2016 4* TE Landon Rice (AU commit 11/20/13)

[JFDTiger80 790]

E has not been on here a while. I know he is having some issues with computers. Anyway, it will be nice to put the 4 star next to Landon. He is a big dude and talented. The staff did great here.

[WarEagleAU 0]

he got a bump to 4-star on scout.

[JFDTiger80 790]

I have to think Rice is a composite 4 star by now. ESPN, Scout and 247 have him as a 4 star. Rivals as of this AM still has him as a 3 star.

[FASTCOMPANY 394]

Just saw that he's been doing some "soul searching." Is this good news or bad news for us? TIA

[aujeff11 6,243]

Just saw that he's been doing some "soul searching." Is this good news or bad news for us? TIA

He seems like a pretty good kid and his family seemed to be thrilled with his commitment to Auburn but I would be soul searching too if I was him. I really do think that if we can beat somebody's ass in football for once and quit going to overtime against the Jacksonville State's, then we can start tightening our grip on the few commitments that we have. We need to maintain our hold on Rice, Barrett, Stove, and Davidson for sure.

[AuburnNTexas 7,148]

Re-watched his highlights use his hands well. Runs good routes as a TE has good hands and is not slow but not grease lightening fast. Blocks well and holds his blocks but often against much smaller players. Is also a solid defensive end uses his hands well but again often against smaller players. One key question is would Gus adjust his offense to utilize him a little more as a receiver. TE is one of the best ways to hurt teams that Blitz as a quick dump to TE in vacated space is usually a nice gain. A TE dump would have killed Miss. State Blitz package.

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

Just saw that he's been doing some "soul searching." Is this good news or bad news for us? TIA

It looks like no news honestly

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

Re-watched his highlights use his hands well. Runs good routes as a TE has good hands and is not slow but not grease lightening fast. Blocks well and holds his blocks but often against much smaller players. Is also a solid defensive end uses his hands well but again often against smaller players. One key question is would Gus adjust his offense to utilize him a little more as a receiver. TE is one of the best ways to hurt teams that Blitz as a quick dump to TE in vacated space is usually a nice gain. A TE dump would have killed Miss. State Blitz package.

I honestly can't figure out for the life of me why we don't utilize TEs in our offense for more that blocking

[IronMan70 3,277]

Re-watched his highlights use his hands well. Runs good routes as a TE has good hands and is not slow but not grease lightening fast. Blocks well and holds his blocks but often against much smaller players. Is also a solid defensive end uses his hands well but again often against smaller players. One key question is would Gus adjust his offense to utilize him a little more as a receiver. TE is one of the best ways to hurt teams that Blitz as a quick dump to TE in vacated space is usually a nice gain. A TE dump would have killed Miss. State Blitz package.

I honestly can't figure out for the life of me why we don't utilize TEs in our offense for more that blocking

Same here and you would think we would use it more often, at least as a check off. But honestly, look at how many passes our TE's caught the last few years. Lutz had 59 total in 4 years and CJ had only 29 in 4 years, so it's not a big part of our offensive play calling.

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

Re-watched his highlights use his hands well. Runs good routes as a TE has good hands and is not slow but not grease lightening fast. Blocks well and holds his blocks but often against much smaller players. Is also a solid defensive end uses his hands well but again often against smaller players. One key question is would Gus adjust his offense to utilize him a little more as a receiver. TE is one of the best ways to hurt teams that Blitz as a quick dump to TE in vacated space is usually a nice gain. A TE dump would have killed Miss. State Blitz package.

I honestly can't figure out for the life of me why we don't utilize TEs in our offense for more that blocking

Same here and you would think we would use it more often, at least as a check off. But honestly, look at how many passes our TE's caught the last 4 years. Lutz had 59 total in 4 years and CJ had only 29 in 4 years, so it's not a big part of our offensive play calling.

Yeah I just don't get why? Some of our tight ends have caught the ball better than most of our receivers until recently. Just seems like it would add a wrinkle to our o, especially when some of these TEs are rated just as high as a lot of receivers coming out of high school. But what do I know?

[JFDTiger80 790]

Just saw that he's been doing some "soul searching." Is this good news or bad news for us? TIA

He seems like a pretty good kid and his family seemed to be thrilled with his commitment to Auburn but I would be soul searching too if I was him. I really do think that if we can beat somebody's ass in football for once and quit going to overtime against the Jacksonville State's, then we can start tightening our grip on the few commitments that we have. We need to maintain our hold on Rice, Barrett, Stove, and Davidson for sure.

KN has a meercat video today talking to Landon and Landon talks about how excited he is to be coming to AU. I think he is solid.

[autan 737]

I don't have a real good feeling about Rice. I know his brother is on the team but that could help or hurt who knows. As soon as he get's a 4* composite (which will come very soon) offers will come from big time programs all of which utilize TE more than AU. Fortunately for us he probably won't get one from UGA unless it's for DE. They already have two 4* TEs committed and a 5* very close to committing. I hope I'm wrong but I think we will have a difficult time hanging on to Landon.

[aujeff11 6,243]

http://auburn.247sports.com/Bolt/Rice-locked-in-with-Tigers-40728690

Paid article but the headline tells you all that you need to know.

[PUB78 1,358]

Has a pass been thrown to one of our Tight Ends this season?

[CR 2,442]

A talented TE is pretty much wasted in our offense. Michigan has interest in him as a DE which tells me he has some talent at that position as they have an excellent defensive staff. AU needs a LOT of DE help. Any chance he gets a look at DE at AU?

[TexasTiger 12,876]

A talented TE is pretty much wasted in our offense. Michigan has interest in him as a DE which tells me he has some talent at that position as they have an excellent defensive staff. AU needs a LOT of DE help. Any chance he gets a look at DE at AU?

He sees himself as both:

http://www.theplay-book.com/athletes/landon-rice/

[mcgufcm 4,096]

Geez. He's almost automatically a threat to start at TE. Look at the depth chart.

[JFDTiger80 790]

A Talented TE with great hands is not a waste in our offense. Lutz did not catch 100's of passes but most of his catches were keys to us winning games. Lutz was a terrific athlete.

[McLoofus 35,182]

A talented TE is pretty much wasted in our offense.

Lutz was a star in our offense. Uzomah was a big contributor.

We have 2 freshmen with 6 recruiting stars between them. We broke in a new QB in week 4. We have inexperience all over the offense. Not sure how much you expect from the TE position this year.

[cole256 17,080]

The fact that he was first team as a d end too...DEFINITELY get him here just in case. I'll be happy wherever he plays but I'm just saying 6'5-6'6" 245 4.7 are GREAT measurable for a d end....If he has long arms and flexibility....diamond in the rough here. And he's set on us while having some great offers

[AUApostle 7,651]

Having Uzomah this year would have greatly eased our redzone woes.

[augolf1716 21,154]

Does anyone know if he plays basketball for his school? Always love tight ends who have BB experience

[aujeff11 6,243]

Does anyone know if he plays basketball for his school? Always love tight ends who have BB experience

His school asked him not to. Even the break away goals were getting broke and the budget was too tight to keep replacing them. JK. I don't know.

[IronMan70 3,277]

I've often wondered why we don't use a TE more than we do. They are being used all over the NFL very effectively. Great for check downs, delayed crossing patterns and seam routes. Cam and Greg Olsen put on a show last night against the Colts.

[McLoofus 35,182]

I've often wondered why we don't use a TE more than we do. They are being used all over the NFL very effectively. Great for check downs, delayed crossing patterns and seam routes. Cam and Greg Olsen put on a show last night against the Colts.

Right now we just don't have the horses. The guys having success in the NFL right now are almost all freak athletes or just incredible football players. Greg Olsen was a first rounder out of Miami.

If we get another Lutz, we'll get him involved. If we would have gotten OJ Howard, he'd be involved.

All of the above is just my uneducated opinion, though, and I hope somebody more football savvy than me chimes in.