coach them up it doesn't really matter how many stars they have because they will continue to play like high school players

[War to the Eagle 364]

I agree with you for the most part.

But....

It takes a while to undo poor coaching or lack of coaching. Plus our Jrs and Srs are essentially at the strength levels of Sophmores. So physical maturity is a year or so behind. Although I have to admit body changes can be made in strength gains in a matter of 6-9 months. That's why you see that CGM first priority was to get Auburn's "edge" back and what he means by that is the traditionally physical Auburn teams.

+1

Great, great post.

[Rednilla 5,406]

If you don't develop the players and continue to coach them up it doesn't really matter how many stars they have because they will continue to play like high school players

I find it hard to believe that players like Jeff Whitaker could have a national championship (in which he played a pretty big role as a contributing primary backup) and two years starting in the SEC and still be playing the way he did in high school. Sometimes you can have a teacher whose message doesn't get through to you at all, but then when you have another teacher who does connect with you, some of those things you learned from the previous teacher will start to come back to mind and click into place, providing an accelerated learning curve.

[Rednilla 5,406]

I agree with you for the most part.

But....

It takes a while to undo poor coaching or lack of coaching. Plus our Jrs and Srs are essentially at the strength levels of Sophmores. So physical maturity is a year or so behind. Although I have to admit body changes can be made in strength gains in a matter of 6-9 months. That's why you see that CGM first priority was to get Auburn's "edge" back and what he means by that is the traditionally physical Auburn teams.

+1

Great, great post.

I think it's very possible that at least some of the amount that they looked weaker than the other team (particularly the defensive line) could have a lot to do with the lack of will to keep pushing because of the amount the program was going down the tube. I really get the feeling that Malzahn left with every assurance that he would replace Chizik, but that he would be given a couple of years to do his thing at Arky State beforehand. This would explain Pay Dye's ill fated remark on Finebaum about how Chizik could go 1-11 and stay as the head coach. It would also at least help to explain why there was a search committee put into place: so that the fan base would be reassured that Malzahn was the right choice, rather than simply being Pat Dye's choice.

But even if that's not the case, we matched up pretty danged well with LSU before the hinges fell off, didn't we? That would suggest we aren't quite as far away as corchjay thinks we are, and any amount that we actually are behind will, in theory, be overcome with the pace and and amount of work they are putting in this offseason.

[Rednilla 5,406]

Very few Seniors on that list. With another year of weights, experience, and coaching, I expect 2014 to be a very good year! (I'm not writing 2013 off yet either)

2013 was the year that we'd circled on the calendar after 2010, anyway, it just wasn't expected that we'd fall off the way we did last season.

I went into further detail about this on the recruiting board, but the 08 and 09 recruiting classes were by far the lowest rated that we've had since 04, and those were the senior classes of the past two seasons. The headliners of this year's senior class back when they were recruits were Whitaker, Trovon Reed, Shon Coleman, Roszell Gayden, Corey Lemonier, Michael Dyer, and Cam Newton (obviously Newton and Gayden were JUCOs, so they wouldn't be around this year anyway, but they were still part of that recruiting class). Of those players, only Whitaker has significantly contributed and is still around. Reed has been a disappointment (to this point), Coleman had to beat cancer before making it to the Plains, Gayden never panned out, Lemonier and Newton will be playing on Sunday this fall, and Dyer had the discipline issues.

That's why we don't have as many seniors who were rated highly out of high school. Still, I strongly suspect the playing time that the younger guys got over the last two seasons, even as bad as it was most of the time, is going to be paying big dividends going forward. That's why I see this season as having a lot of potential, but not as being particularly likely to make national waves, while next season I think we will be legitimate contenders for the conference title...and we all know what that means on a national level.