Grad Transfer Casey Dunn (Merged)

[ellitor 33,093]

2 minutes ago, corchjay said:

All American at lower level as opposed to SEC defensive lineman and coaches schemes are a huge difference 

I know that but I also know the staff has been looking for a way to move Golson to tackle or guard if someone would step up at center

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

Very interesting!

I can't wait to see how all of this shakes out. 

OL is going to be fun to watch in the Soring. 

[AUDub 11,148]

Go Huskies

 

[Mikey 16,600]

Clearly there is a mistake. Casey Dunn was a BASEBALL catcher at Auburn.

[GwillMac6 20,678]

Just now, Mikey said:

Clearly there is a mistake. Casey Dunn was a BASEBALL catcher at Auburn.

Heard he was good enough to where David Ross had to transfer some say! 

[Mikey 16,600]

2 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Heard he was good enough to where David Ross had to transfer some say! 

Believe it or not, he was. Now, Casey didn't have pro-ball foot speed and even catchers have to be able to run at least somewhat in the pros. Game in, game out Casey was a better college hitter and catcher than was Ross. Ross benefited from being the #1 guy at UF and obviously continued to improve over the years. It was great to see him go out like he did last October.

[GwillMac6 20,678]

9 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Believe it or not, he was. Now, Casey didn't have pro-ball foot speed and even catchers have to be able to run at least somewhat in the pros. Game in, game out Casey was a better college hitter and catcher than was Ross. Ross benefited from being the #1 guy at UF and obviously continued to improve over the years. It was great to see him go out like he did last October.

like Pmarsh said awhile ago it was the most amicable "break up" ever. No hard feelings whatsoever. He always is reppin AU at every turn. I have rarely seen him mention florida. He loves him some AU!

[triangletiger 1,599]

7 hours ago, Mikey said:

Clearly there is a mistake. Casey Dunn was a BASEBALL catcher at Auburn.

Lol!  When I saw the thread title, my first thought was, 'what's a baseball thread doing on the football board?'

[auburnphan 6,050]

Cole CubelicVerified account‏@colecubelic  1m1 minute ago

More

Cole Cubelic Retweeted Wilbur Churchill

Good balance, plays light. Gets pushed around some. Will help with depth & maybe help Herb move some guys around but not an instant upgrade.

[aubiefifty 16,791]

Auburn adds All-America grad transfer offensive lineman from Jacksonville State

Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

Auburn added depth to its offensive line on Wednesday.

Former Jacksonville State offensive lineman Casey Dunn transferred to Auburn as a graduate transfer, the Tigers announced. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Dunn, who was a two-time All-American for the Gamecocks, will be eligible immediately at Auburn.

Dunn will not be with the team when spring practices begin on Tuesday. Instead, he will arrive in the summer, an Auburn spokesman confirmed to AL.com.

Dunn, a product of Hewitt-Trussville High, started 27 games at center for Jacksonville State -- including the team's 27-20 overtime loss to Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2015. In all, he appeared in 36 games for Jacksonville State, with five appearances as a freshman in 2013 and four appearances as a sophomore in 2014.

Dunn earned a spot on the Gamecocks' starting offensive line prior to his junior season and quickly became a fixture up front. In 2015, he earned AFCA All-America honors, and last season he was a second-team AP All-American.

While Dunn anchored Jacksonville State's offensive line, the Gamecocks ran for a school record 4,511 yards in 2015 -- the program's first 4,000-yard season on the ground. JSU also totaled 7,613 yards of offense that season, marking the school's first season of eclipsing 7,000 yards of total offense. That year, Jacksonville State also finished as national runner-up in FCS, losing to North Dakota State in the FCS championship game.

Last season, Dunn paved the way for an offense that rushed for 3,007 yards and 32 touchdowns, including 782 yards and seven scores from former Auburn running back Roc Thomas. JSU went 10-2 on the season and won the Ohio Valley Conference before bowing out in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

The addition of Dunn brings added experience to an Auburn offensive line that is replacing two starters this season following the graduation of left guard Alex Kozan and right tackle Robert Leff.

[ellitor 33,093]

13 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Cole CubelicVerified account‏@colecubelic  1m1 minute ago

More

Cole Cubelic Retweeted Wilbur Churchill

Good balance, plays light. Gets pushed around some. Will help with depth & maybe help Herb move some guys around but not an instant upgrade.

If true then I don't see the point of the staff using 1 of it's last 2 spots for the 2017 new enrollee 25 limit on a back up. Him being a GT, we can't replace his enrollee spot with an EE in 2018.

[auburnphan 6,050]

43 minutes ago, ellitor said:

If true then I don't see the point of the staff using 1 of it's last 2 spots for the 2017 new enrollee 25 limit on a back up. Him being a GT, we can't replace his enrollee spot with an EE in 2018.

Agree, I was surprised by Cole's thoughts.  He is becoming one of the most respected evaluators of offensive lineman in the country.

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 hours ago, corchjay said:

All American at lower level as opposed to SEC defensive lineman and coaches schemes are a huge difference 

Don't forget that we saw this guy up close and personal in 2015, and his team almost beat ours. I know that doesn't necessarily amount to much, but it's something. 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Yes, he's comes Jacksonville State but, don't forget JSU came very close to beating us 2 years ago. And yes, Casey was a part of that team. My point is this. Just because you play or played on a lower level football program, doesn't mean you can't go up against the SEC or any other power 5 conference team. JSU beat Ole Miss at OM. App State Michigan at Michigan and there's been other 1-AA teams to beat I-A teams over the years. Casey Dunn will play in 2017.

[80Tiger 899]

12 hours ago, corchjay said:

All American at lower level as opposed to SEC defensive lineman and coaches schemes are a huge difference 

I think you are right coach about him being depth and I hope you are right. No need to move Golson if we do not have to IMO.  Also hate to give up Golson's size. I think I saw where this guy is around  285. Crazy to say but seems that one needs to be 300 plus to play o line in SEC.

[oracle79 3,569]

12 hours ago, ellitor said:

I think it means both. Moving Golson would not be a negative on him. Just trying to play the best 5. I know CD came from D2 but IMO you don't bring in a 2 time all american to be a back up. You bring him in to compete for a starting job.

I don't get the infatuation the coaches seem to have with moving Gholson away from center.  Why fix something that isn't broken?  Tried last year and offense was much better after Gholson moved back to center.  As far as O-line gelling and playing together, center is the most important spot.  Why take a veteran and move him?  Now if this transfer is a better center than Gholson, ok make the move.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, auburnphan said:

Cole CubelicVerified account‏@colecubelic  1m1 minute ago

More

Cole Cubelic Retweeted Wilbur Churchill

Good balance, plays light. Gets pushed around some. Will help with depth & maybe help Herb move some guys around but not an instant upgrade.

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

 

[ellitor 33,093]

29 minutes ago, oracle79 said:

I don't get the infatuation the coaches seem to have with moving Gholson away from center.  Why fix something that isn't broken?  Tried last year and offense was much better after Gholson moved back to center.  As far as O-line gelling and playing together, center is the most important spot.  Why take a veteran and move him?  Now if this transfer is a better center than Gholson, ok make the move.

Because AG is actually better at Guard or RT than C. If you can get similar production from another player at Center then you can have a better, more experience starting 5 if you can put AG at RT instead of a true freshman in CA or one of the Princes who have never played OL before college and still have not played meaningful snaps.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

I like this move. Dunn graded out extremely well in his time at JSU (IIRC it was around 90% for 2016) and did not allow a sack this year. That's pretty incredible, especially considering that JSU played LSU this year and Auburn the year before. It allows us to move Golson to abigger position of need and brings a ton and a bit of experience to our OL, and personally I always love seeing players on the OL play with high motor.

[oracle79 3,569]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Because AG is actually better at Guard or RT than C.

Yeah, that may very well be.  But the bigger question is, is Auburn better with him at Guard or RT than C.  Last year says no.  All I can say is they better figure out that answer pretty quick. Not a lot of room for errors next year.

[ellitor 33,093]

1 minute ago, oracle79 said:

Yeah, that may very well be.  But the bigger question is, is Auburn better with him at Guard or RT than C.  Last year says no.  All I can say is they better figure out that answer pretty quick. Not a lot of room for errors next year.

Because we did not have a productive C besides AG. If Dunn can be productive at C then that answer would become yes.

[abw0004 10,113]

Not sure how I feel about this.  If he is a good player, then lets have him.  But this will mean that if he starts, 3-4 offensive linemen will be gone next year.  That is a huge loss.  And this could also want to make OL guys transfer this year as they see that they will not play for at least another year.   It just worries me with grad transfers as they are really only at Auburn for 6 months and then they are gone.  Not much time to do much, when we could be focusing on other guys who are here for the next 2-3 years.

[gravejd 3,270]

I think this is a solid pickup. We needed some reliable depth at C at this moves gives us that at the very least. If it opens opportunity to move guys around to get a better overall line then all the better.

The question I have is "was playing at AU this kids dream" if so then its possible he was brought in for depth. If the answer to that question is no then that means he could have gone a number of places and came to AU with the expectation of playing.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

12 minutes ago, gravejd said:

The question I have is "was playing at AU this kids dream" if so then its possible he was brought in for depth. If the answer to that question is no then that means he could have gone a number of places and came to AU with the expectation of playing.

Valid question.  I will say this... every transfer I've ever read interviews with has made it pretty clear that they were given the opportunity to complete but never promised they would play. It very well could be that this kid likes to stay close to home and loves the idea of getting some play time in the SEC, even if it's as a back-up. He may also think he has what it takes to earn the spot.

57 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

 But this will mean that if he starts, 3-4 offensive linemen will be gone next year.  That is a huge loss.  And this could also want to make OL guys transfer this year as they see that they will not play for at least another year.

I'm not worried about anyone wanting to transfer. As for next year... if I'm running the team, my goal is to get the best 5 guys on the line and dominate, so that more often than not, the next bunch can come in for the last quarter of the game and get experience. You play to win now, not to prepare for next year.