Auburn Tigers Mid-Season Recruiting Update

This recruiting cycle has been a strange one for Auburn. It's seen the Tigers have almost as many decommits as we've had commits. Some of those who decommitted are still on the radar to recommit. Like I said: strange.

So how do things stand as of today? Here is the class using 247Sports' Class Embed feature.

The jewel of the class is 5* Marlon Davidson at the moment. If all goes well, he will most definitely not be the only 5* as a part of the 2016 class. Following him on the defensive side of the ball are a linebacker, a defensive end, a defensive tackle, and a cornerback. That other defensive end, Daquan Newkirk, has been tearing things up as a RUNNING BACK (he's 6'3, 267, y'all) this year in his high school play. The other defensive players currently committed are 4* Cornerback John Broussard and 3* LB Tre Threat.

On the offensive side of the ball, QB Woody Barrett is rated the #4 dual threat QB in the nation. He's been very impressive, as you can tell from his hudl highlights. He's not as fast as Nick Marshall, but he's got some moves. He also has an impressive arm.

I know wide receiver is an area of concern for Auburn fans after this weekend's drop-fest. The Tigers have a good on on board in 4* Eli Stove, plus 3* Marquis McClain who impressed the Tigers so much that they offered him before he was really a rated prospect. There's also TE Landon Rice to add to a position that the Tigers sorely need depth in to round out the pass catchers. Offensive tackle Brodarius Hamm (what a name) and running back Malik Miller are the rest of those currently on board.

To give you some idea of Miller's potential, there are some who claim he was the better running back on the 2014 Madison Academy team over his teammate Kerryon Johnson.

Targets?

That leaves a lot of positions still out there. The Tigers will sign a number of linemen on both side of the ball this class. They currently only have three defensive linemen and one offensive lineman committed. You can expect those will be areas the Tigers focus on.

Auburn also hopes to add at least one more big name wide receiver. At one time Nate Craig-Myers was committed to the Tigers. While Auburn is still apparently recruiting him, I don't think he ends up on the Plains. There is a very good chance Auburn lands the #1 WR in the nation in Kyle Davis. The 247Sports Crystal Ball currently gives Georgia the heavy lead for the in-state product, though.

Crystal Ball

The 247Sports Crystal Ball isn't a perfect metric by any stretch, but when it's a heavy lean towards one school, there's typically a good chance that player ends up at that school. For the full list of Auburn targets and their current standings on the Crystall Ball, you can check out this page. Yes, it is in front of the pay wall.

To give you a good idea of just which players may end up as a part of the Auburn 2016 class, here's a list of players currently at 50% or better (who are not already committed to the Tigers) in Auburn's favor on the Crystal Ball:

5* OT - Jonah Williams - 100% (Alabama Commit)

4* DT Antuan Jackson - 50%

4* OT Garett Bolles - 50% (JUCO)

4* CB Stephen Davis, Jr - 100% (former Auburn commit)

4* CB Jamarcus King - 100% (JUCO, former Auburn commit)

3* DE Nick Coe - 88%

3* OT Robert Kraeling - 50%

3* LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse - 75%

3* ATH Jay Jones - 50%

3* RB Jalin Buie - 50%

3* DE Micheal Boykin - 67% (Louisville Commit)

While these players may show that Auburn leads or is equal in predictions for these players, it does NOT mean that Auburn is necessarily likely to sign them all. Some, like Boykin, have committed elsewhere and no one has bothered to change their Crystal Ball pick. Maybe they think he'll flip, but that's doubtful. Others, like Buie, the Tigers may not be pursuing as much, now.

This also doesn't mean that the remainder of the class will come from those players above. Auburn wasn't exactly in the picture for a few prospects it picked up last season at this point, and you can bet there are others that will be swayed. There are some prospects (including in the list above) who only have 1-2 predictions at this point, so there's no telling where they'll end up.

With only 11 players committed right now, there's still plenty of room to sign more. Expect most of those to be linemen (both sides of the ball), linebackers, and possibly another WR or two. There's even the chance Auburn could pick up a JUCO Quarterback.

Bonus! 2017 Update

The 2017 class is already off to a good start. It consists of only four players at the moment, but one of them is a 5* offensive tackle, and another is a 4* Dual-Threat QB. So, the Tigers have already filled their "great QB recruit" hole for the 2017 class.