2024 4* QB Walker White Commits to AU!

[gr82b4au 5,568]

12 minutes ago, NWALA Tiger said:

And what is the proper QB in their system?

Well, whatever it is, it seems that Noland is not it. Most of the insiders on all of the message boards have made it clear, including today, that he is not near the top of the list for our coaches. 

[AUwent 3,754]

After what I’ve seen, I’m starting to get concerned about QBs…we have two of the best coaches in the biz. Why is the only QB we’ve been able to trend our way a steal from Liberty?

Anyway, solid class, pretty much what I had as our goal rankings wise. Next year it's time to start finishing in or very very close to the top 10 again!

Edited February 2, 2023 by AUwent

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

10 minutes ago, AUwent said:

After what I’ve seen, I’m starting to get concerned about QBs…we have two of the best coaches in the biz. Why is the only QB we’ve been able to trend our way a steal from Liberty?

I have confidence in Ashford.   Yeah, it would be awesome to get some 5 star proven guy,  but Ashford can get it done.  Here is the reason why.

caveat: With proper coaching ....

The game is going to slow down tremendously for him this year.   You could see the light coming on toward the end of last year. even injured.     He will have more confidence in his OL,   plus more time.  he will have receivers that have better plays,  better routes, and better hands. 

 He should be extra motivated to get better  going into the year as "the favorite" as apposed to the challenger or even footing. 

He knows what it is he needs to fix.  He will have every opportunity to fix it.

He has a good bit of experience now,  and time to reflect on it.   All those hunting thoughts from mistakes we have all made.   Like "what could I have done better?" and "I should have done _____".    will  become "Next time I will do _______".

Freeze has stated on multiple occasions his QB must be a Leader (among other things).  Ashford is a natural leader.   The kind of leader people WANT to follow.  Good looking, happy,  intelligent, humble, athletic,  strong heart, and sincerely cares.

He basically just needs to learn to aim.  ( 8 year old pitcher's term for accuracy and touch (speed) I found appropriate)   That can be taught with repetition over spring and summer.  ESp with repetition with his WR's on their own with no coaches.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

1 hour ago, AUwent said:

After what I’ve seen, I’m starting to get concerned about QBs…we have two of the best coaches in the biz.

I am too, but I am going to hold out hope. Coach has been there 2.5 months. It takes time to build relationships. 
I would be SHOCKED if we did not pick up a transfer QB. As a matter of fact, I am counting on it. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by gr82b4au

[AUwent 3,754]

2 minutes ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

I have confidence in Ashford.   Yeah, it would be awesome to get some 5 star proven guy,  but Ashford can get it done.  Here is the reason why.

caveat: With proper coaching ....

The game is going to slow down tremendously for him this year.   You could see the light coming on toward the end of last year. even injured.     He will have more confidence in his OL,   plus more time.  he will have receivers that have better plays,  better routes, and better hands. 

 He should be extra motivated to get better  going into the year as "the favorite" as apposed to the challenger or even footing. 

He knows what it is he needs to fix.  He will have every opportunity to fix it.

He has a good bit of experience now,  and time to reflect on it.   All those hunting thoughts from mistakes we have all made.   Like "what could I have done better?" and "I should have done _____".    will  become "Next time I will do _______".

Freeze has stated on multiple occasions his QB must be a Leader (among other things).  Ashford is a natural leader.   The kind of leader people WANT to follow.  Good looking, happy,  intelligent, humble, athletic,  strong heart, and sincerely cares.

He basically just needs to learn to aim.  ( 8 year old pitcher's term for accuracy and touch (speed) I found appropriate)   That can be taught with repetition over spring and summer.  ESp with repetition with his WR's on their own with no coaches.

The OL absolutely will be better and that's huge, but all evidence I believe points to us desperately needing a quality (again, McCall-level) name from the TP. Given the reputation of our HC and OC as QB whisperers, it should not be as hard as it's looking right now.

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

2 minutes ago, AUwent said:

The OL absolutely will be better and that's huge, but all evidence I believe points to us desperately needing a quality (again, McCall-level) name from the TP. Given the reputation of our HC and OC as QB whisperers, it should not be as hard as it's looking right now.

Competition is fierce for QB's this year.    Until a great and proven leader emerges I don't think there are any out there that are that much better than the potential of what we have without risk.   bird in hand and all that.

 

As an example,  you could be a 5 star QB,  but if you are always a Debbie Downer,  a blamer or complainer,  or ask your teammates to do something you are unwilling to do, then no one will want to follow you.

 Freeze wants a natural leader at QB.   It is one of , if not the first thing,  he mentions when asked what he wants from a QB.   It is NOT something that can be learned or taught.    I think Ashford is the closest thing to that available at the moment.  He already has the teams respect.  He has the athletic ability.  Everything else can be coached or overcome by athleticism and repetition.  

 

I'm not saying he will be some great QB,  but he will be more than serviceable if/when  the rest of the team comes together. 

[Hank2020 3,206]

1 hour ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

I have confidence in Ashford.   Yeah, it would be awesome to get some 5 star proven guy,  but Ashford can get it done.  Here is the reason why.

caveat: With proper coaching ....

The game is going to slow down tremendously for him this year.   You could see the light coming on toward the end of last year. even injured.     He will have more confidence in his OL,   plus more time.  he will have receivers that have better plays,  better routes, and better hands. 

 He should be extra motivated to get better  going into the year as "the favorite" as apposed to the challenger or even footing. 

He knows what it is he needs to fix.  He will have every opportunity to fix it.

He has a good bit of experience now,  and time to reflect on it.   All those hunting thoughts from mistakes we have all made.   Like "what could I have done better?" and "I should have done _____".    will  become "Next time I will do _______".

Freeze has stated on multiple occasions his QB must be a Leader (among other things).  Ashford is a natural leader.   The kind of leader people WANT to follow.  Good looking, happy,  intelligent, humble, athletic,  strong heart, and sincerely cares.

He basically just needs to learn to aim.  ( 8 year old pitcher's term for accuracy and touch (speed) I found appropriate)   That can be taught with repetition over spring and summer.  ESp with repetition with his WR's on their own with no coaches.

I think he is an extremely athletic, strong competitor. Don’t really see natural leader.

[Mikey 16,614]

2 hours ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

He already has the teams respect.  He has the athletic ability.  Everything else can be coached or overcome by athleticism and repetition.  

Accuracy in passing is not something that can be coached. Or so I've been told numerous times. I like your optimism but if we're going to ride with what we already have my money would be on Geriner winning the job.

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

7 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Accuracy in passing is not something that can be coached. Or so I've been told numerous times. 

That may be true.  I am not a QB coach by ANY means.  But I have personally witnessed baseball pitchers that could hardly keep the ball over the plate become quite accurate with a couple hundred reps per week for a few months in the off season.

Repetitions with receivers may or may not improve accuracy.  ( think it will).  But it will definitely help with timing  and touch.   There is nothing stopping all the QB's and WR's meeting up on their own a couple times a week at The Auburetum (arboretum )  or practice facility.   They can do this all summer long.

Robby is not chopped liver like some portray.   Could we get a  better QB?  You bet!   Do we absolutely HAVE to get a better QB to be successful?  NO.  If this team gels, we will just need a QB that is a little better than average.  I will always want more and better QB's,  but  I think we will be just fine with who we have on our roster.

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

I agree with you that CHF is much more open and honest with players, press, etc. than most coaches.   And I believe he is telling the truth about the QB situation.   I also believe that after Spring, TJ will decide to transfer out, and we will find a “right fit” QB to transfer in.   

[W.E.D 11,070]

13 hours ago, AUwent said:

After what I’ve seen, I’m starting to get concerned about QBs…we have two of the best coaches in the biz. Why is the only QB we’ve been able to trend our way a steal from Liberty?

Anyway, solid class, pretty much what I had as our goal rankings wise. Next year it's time to start finishing in or very very close to the top 10 again!

I'm not one that's big on "trust the coaches" type excuses, but bashing them on '23 is a bit too much.  '24 is just getting started and we got scooped by a much better program than Auburn or our top QB.  I'll be interested to see how the rest plays out, but not worried yet.  

Yes portal was disappointing.  Should have a had a good one, but turned out to be a moron in the classroom.  Then missed on all of our other options for whatever factors/excuses ppl want to say.

[AEAugirl 9,632]

I don’t want to judge any of our QBs because bless them….all they have been exposed to is Harsin coaching….but going into the fall without a solid portal QB is going to make me really nervous.  

 

[aucom96 1,622]

The portal and NIL has made this game weird. 

Any year, you are basically going to have a bidding war over recruits, portal entries and probably even money being waved at starters to tempt them into the portal. Unless you are flush with NIL funds, no player is safe so I can see top programs always looking for a QB and other key positions even if their immediate roster is solid. That's what we're competing with and we're coming off two coaching administrations who had a guy transfer and light it up after struggling for several years, brought two transfers who were starting at their previous schools and then vanished here and then sat our highest rated recruit to start basically a glorified wildcat QB. There's a lot of recruiting to do at QB and we've got more competition than we've ever had for the most wanted position player on the field. 

I don't see Freeze settling on Ashford as a starter. Circumstances may prove that to ultimately be the case, but I think we're going to face a lot of the same problems as last year if so. My guess is our NIL funds were weighted toward the lines and we were banking on McCall. When that fell through, my guess is we're looking for a serviceable 2nd stringer to come in after the spring until Geriner is ready to step in. It's just hard to see Ashford getting that much better in an offense that will ask more of him than less. 

[LPTiger 5,167]

Coach Freeze has said that he did not feel like Robby got a fair shot last year because our offensive line was so poor.  It is hard to be accurate when you are running for your life, getting hit every time you drop back, feel like you have no blind side protection, have people running free straight up the A gap, etc etc.   As for Hank Brown, Coach Freeze has said he has "an NFL arm."  It is rightfully hard for us to trust our coaches after the past 5 or so years, but let's try to give this guy a chance and the benefit of doubt before we start losing sleep over the QB position.

[TeamZero77 1,784]

33 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

The portal and NIL has made this game weird. 

Any year, you are basically going to have a bidding war over recruits, portal entries and probably even money being waved at starters to tempt them into the portal. Unless you are flush with NIL funds, no player is safe so I can see top programs always looking for a QB and other key positions even if their immediate roster is solid. That's what we're competing with and we're coming off two coaching administrations who had a guy transfer and light it up after struggling for several years, brought two transfers who were starting at their previous schools and then vanished here and then sat our highest rated recruit to start basically a glorified wildcat QB. There's a lot of recruiting to do at QB and we've got more competition than we've ever had for the most wanted position player on the field. 

I don't see Freeze settling on Ashford as a starter. Circumstances may prove that to ultimately be the case, but I think we're going to face a lot of the same problems as last year if so. My guess is our NIL funds were weighted toward the lines and we were banking on McCall. When that fell through, my guess is we're looking for a serviceable 2nd stringer to come in after the spring until Geriner is ready to step in. It's just hard to see Ashford getting that much better in an offense that will ask more of him than less. 

The portal and NIL has also changed it to where you're going to have to re-recruit your players every year just to keep them on your team. So instead of recruiting them only in high school, you're recruiting them after their freshman, sophomore, junior years of college as well. It also means 90% of schools won't have a really good backup QB because he will get plucked away by another program. So heaven forbid your #1 QB go down with an injury early to midseason because it will probably ruin a good season for most teams. 

Like several of the talking heads on TV have said about this current landscape of college football, it will somewhat level off the bigger and deeper rosters like Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, LSU, etc. because they won't be able to stockpile 4* and 5* talent on their benches but it also will hurt G5 programs because if they have a player that has a breakout season, he will be plucked away by a P5 program. So G5 schools will be even worse off talent wise against the P5 teams. 

It's just a WAAAAY different era of college football than it was pre 2017. 

[autan 737]

I understand Dabo has been in on WW a lot longer than CDHF, but I still don't understand why White would pick Clemson. They have a TF 5* in Klubnik and an incoming 5* in Vizzina and an incoming transfer of former 4* Tyson (Bear's great grandson) for depth. There may be others.  It wouldn't surprise me if White gets a star bump if he commits to the other Tigers (he's that good), but the kid is still likely to spend a lot of time with clipboard before seeing the field. Of course the portal may thin things out with another round of musical QBs. Come on down to the plains Walker, where an opening is there waiting for the right fit (you).  WDE!!

[AEAugirl 9,632]

19 minutes ago, autan said:

I understand Dabo has been in on WW a lot longer than CDHF, but I still don't understand why White would pick Clemson. They have a TF 5* in Klubnik and an incoming 5* in Vizzina and an incoming transfer of former 4* Tyson (Bear's great grandson) for depth. There may be others.  It wouldn't surprise me if White gets a star bump if he commits to the other Tigers (he's that good), but the kid is still likely to spend a lot of time with clipboard before seeing the field. Of course the portal may thin things out with another round of musical QBs. Come on down to the plains Walker, where an opening is there waiting for the right fit (you).  WDE!!

Clemson offered Walker White about 10 days before Freeze did.  

Ole Miss and Arkansas have probably had the longest relationship with WW.  Kiffin has been recruiting him a long time, and obviously Arky has since he’s in state and a legacy.  

OM doesn’t seem to even be a factor anymore but Arky is still mentioned as one being considered.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by AEAugirl

[PoetTiger 1,899]

I’m waiting to see how the QB tree shakes after spring ball, there will be some movement when guys get the feel they will not be playing. Right now coaches are selling a lot of kids on “you gonna get your shot” well when they go the other way I anticipate some talented guys hitting the portal. Be patient.

[au701948 1,000]

10 minutes ago, PoetTiger said:

I’m waiting to see how the QB tree shakes after spring ball, there will be some movement when guys get the feel they will not be playing. Right now coaches are selling a lot of kids on “you gonna get your shot” well when they go the other way I anticipate some talented guys hitting the portal. Be patient.

My thoughts and hopes line up with your comment. All we can do now as fans is try and be patient.

[AEAugirl 9,632]

1 hour ago, PoetTiger said:

I’m waiting to see how the QB tree shakes after spring ball, there will be some movement when guys get the feel they will not be playing. Right now coaches are selling a lot of kids on “you gonna get your shot” well when they go the other way I anticipate some talented guys hitting the portal. Be patient.

You have to think one of those Georgia QBs hit the portal if Shaw gets the starting job, which its kinda looking that way. 

If Monken leaves and a new OC comes in that could completely change things but right now it looks like the job is Shaw’s to lose. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

4 hours ago, AEAugirl said:

I don’t want to judge any of our QBs because bless them….all they have been exposed to is Harsin coaching….but going into the fall without a solid portal QB is going to make me really nervous.  

 

I think most AU fans agree with you. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

meta already posted it but just adding to it. Not looking good as everyone already knows. Admittedly is a very big loss but this coaching staff just started, so hopefully we will get our backup plan. 
…someday soon we have to start winning these battles or we will never be where we want to be as a program. I look forward to those days. It has been so long…

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

1 hour ago, gr82b4au said:

meta already posted it but just adding to it. Not looking good as everyone already knows. Admittedly is a very big loss but this coaching staff just started, so hopefully we will get our backup plan. 
…someday soon we have to start winning these battles or we will never be where we want to be as a program. I look forward to those days. It has been so long…

At least we’re not Arky!   Kid’s entire family played and/or attended Arky, and they’re not even a hat on the table!!!   Climpsun is the obvious favorite here, but who knows, we might pull off the huge upset.🤷‍♂️

As stated, we are behind in 2024.  These early battles will be tough!   As we get later into the cycle, we’ll win some big ones, especially if we have success on the field.   In the 2025 class, we should be have an even playing field.   Then we’ll really be able to see where we stand against the other big boys.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by AUinMS9528

[tinman1 487]

4 hours ago, autan said:

I understand Dabo has been in on WW a lot longer than CDHF, but I still don't understand why White would pick Clemson. They have a TF 5* in Klubnik and an incoming 5* in Vizzina and an incoming transfer of former 4* Tyson (Bear's great grandson) for depth. There may be others.  It wouldn't surprise me if White gets a star bump if he commits to the other Tigers (he's that good), but the kid is still likely to spend a lot of time with clipboard before seeing the field. Of course the portal may thin things out with another round of musical QBs. Come on down to the plains Walker, where an opening is there waiting for the right fit (you).  WDE!!

My opinion of Vizzina is he's overrated.  Good runner but average passer.  Tyson is there because of being Bear's grandson.  Will only see field at QB if everyone else is hurt.  Might hold on field goals but afetr a few drops Saban removed him from that.  Kids that are highly ranked like WW don't pay as much attention to depth chart as we do.  The think they can beat out anyone they compete against. 

But I do agree with you.  Of his finalists I personally think AU is the best place for him, especially with the under-acheivement Dabo showed in his last QB, DJ Youkalelly (or whatever his name is).

[JerryAU 1,674]

16 hours ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

Robby is not chopped liver like some portray.   Could we get a  better QB?  You bet!   Do we absolutely HAVE to get a better QB to be successful?  NO.  If this team gels, we will just need a QB that is a little better than average.  I will always want more and better QB's,  but  I think we will be just fine with who we have on our roster.

A QB a little better than average to accomplish what exactly? 

This is a QB league and to compete every week in this conference you need a much better than average QB to do the job.  Lord knows we've had to witness what happens when you have average QB's and it ain't pretty.

Just yesterday of the nation's top 15 edge rushers, 10 (TEN) signed with SEC teams.   

4 to Bama, 3 to UGA, 1 LSU, 1 Tenn, 1 USCe.  God Bless SEC QB's.