Eagle's Claw 0 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Georgia can't sign Blue Chipper DB's because they don't have room, And we're offering a deep snapper a scholly the last week of recruiting??? I know Coach Tub's doesn't pay attention to rankings, BUT this does seem like a weaker class than recent years past... No LB's - I beleive we need many more bodies at this position 1 very good OL - We always need more bodies Too many TE's - The spread doen't even use TE's I'm bracing myself for a sub-par season. We're going to have a new offense, new, young QB. And new, young WR's. Our OL should be our strong point offensively. Young and experienced. Jury's out on the defense. Great DL, great LB's but light in depth. New, young DB's. It seems as if we're going to have a very young team over the next 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 How many more linebackers do we need next year? Players returning with starting experience: Tray Blackmon Merrill Johnson Chris Evans Bo Harris Craig Stevens Players returning with playing experience: Courtney Harden Josh Bynes I mean, 7 linebackers is a pretty full rotation. Throw in Brent Slusher (can't remember if he settled at LB) and Adam Herring... I'm not seeing the playing chances. This thin class could affect us down the line, but it won't matter one bit next season. Also, the youth excuse is out the window for the next two years: 5 returning OL, top thee RBs, top 4 WRs, two TEs with starting experience, 2 of 4 DL, top 7 LBs (5 with starting experience), top 3 S... only spot we're thin on experience is at corner, QB, and DT (and that goes away if Sen'Derrick moves back in). That's the whole list. We're not a young team next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baseballman8388 0 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 You want to check the stats before you make a post like this? Auburn returns every linebacker from last year's team, and that is plenty of depth: Blackmon, Merrill Johnson, Evans, Stevens, Josh Bynes, Bo Harris, Courtney Harden. All but Bynes got quite a bit of experience last year, and Bynes played quite a bit in the bowl game. The linebackers will be fine for the next 2 years, because Evans and Johnson are the only two who are even seniors this year. As for the recievers, yes we bring in several young guys, but we also return some veterans. Rod Smith, Robert Dunn, and Montez Billings will all be back after pretty good years last year. Chris Slaughter and Tim Hawthorne should only continue to get better, and anyone we bring in behind them is depth and added bonus if they go above and beyond expectations. As for the tight ends, we have 3 on the roster right now. We have 1 TE recruit who will be eligible and one who will go to JUCO. I wouldn't consider that too many. After bringing in 3 offensive line starters in last year's class, we really didn't need much this year. Every O-line position has a very legit backup, and we added one of the top O-lineman in the country in Johnson. Do some research before you go on a pessimistic rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PChamp119 96 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Didn't Auburn struggle with injuries at LB? Weren't we playing only 2 or at most 3 true LBs for a large portion of the season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runswithscissors 33 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Also, the youth excuse is out the window for the next two years: 5 returning OL, top thee RBs, top 4 WRs, two TEs with starting experience, 2 of 4 DL, top 7 LBs (5 with starting experience), top 3 S... only spot we're thin on experience is at corner, QB, and DT (and that goes away if Sen'Derrick moves back in). That's the whole list. We're not a young team next season. click, saved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURainman 6 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Didn't Auburn struggle with injuries at LB? Weren't we playing only 2 or at most 3 true LBs for a large portion of the season? As you've so astutely pointed out on the basketball forum, injuries don't matter. Teams usually only play around 35 players the majority of the time anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PChamp119 96 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Didn't Auburn struggle with injuries at LB? Weren't we playing only 2 or at most 3 true LBs for a large portion of the season? As you've so astutely pointed out on the basketball forum, injuries don't matter. Teams usually only play around 35 players the majority of the time anyways. As you failed to realize (no surprise there), everyone was talking about our great depth at Linebacker. Well it didn't appear that way on the field this past football season did it. And I never said injuries don't matter in basketball. There is a difference between saying injuries make a difference and having an excuse every season. This season the excuse is injuries. Every season there is an excuse. That's what I'm sick of. Your example would be the equivalent of having only 1 forward or 1 guard on the basketball court at all times. Nice try though, chump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,510 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 This year was freakish. I don't think our most critical area of need was LB. Nor was it OL after signing such a large class last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 We were thin, but we were talented. Before Evans broke out, everyone was lamenting Blackmon's injury (returning an INT in week one). Then we found out Chris Evans was a beast, and he stayed in the starting lineup the rest of the year. We had 5 linebackers miss significant amounts of time last year... and still fielded 2-3 very, very good ones each week. That's depth. RWS, if you hear an Auburn fan using youth as an excuse, you have every right to bust their balls. We are young in the sense of not having a ton of seniors (two on the OL, two at WR, one at RB, none on the DL, two in the LB rotation, and none in the back... you read that last part right: two senior in the defensive rotations next year), but we're not young from an experience stand point. If you hear an Auburn fan excitedly point out that "WE'RE SO YOUNG!" as a sign that more winning will come... he's right. If it's used as an excuse for bad play, he's wrong. Just as a quick aside to Auburn fans, look at this and tell me it doesn't get you excited: DL (probable starters) – Marks (JR), Coleman (JR), Ricks (JR), Blanc (SO) (probable backups) – Goggans (SO), Carter (SO), Clayton (SO)... Gray and Deas will also find homes LB (starters) – Blackmon (JR), Johnson (SR), Stevens (SO) (backups) – Evans (SR), Harris (SO), Bynes (SO)... toss in Courtney Harden as well DB (starters) – Powers (JR), McFadden (JR), Savage (JR), Etheridge (SO) (backups) – Williams (SO), McNeil (SO)... there is room here for new folks, Mike Slade for example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I'd throw McNeil in there over McFadden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURainman 6 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Your example would be the equivalent of having only 1 forward or 1 guard on the basketball court at all times. Nice try though, chump. We'll carry this back over to the basketball forum at risk of thread de-railment. For my parting shot, um....chump?.....I'd like you to notice that the basketball team IS playing one forward, no centers, and four guards. Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwagoner 214 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 And we're offering a deep snapper a scholly the last week of recruiting??? I know Coach Tub's doesn't pay attention to rankings, BUT this does seem like a weaker class than recent years past... Perhaps his concern there is why we so rarely see a muffed snap on PAT's, FG's & punts. Deep snapper is one of those hard-working, un-noticed positions that gets no respect. No-one even knows the DS or holder's name unless they screw up, but they attribute to a lot of important plays in a game, much less a season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Esquire, McNeil is a safety; McFadden is a corner. Walt's gonna start next year. McNeil won't unless he beats someone out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoopie 6 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 This class will not be as strong as 2006 or 2007, but will be better than 2005 and a lot better than 2004 (jetgate). We now have a lot of receivers, qb's and cb's to go with the depth on the rest of the team. The coaches will have time sorting out all of the receivers and qb's. We will prolly have some attrition at those positions. Hopefully Chris Todd can take the reigns as Burns gets on track. Burns needs to learn SEC passing accuracy. That is what spring training is for. The receivers as a group need to learn to come back to the ball and catch the ball with their hands extended away from their bodies. Rod Smith does this well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.