2014 Players Leaving (Updated: 7/20/15)

[McLoofus 35,182]

Patrick Miller is basically leaving because he's running from the competition. Nobody has him anywhere near draftable right now. If you don't think you're good enough to start at tackle in the SEC, what makes u think you're NFL ready?

If you don't know Patrick Miller personally, what makes you think you have any idea what you're talking about?

Actually, I doubt anyone here really knows whats going on with this decision but it is out of the blue and little unexpected especially given the fact that he hasn't been able to lock down his position at Auburn. I hope his decision turns out to be what he hopes it will but odds are against him just like they are for every college player making it in the pros.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome if folks took this opportunity to talk about how sick our depth on the OL is instead of disparaging a guy who busted his butt at Auburn and just made a really tough decision?

ACTUALLY, AU64 just said exactly that in the post above while I was typing this. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks, AU64.

I'll add that for all we know, Miller might have a sick family member who needs some bills paid, or some other reason that he needs to try and earn a paycheck right now.

[mcgufcm 4,101]

I'd say Miller's spot has been unique. He's beaten out Avery Young at RT twice, but for a variety of reasons, the OL hasn't clicked with Miller at RT because the pieces don't fit together as well. My take on this season is: Young is a better Tackle than Guard, and Young already had some cohesion with Slade at RG. The pieces just fit better. Miller was one of our best five guys, individually, but the OL is a unit, not five individuals. He was squeezed out based on how the unit fit together. That's a tough place to be.

I don't think he is running from competition because he's won the RT spot three times during his career (once as a freshman following an injury to the starter, once as a sophomore only to lose his job due to injury, and once as a junior only to lose his job for the reasons outlined above). That's just an unfair statement.

I don't think he'll get drafted (lack of film, an injury history, and few opportunities to audition will hurt him), but I do think he's got a real shot at landing a contract as a UFA. If he gets his foot in the door, I wouldn't bet against him making the roster. He's every bit as good as King Dunlap was. I really wish him the best of luck.

[TheBlueVue 177]

Patrick Miller is basically leaving because he's running from the competition. Nobody has him anywhere near draftable right now. If you don't think you're good enough to start at tackle in the SEC, what makes u think you're NFL ready?

If you don't know Patrick Miller personally, what makes you think you have any idea what you're talking about?

Actually, I doubt anyone here really knows whats going on with this decision but it is out of the blue and little unexpected especially given the fact that he hasn't been able to lock down his position at Auburn. I hope his decision turns out to be what he hopes it will but odds are against him just like they are for every college player making it in the pros.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome if folks took this opportunity to talk about how sick our depth on the OL is instead of disparaging a guy who busted his butt at Auburn and just made a really tough decision?

ACTUALLY, AU64 just said exactly that in the post above while I was typing this. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks, AU64.

I'll add that for all we know, Miller might have a sick family member who needs some bills paid, or some other reason that he needs to try and earn a paycheck right now.

You have a tendency to interpret most anything that isn't blatant sunshine pumping as disparaging. I dont think the decision is a very good one especially if he's doing it because he needs the money. I wish him the very best. I simply haven't seen much from the guy that leads me to believe he'll be drafted. The money he'll conceivably earn as a free agent, if he doesn't get drafted and does get a free agent deal, wont be enough to pay anyone's bills but his own. I like the guy. i wish him the best. I am just surprised by his decision given his career at Auburn.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Patrick Miller is basically leaving because he's running from the competition. Nobody has him anywhere near draftable right now. If you don't think you're good enough to start at tackle in the SEC, what makes u think you're NFL ready?

If you don't know Patrick Miller personally, what makes you think you have any idea what you're talking about?

Actually, I doubt anyone here really knows whats going on with this decision but it is out of the blue and little unexpected especially given the fact that he hasn't been able to lock down his position at Auburn. I hope his decision turns out to be what he hopes it will but odds are against him just like they are for every college player making it in the pros.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome if folks took this opportunity to talk about how sick our depth on the OL is instead of disparaging a guy who busted his butt at Auburn and just made a really tough decision?

ACTUALLY, AU64 just said exactly that in the post above while I was typing this. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks, AU64.

I'll add that for all we know, Miller might have a sick family member who needs some bills paid, or some other reason that he needs to try and earn a paycheck right now.

You have a tendency to interpret most anything that isn't blatant sunshine pumping as disparaging. I dont think the decision is a very good one especially if he's doing it because he needs the money. I wish him the very best. I simply haven't seen much from the guy that leads me to believe he'll be drafted. The money he'll conceivably earn as a free agent, if he doesn't get drafted and does get a free agent deal, wont be enough to pay anyone's bills but his own. I like the guy. i wish him the best. I am just surprised by his decision given his career at Auburn.

The disparaging comment was mainly in reference to the guy who said he was running from competition.

That said, not being able to lock down a starting job on Auburn's offensive line might only mean that you're not quite as good/consistent/healthy as a lot of other NFL-caliber talent.

Put another way, if you're going to say that Miller isn't ready for the NFL, then qualify it by critiquing his abilities. Is he too slow? Are his arms too short? Is he known to kick puppies? These are things that legitimately hinder a guy's ability to succeed at the next level.

[Mikey 16,612]

I like Patrick Miller and wish he had stayed, and I hope he comes back and finishes his degree at Auburn. On the bright side we're freeing up a scholarship in a deep offensive position that Boom can use to bring in another player at a position where we're thin (DE)..]

That's not how it works. Miller's leaving has no effect on the number of players we can sign next month. Two dozen more could leave and our allowable number under the annual limit would not change at all.

[TheBlueVue 177]

Patrick Miller is basically leaving because he's running from the competition. Nobody has him anywhere near draftable right now. If you don't think you're good enough to start at tackle in the SEC, what makes u think you're NFL ready?

If you don't know Patrick Miller personally, what makes you think you have any idea what you're talking about?

Actually, I doubt anyone here really knows whats going on with this decision but it is out of the blue and little unexpected especially given the fact that he hasn't been able to lock down his position at Auburn. I hope his decision turns out to be what he hopes it will but odds are against him just like they are for every college player making it in the pros.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome if folks took this opportunity to talk about how sick our depth on the OL is instead of disparaging a guy who busted his butt at Auburn and just made a really tough decision?

ACTUALLY, AU64 just said exactly that in the post above while I was typing this. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks, AU64.

I'll add that for all we know, Miller might have a sick family member who needs some bills paid, or some other reason that he needs to try and earn a paycheck right now.

You have a tendency to interpret most anything that isn't blatant sunshine pumping as disparaging. I dont think the decision is a very good one especially if he's doing it because he needs the money. I wish him the very best. I simply haven't seen much from the guy that leads me to believe he'll be drafted. The money he'll conceivably earn as a free agent, if he doesn't get drafted and does get a free agent deal, wont be enough to pay anyone's bills but his own. I like the guy. i wish him the best. I am just surprised by his decision given his career at Auburn.

The disparaging comment was mainly in reference to the guy who said he was running from competition.

That said, not being able to lock down a starting job on Auburn's offensive line might only mean that you're not quite as good/consistent/healthy as a lot of other NFL-caliber talent.

Put another way, if you're going to say that Miller isn't ready for the NFL, then qualify it by critiquing his abilities. Is he too slow? Are his arms too short? Is he known to kick puppies? These are things that legitimately hinder a guy's ability to succeed at the next level.

Patrick Miller has had disciplinary problems as well as a few issues remaining 100% physically and I would say those things significantly impacted his inability to lock that position down. Like I said, I like the guy and wish he had stayed. Frankly, I believe it would have helped him a lot. I'd love to see him make a roster and have an all pro career but the cautionary tale is...that particular future faces extremely long odds for all college players, which is not to say, he cant be an exception. Maybe he can, we'll see.

[AU64 10,122]

Patrick Miller is basically leaving because he's running from the competition. Nobody has him anywhere near draftable right now. If you don't think you're good enough to start at tackle in the SEC, what makes u think you're NFL ready?

If you don't know Patrick Miller personally, what makes you think you have any idea what you're talking about?

Actually, I doubt anyone here really knows whats going on with this decision but it is out of the blue and little unexpected especially given the fact that he hasn't been able to lock down his position at Auburn. I hope his decision turns out to be what he hopes it will but odds are against him just like they are for every college player making it in the pros.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome if folks took this opportunity to talk about how sick our depth on the OL is instead of disparaging a guy who busted his butt at Auburn and just made a really tough decision?

ACTUALLY, AU64 just said exactly that in the post above while I was typing this. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks, AU64.

I'll add that for all we know, Miller might have a sick family member who needs some bills paid, or some other reason that he needs to try and earn a paycheck right now.

You have a tendency to interpret most anything that isn't blatant sunshine pumping as disparaging. I dont think the decision is a very good one especially if he's doing it because he needs the money. I wish him the very best. I simply haven't seen much from the guy that leads me to believe he'll be drafted. The money he'll conceivably earn as a free agent, if he doesn't get drafted and does get a free agent deal, wont be enough to pay anyone's bills but his own. I like the guy. i wish him the best. I am just surprised by his decision given his career at Auburn.

The disparaging comment was mainly in reference to the guy who said he was running from competition.

That said, not being able to lock down a starting job on Auburn's offensive line might only mean that you're not quite as good/consistent/healthy as a lot of other NFL-caliber talent.

Put another way, if you're going to say that Miller isn't ready for the NFL, then qualify it by critiquing his abilities. Is he too slow? Are his arms too short? Is he known to kick puppies? These are things that legitimately hinder a guy's ability to succeed at the next level.

Patrick Miller has had disciplinary problems as well as a few issues remaining 100% physically and I would say those things significantly impacted his inability to lock that position down. Like I said, I like the guy and wish he had stayed. Frankly, I believe it would have helped him a lot. I'd love to see him make a roster and have an all pro career but the cautionary tale is...that particular future faces extremely long odds for all college players, which is not to say, he cant be an exception. Maybe he can, we'll see.

After looking a bit more at our OL situation I figure that either Young or Miller was going to leave. JMO but if Young had tossed his hat into the NFL draft, Miller would have probably stayed....noting that he did not make his decision until after Young announced he was coming back.

We have plenty of depth on the OL and likely, if both Miller and Young were here next season, to some extent they would have been sharing time and played less. I look at them as more or less inter-changeable and as long as both did not leave, the fact that only one of them (Miller or Young) departs, won't hurt us.

IMO, both have about the same possibility to play NFL because of their size and SEC experience....so Miller this year and Young next year...good luck to both of them.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

I like Patrick Miller and wish he had stayed, and I hope he comes back and finishes his degree at Auburn. On the bright side we're freeing up a scholarship in a deep offensive position that Boom can use to bring in another player at a position where we're thin (DE)..]

That's not how it works. Miller's leaving has no effect on the number of players we can sign next month. Two dozen more could leave and our allowable number under the annual limit would not change at all.

Mikey: I am not sure this is completely accurate. We are only allowed to sign 28, but we are also only allowed 85 on scholarship. So if we 70 kids on scholarship, then the most we can sign in this class is 15. With Miller leaving that would give us one more scholarship. So that we could sign 16. I know these numbers are not completely accurate for AU, just as an example. Again, maybe I am completely wrong on this but that is how I understand it.

[Tiger 8,827]

Has Miller graduated?

[tigermac 11]

I respect Patrick and what he has done for AU but like I said my opinion is that he's running from the competition. I don't care whether anybody thinks it's "disparaging" or not, it's an opinion. I didn't know we could only post things that sound positive. If he doesn't get drafted it's not a sound decision. His choices are come back and compete for a starting spot or take a very long shot at the NFL. If your end goal is to play in the NFL, why would you choose the latter at this point? What benefit is there to leaving early in this situation?

[Mikey 16,612]

I like Patrick Miller and wish he had stayed, and I hope he comes back and finishes his degree at Auburn. On the bright side we're freeing up a scholarship in a deep offensive position that Boom can use to bring in another player at a position where we're thin (DE)..]

That's not how it works. Miller's leaving has no effect on the number of players we can sign next month. Two dozen more could leave and our allowable number under the annual limit would not change at all.

Mikey: I am not sure this is completely accurate. We are only allowed to sign 28, but we are also only allowed 85 on scholarship. So if we 70 kids on scholarship, then the most we can sign in this class is 15. With Miller leaving that would give us one more scholarship. So that we could sign 16. I know these numbers are not completely accurate for AU, just as an example. Again, maybe I am completely wrong on this but that is how I understand it.

Again, that's not how it works. Kids do not start counting against the 85 limit when they sign, they don't start counting until they enroll in school. Thus, by the time signees enroll seniors have graduated, any that went through spring practice and saw they didn't move up the depth chart have left and any "processing" that needs to be done has been done. The staff intends to sign the full 28 next month unless they can't get the quality of players they want.

In short, by the time new signees are ready to enroll, room will be there for them. So as I said above, Miller or two dozen more leaving will not affect how many we sign this time. 28 is our limit this time and we'll sign 28 if we can get the right guys.

[AUCody15 0]

I like Patrick Miller and wish he had stayed, and I hope he comes back and finishes his degree at Auburn. On the bright side we're freeing up a scholarship in a deep offensive position that Boom can use to bring in another player at a position where we're thin (DE)..]

That's not how it works. Miller's leaving has no effect on the number of players we can sign next month. Two dozen more could leave and our allowable number under the annual limit would not change at all.

Mikey: I am not sure this is completely accurate. We are only allowed to sign 28, but we are also only allowed 85 on scholarship. So if we 70 kids on scholarship, then the most we can sign in this class is 15. With Miller leaving that would give us one more scholarship. So that we could sign 16. I know these numbers are not completely accurate for AU, just as an example. Again, maybe I am completely wrong on this but that is how I understand it.

Again, that's not how it works. Kids do not start counting against the 85 limit when they sign, they don't start counting until they enroll in school. Thus, by the time signees enroll seniors have graduated, any that went through spring practice and saw they didn't move up the depth chart have left and any "processing" that needs to be done has been done. The staff intends to sign the full 28 next month unless they can't get the quality of players they want.

In short, by the time new signees are ready to enroll, room will be there for them. So as I said above, Miller or two dozen more leaving will not affect how many we sign this time. 28 is our limit this time and we'll sign 28 if we can get the right guys.

Are JUCO signees counted in that number as well?

[Mikey 16,612]

Are JUCO signees counted in that number as well?

Yes. Any signee will count against the limit of 28 this year. We currently have 7 already enrolled plus 13 more committed so there are roughly eight slots left. I say roughly eight because Golson may count as one which would leave seven slots. The punter may grayshirt, which would move it back to eight. Some committed prospect(s) may flip, which would open up yet more slots. It's a little fluid due to the uncertainty but the number of new commits that we could accept and sign centers closely around what we've already got plus eight more.

[WarEagleAU 0]

OP Updated: Khari Harding left the team.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Gonna miss Khari Harding and the hard way he played.

[WarEagleAU 0]

OP updated: Mackenro Alexander left the team.

[CameronCrazy 1,062]

Even if we sign a full class in recruiting, we're already pretty close to the 85 limit. There's always guys who get in trouble, don't make the grades, or are forced to give up football due to injury. So I hope we don't lose anymore to transfer.

[autan 737]

The 85 limit is seldom a problem. A few will likely see the handwriting after Spring practice and a few more will move on before fall camp and maybe a couple move to medical hardship. That's the way it is in big-time college football today. We'll see.

[mcgufcm 4,101]

We're not even to February, and we've seen two guys (Harding and Alexander) transfer with another two guys (Harrell and Denson) reportedly considering medical hardships. The 85 won't be an issue.

[Sid 0]

Bryan Matthews ‏@BMattAU

Former Auburn WR Dominic Walker posts on social media that he's transferred to a junior college http://rvls.co/15zIDNm

Former Auburn WR Dominic Walker @DW_SHOWTIME4 confirmed he has transferred to Copiah Lincoln CC http://rvls.co/15zIDNm

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Bryan Matthews ‏@BMattAU

Former Auburn WR Dominic Walker posts on social media that he's transferred to a junior college http://rvls.co/15zIDNm

Damn. That must be why we made a strong push for two more WRs.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

Walker was supposed to be the best part of that 2013 receiving class was he not? Sad to see him go in any case, gives me a feeling that Jason Smith/Torrance Gibson are likely gonna be playing WR

[WarEagleAU 0]

OP updated: Dominic Walker left the team.

[WarEagleAU 0]

Brandon Marcello up next whoever that is...

Forget to add him on OP. I'll get it done tomorrow.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

Brandon Marcello up next whoever that is...

Forget to add him on OP. I'll get it done tomorrow.

Bleacher Report told me wrong, they were referencing Mackenro and got the name wrong.

forget it