Some years, you know who is going to sign where on National Signing Day (the next national holiday?). Some years, you don't have a clue. This year, Auburn fans don't have a clue. There's been a lot of hand wringing the past few days over the what ifs. One moment, fans are optimistic and hopeful with visions of 5 stars; the next, the sky is falling and you begin to seek shelter from the inevitable doom. Auburn is currently sitting between 15 and 21 in the team rankings, but there are a few 5 stars and a number of 4 stars left on the board. Best case scenario? Auburn runs the table and fills the class ending up with a top 5 or better class. Worst case? Auburn gets shut out with the top prospects on the board and barely stays in the top 20.
The staff here at College and Magnolia isn't as pessimistic as some about how Auburn's coaches close with this recruiting class. In fact, there is some optimism.
We polled the staff along with a couple friends of the blog that are considered to be quite knowledgeable when it comes to recruiting. Jordan Powell (@smuphy) and Kyle Kolumbus (@kolumka) were kind enough to give their predictions as well. There are 11 main targets left on AU's board, and due to his flirtation with UGA, JaQuay Williams is also on this list. The concensus on those is as follows:
Eddie Goldman - 50/50 split between Auburn and Florida State.
Leonard Williams - Auburn with the majority vote, although recent news has some leery of the pick.
Kwon Alexander - LSU
Ronald Darby - Auburn with the majority vote over FSU.
Jordan Moore - Auburn
Avery Young - Auburn with the majority.
Jordan Diamond - Michigan with the majority.
Will Adams - Auburn
Cordarelle Patterson - Georgia with the majority pick.
Stefon Diggs - Split between Auburn and Florida. It may depend on who Nelson Agholor picks.
Ricardo Louis - Auburn
JaQuay Williams - Everyone feels confident Auburn hangs onto him.
It looks like a coin flip right now for Goldman, Williams and Diggs. If this holds up, then Auburn will sign the current 15 commitments, the All-American transfer Jay Prosch, and between seven and nine signing day decisions, only two of which are less than a 4 star prospect. That doesn't sound like doom and gloom to us. It's quite possible some of these are completely wrong. And we hope we are wrong on a couple of the ones predicted not to go our way. If you want to see the breakdown of everyone's predictions, check out the chart below.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with our picks? What are your predictions? We'd like to hear them. What will it take for you to be pleased with this signing class?