First let me start by welcoming all of our new Auburn Tigers to the family. War Eagle ladies and gentlemen. Not only was today a banner day for our football program, other AU athletic endeavors signed new recruits today as well.
The official AU site has done me a huge favor and made a list of our new football players.
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Will Adams OT 6-7 280 Tyrone, GA (Sandy Creek) T.J. Davis DB 6-1 180 Tallahassee, FL (Godby) Joshua Holsey DB 5-11 175 Fairburn, GA (Creekside) Darrion Hutcherson TE 6-7 247 Dadeville, AL (Dadeville) Jonathan Jones DB 5-10 184 Carrollton, GA (Carrollton) Robert Leff OL 6-6 270 Fairhope, AL (Fairhope) Ricardo Louis WR 6-2 210 Miami Beach, FL (Miami Beach) Cassanova McKinzy LB 6-3 233 Birmingham, AL (Woodlawn) Tyler Nero DT 6-2 290 Atmore, AL (Escambia County) Ricky Parks TE 6-4 235 Hogansville, GA (Callaway) Gimel President DE 6-4 250 Mt. Pleasant, SC (Wando) Jovon Robinson RB 6-1 220 Memphis, TN (Wooddale) Jonathan Wallace QB 6-2 205 Phenix City, AL (Central) JaQuay Williams WR 6-4 204 Tyrone, GA (Sandy Creek) Avery Young OT 6-6 292 Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Palm Beach Gardens)January Enrollees Shane Callahan OL 6-6 285 Parker, CO (Chaparral) Patrick Miller OL 6-7 275 West Palm Beach, FL (Dwyer) Javiere Mitchell LB 6-2 209 Leeds, AL (Leeds) Zeke Pike QB 6-6 225 Edgewood, KY (Dixie Heights) Jay Prosch FB 6-0 250 Mobile, AL (UMS-Wright)
If you noticed there are 13 offensive players, and 7 defensive. The most glaring is the fact that only two are Linebackers. Auburn must make a push next season for a BIG linebacker class. To be fair, this was an unusual year, in that there were few quality LB's out there to be had. Auburn landing two 4* LB's can only be seen as a positive.
Offensive line depth improved leaps and bounds with this class. It should tell you that Jeff Grimes is one heckuva recruiter. That's three consecutive top 5 O line classes since Grimes arrived at AU.
On the opposite side of the ball, Tyler Nero earned high praise at the football camps during both the Under Armour game, and the Army All-American game. Looks like he may have started to peak and mature a little later, than some of the higher rated prospects. Auburn must have seen that coming. Kudos to Mike Pelton for knowing talent before most others did.
Two players that stand out to me are Jovon Robinson, and Joshua Holsey. Mark this day down, they will be special while playing at Auburn.
Overall, this is exactly the kind of class that Auburn needed. Our depth chart is starting to be filled with some high quality talent. It's Gene Chizik's third full class that he alone brought to the Plains. We will soon find out if Auburn is to remain among the best programs in the country.
Replacing both coordinators may cost us some games this year, especially early on, but when this group gets a handle on the new coaches game plans, AU will be a force in the SEC West.
Thanks to all who participated in the thread today, I had a blast.
WAR EAGLE!