Departures and Additions 2021-22 Postseason

[Hank2020 3,207]

36 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Good ole portal. 

The portal giveth and the portal taketh away.

[auburnphan 6,050]

22 minutes ago, cbo said:

I try to be patient and don't want to add to the negativity here, but I am getting concerned about the lack of offensive talent we are bringing in. Vast majority agree we need a major talent upgrade on that side of the ball. 

We lost Bo, Worm, Kobe, Canion, Robertson, Manning, Council, and Hamm. I'm not devastated to see some of them go, but that is a chunk of talent overall. We did have huge wins in keeping Tank and Shenker. 

So far, we brought in Calzada. Am I missing anyone else?

We only have 7 2022 commits on offense. Probably only a couple that will contribute much next year. I'm not hearing much about impact 2022 guys that are still in play, but I could be missing something. 

Seems like we are in good shape with the ULL WR who the staff likes. Sounds like the top 3 OL transfers are far from a sure thing. Anyone know anything else here?

I know there will be many more transfers that become available, the staff wants to find the right guys, etc. But at some point we need to bring in some bodies on the O. This crazy year seems like the perfect time to quickly overhaul the roster. 

 

A couple of things here, remember the portal is more of a marathon than a sprint.  We are in on several guys offensively and are waiting on their decisions.  A bunch more guys are gonna enter in a couple of months.  More importantly guys who will be grad transfers who know for sure they are graduating.  I think that guys that fit into this boat are gonna be likely.  We are searching for a couple of plugs and also some new parts for the lineup.  

I especially think in this new era we just forget about freshman and sophomores on the roster that are developing and assume there are bigger holes than what exist.  

[cbo 7,854]

22 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

A couple of things here, remember the portal is more of a marathon than a sprint.  We are in on several guys offensively and are waiting on their decisions.  A bunch more guys are gonna enter in a couple of months.  More importantly guys who will be grad transfers who know for sure they are graduating.  I think that guys that fit into this boat are gonna be likely.  We are searching for a couple of plugs and also some new parts for the lineup.  

I especially think in this new era we just forget about freshman and sophomores on the roster that are developing and assume there are bigger holes than what exist.  

Good points, especially about the freshmen and sophomores. Who knows what we have there. 

I'm probably just in a bad mood, but I do believe we need to start seeing results sooner than later. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, Paladin said:

 

Damn that disappointing.  Another promising edge rusher gone.  

[W.E.D 11,070]

Apparently Height has the option to come back, so maybe he's just testing the waters?

Rumors from mods that Lee Hunter might be headed there too.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

1 hour ago, Paladin said:

 

Ouch. This one hurts me the most of all of them so far, not named Worm. He has showed some real glimpses. This loss will not be a huge impact this year IMO, because we still have Hall and Leota, but definitely hurts our depth and the future. COME ON HOME WILL ANDERSON!

 

1 hour ago, cbo said:

I try to be patient and don't want to add to the negativity here, but I am getting concerned about the lack of offensive talent we are bringing in. Vast majority agree we need a major talent upgrade on that side of the ball. 

We lost Bo, Worm, Kobe, Canion, Robertson, Manning, Council, and Hamm. I'm not devastated to see some of them go, but that is a chunk of talent overall. We did have huge wins in keeping Tank and Shenker. 

So far, we brought in Calzada. Am I missing anyone else?

We only have 7 2022 commits on offense. Probably only a couple that will contribute much next year. I'm not hearing much about impact 2022 guys that are still in play, but I could be missing something. 

Seems like we are in good shape with the ULL WR who the staff likes. Sounds like the top 3 OL transfers are far from a sure thing. Anyone know anything else here?

I know there will be many more transfers that become available, the staff wants to find the right guys, etc. But at some point we need to bring in some bodies on the O. This crazy year seems like the perfect time to quickly overhaul the roster. 

 

Still a long way to go. 

 

On another note, I am happy Reed has decided for now to stay.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

2 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Apparently Height has the option to come back, so maybe he's just testing the waters?

Rumors from mods that Lee Hunter might be headed there too.

People on new TOS saying he does not have that option...Height I mean.

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 minute ago, Tigerpro2a said:

People on new TOS saying he does not have that option...Height I mean.

I'm shocked our recruiting site mods don't have good information.

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

1 hour ago, cbo said:

Good points, especially about the freshmen and sophomores. Who knows what we have there. 

I'm probably just in a bad mood, but I do believe we need to start seeing results sooner than later. 

JBoy, as much as a can’t stand to hear him even talk, seems to know football pretty well and and still insists that Tvarish Dawson, is an NFL caliber receiver. I hope he’s right and the kid pops on the scene. 

[cbo 7,854]

40 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

JBoy, as much as a can’t stand to hear him even talk, seems to know football pretty well and and still insists that Tvarish Dawson, is an NFL caliber receiver. I hope he’s right and the kid pops on the scene. 

Forgot about Dawson. He does seem to have potential. Perhaps JBoy has justified his obnoxious existence. 

[Tony4AU 386]

Now On3 reporting Reed could still end up leaving.  Makes no sense to me withdrawing from portal and then still transferring.  🤨

[AUinGA44 265]

Height had some serious potential. Hate he’s leaving.

[metafour 4,969]

32 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

A couple of things here, remember the portal is more of a marathon than a sprint.  We are in on several guys offensively and are waiting on their decisions.  A bunch more guys are gonna enter in a couple of months.  More importantly guys who will be grad transfers who know for sure they are graduating.  I think that guys that fit into this boat are gonna be likely.  We are searching for a couple of plugs and also some new parts for the lineup.  

I especially think in this new era we just forget about freshman and sophomores on the roster that are developing and assume there are bigger holes than what exist.  

I feel like there's a few more sobering thoughts that need to be made. First and foremost, we haven't officially lost  the guys we're currently in on, so it should be interesting to see how the next ~6 days close out. However....

I think the idea that you can just defer and wait until the Post-Spring batch as if it's all the same is really mistaken for a number of reasons:

1) Type of players available: among the guys that are entering the portal now are guys who were significant players for their current teams, and are leaving for the bigger stage of football offered elsewhere. This is your guys like Mason Brooks. These guys are often the best player on their position group for their smaller team. During this current batch you also have guys who are being displaced because of coaching changes that just took place. Caleb Williams is an obvious example of this, as he otherwise would never be available on the market. Cyrus O'Torrence and the Kyren Lacy fall in between both these categories: both are standouts on their G5 team, and their HC also left. These are the players you typically want to be pursuing, because they are highly desirable.

The problem I see with sitting idle until after spring practice is that I foresee the type of players available changing drastically. After spring, most of the players who enter the portal will be guys who don't look like they're getting into the playing rotation at their current school, or guys who are leaving because they got in trouble or are in the doghouse for whatever reason. The guys who are legit standouts and want to go to the SEC already entered and left during this current period, and it's not like Joe Schmoe who exits spring practice in Alabama's playing rotation is going to all of a sudden decide he wants out. More realistically, you'll see the guy from Alabama who ends spring practice as 3rd or 4th string on the depth chart leaving. These types of guys aren't likely to be big difference makers, because you're looking at scraps for the most part. Now, i'm sure there will be SOME interesting options that come through after spring for whatever reason, but for the most part I expect the quality to decline significantly.

Someone might counter by stating that most of the best players we added last year came after spring, but that was a one-off case because it took so long for the NCAA to officially pass the one-time transfer rule. This meant that most guys were waiting to see if they'd be immediately eligible before they entered the portal, hence why so many "good" players were available post-spring. 

 

2) The importance of familiarity/practice-time: this is multi-faceted, but there are two major things to point out. One, the OL is a position group that has to play in unison. This means that it's best that you find your 5-starters ASAP and have them play as many reps as possible beside each other. WR's don't have this issue, but they do need to start catching balls and running routes with whatever QB they'll be receiving balls from ASAP. These are all minor nuances that are maximized by bringing in your targets before spring practice starts so that they can have those practices together to get things rolling. The other major aspect is that Harsin's offense is more complicated than most, and his playing rotation generally favors guys who know the playbook/what they're supposed to be doing over "more talented" or "more athletic" guys that aren't picking things up. His expectation at OL and WR are higher than a lot of other offensive coaches; particularly guys running spread type offenses. This means that it is extremely beneficial to get offensive transfers in before spring practice to once again maximize reps and time spent learning the playbook. With lots of other schools running spread offenses, it's hard to for example project a potential transfer WR from one of those schools stepping in and just seamlessly transitioning in one fall camp. This was realistically part of the problem for guys like Canion and Capers who struggled to get reps.

[bigbird 60,564]

57 minutes ago, AUinGA44 said:

Height had some serious potential. Hate he’s leaving.

Hopefully Brooks can step up and fill that role.

[abw0004 10,125]

41 minutes ago, metafour said:

First and foremost, we haven't officially lost  the guys we're currently in on, so it should be interesting to see how the next ~6 days close out.

I thought I read somewhere that Harsin is the type of coach that once you enter the portal, he doesn’t want you back.  That he only wants players that want to be there and are all-in.  Is this wrong or changing?

[AUght2win 6,844]

21 minutes ago, cbo said:

I agree with everything here. I appreciate the thoughtful, well reasoned post and, most importantly, the lack of condescension. 

There are a ton of talented players available right now. We can continue to preach patience, but this sure seems like the time to cash in. It's almost a gift to Harsin, who is trying to rebuild a roster. Actually, just half the roster at this point. Personally, I will have less interest in the lack of talent excuse next season, if we can't make some waves in the portal. Not saying it's an overnight fix, but we should see some roster improvement very, very soon. 

I would be surprised if there is a glut of similar talent available after spring practice, for the reasons metafour stated.

Let's not forget we are Auburn. One of the premier programs in college football history. In the best division in the best conference. All eyes are on our games several times a season. Top guys who can almost be guaranteed starting spots should be dying to play here. 

 

 

To echo your previous posts I'm also getting worried about the lack of offensive portal guys. We can't wait until after spring. We need guys to go through those practices. And I agree with the other poster's assessment that the post-spring transfers are going to be a much lower quality batch.

[WFE12 9,191]

Culture fit is the problem and more players look to be heading to the portal more than likely. I’d be more accepting of this my way or the high way approach if we didn’t come off losing 5 straight games to end the season. I know the players that left aren’t big BIG time guys and it’s all good to have an alpha culture but what good is it if we’re still be average? I got patience and am not on Harsin’s head like most others but he gotta figure something out man so this doesn't turn into something to REALLY worry about.

[W.E.D 11,070]

7 hours ago, abw0004 said:

I thought I read somewhere that Harsin is the type of coach that once you enter the portal, he doesn’t want you back.  That he only wants players that want to be there and are all-in.  Is this wrong or changing?

I feel like I've read that before, but it's possible he's evolving with the game.  The Portal changes things.  He might not have the luxury of having that attituded 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,304]

This shouldn't be surprising. Wasn't he one of the players disciplined during a stretch this year?

[Tony4AU 386]

19 minutes ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

This shouldn't be surprising. Wasn't he one of the players disciplined during a stretch this year?

Yes, I believe so

[metafour 4,969]

11 hours ago, abw0004 said:

I thought I read somewhere that Harsin is the type of coach that once you enter the portal, he doesn’t want you back.  That he only wants players that want to be there and are all-in.  Is this wrong or changing?

I'm talking about the guys from other teams that we're after who have visited, but haven't committed yet (ie: Mason Brooks, Kyren Lacy).

[oracle79 3,569]

16 hours ago, metafour said:

More realistically, you'll see the guy from Alabama who ends spring practice as 3rd or 4th string on the depth chart leaving.

You made good points, but I'd take all the 3rd string O-line from Bama or Georgia all day long over what we had last year.

[auburnphan 6,050]

18 hours ago, metafour said:

I feel like there's a few more sobering thoughts that need to be made. First and foremost, we haven't officially lost  the guys we're currently in on, so it should be interesting to see how the next ~6 days close out. However....

I think the idea that you can just defer and wait until the Post-Spring batch as if it's all the same is really mistaken for a number of reasons:

1) Type of players available: among the guys that are entering the portal now are guys who were significant players for their current teams, and are leaving for the bigger stage of football offered elsewhere. This is your guys like Mason Brooks. These guys are often the best player on their position group for their smaller team. During this current batch you also have guys who are being displaced because of coaching changes that just took place. Caleb Williams is an obvious example of this, as he otherwise would never be available on the market. Cyrus O'Torrence and the Kyren Lacy fall in between both these categories: both are standouts on their G5 team, and their HC also left. These are the players you typically want to be pursuing, because they are highly desirable.

The problem I see with sitting idle until after spring practice is that I foresee the type of players available changing drastically. After spring, most of the players who enter the portal will be guys who don't look like they're getting into the playing rotation at their current school, or guys who are leaving because they got in trouble or are in the doghouse for whatever reason. The guys who are legit standouts and want to go to the SEC already entered and left during this current period, and it's not like Joe Schmoe who exits spring practice in Alabama's playing rotation is going to all of a sudden decide he wants out. More realistically, you'll see the guy from Alabama who ends spring practice as 3rd or 4th string on the depth chart leaving. These types of guys aren't likely to be big difference makers, because you're looking at scraps for the most part. Now, i'm sure there will be SOME interesting options that come through after spring for whatever reason, but for the most part I expect the quality to decline significantly.

Someone might counter by stating that most of the best players we added last year came after spring, but that was a one-off case because it took so long for the NCAA to officially pass the one-time transfer rule. This meant that most guys were waiting to see if they'd be immediately eligible before they entered the portal, hence why so many "good" players were available post-spring. 

 

2) The importance of familiarity/practice-time: this is multi-faceted, but there are two major things to point out. One, the OL is a position group that has to play in unison. This means that it's best that you find your 5-starters ASAP and have them play as many reps as possible beside each other. WR's don't have this issue, but they do need to start catching balls and running routes with whatever QB they'll be receiving balls from ASAP. These are all minor nuances that are maximized by bringing in your targets before spring practice starts so that they can have those practices together to get things rolling. The other major aspect is that Harsin's offense is more complicated than most, and his playing rotation generally favors guys who know the playbook/what they're supposed to be doing over "more talented" or "more athletic" guys that aren't picking things up. His expectation at OL and WR are higher than a lot of other offensive coaches; particularly guys running spread type offenses. This means that it is extremely beneficial to get offensive transfers in before spring practice to once again maximize reps and time spent learning the playbook. With lots of other schools running spread offenses, it's hard to for example project a potential transfer WR from one of those schools stepping in and just seamlessly transitioning in one fall camp. This was realistically part of the problem for guys like Canion and Capers who struggled to get reps.

I would add that there will be your fair share of guys who gave a new coaching staff a chance and decide to move on after spring ball as well.  Lumping most of them as malcontent, under performers, etc.  in this new modern era is not as accurate.   
 

I guarantee you part of the evaluation process includes having a high football IQ.  Was the theme of the early signing class.  
 

I am not trying to sugar coat things but I also know it is not as doom and gloom as others are seeing it.  I think the problem for a bunch of the roster was commitment to be great, being detailed in everything and low football iq’s.

[80Tiger 899]

7 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

I would add that there will be your fair share of guys who gave a new coaching staff a chance and decide to move on after spring ball as well.  Lumping most of them as malcontent, under performers, etc.  in this new modern era is not as accurate.   
 

I guarantee you part of the evaluation process includes having a high football IQ.  Was the theme of the early signing class.  
 

I am not trying to sugar coat things but I also know it is not as doom and gloom as others are seeing it.  I think the problem for a bunch of the roster was commitment to be great, being detailed in everything and low football iq’s.

I hear what you are saying, but how does anyone know that high football IQ was the theme? I could  have missed it but did Harsin say this? Did AU pass on higher rated players that were bigger, faster and recruited by everyone else because they did not have a high football IQ?

[metafour 4,969]

1 hour ago, auburnphan said:

I would add that there will be your fair share of guys who gave a new coaching staff a chance and decide to move on after spring ball as well.  Lumping most of them as malcontent, under performers, etc.  in this new modern era is not as accurate.   

But most of them WILL be malcontents. If you want proof, go look at the players that left from Auburn after one spring under Harsin. It's literally the scenario you just described (guys who gave a new coaching staff a chance and decided to move on). You have your guys like Tyrone Truesdell, Jaren Handy, Jay Hardy. Handy and Hardy barely played or did nothing while going to much easier schools in terms of competition. Truesdell was basically completely forgettable on a dog**** Florida defense that resulted in the DC, and then HC fired.

It makes no sense as to why you'd expect a legitimate SEC-caliber difference maker to up and leave after spring practice. Yeah, there will be a few of them I'm sure. But then you're fighting everyone else for those players just like is the case right now. And right now, they've missed on or are about to miss on most of their top targets.