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Auburn received its first commitment in the 2018 recruiting cycle this evening from 6'3, 206 lbs 247Sports 4* Quarterback Joey Gatewood of Jacksonville, Florida. Or 6'4 220 lbs if you go by his hudl profile. What's the correct measurement? I'm not sure, but you can see him here standing next to someone you might recognize:
How big is 2018 QB Joey Gatewood? Here he is with Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton. And yes they talked about Auburn pic.twitter.com/4Jd5kLob0k
— Woody Wommack (@RivalsWoody) June 20, 2015
Gatewood's offer list is extensive to say the least. The 247Sports Crystal Ball currently has 15 predictions and an 87% lean to Florida State. It's worth remembering that there is a long way to go before Gatewood can sign with Auburn. Over two years.
It sure is nice to have him on board for the moment, though. Similar to Calvin Ashley and Lowell Narcisse for the 2017 class, Gatewood is a great building block to use for getting in more recruits.
The Highlights
So, here's the big plus: he's athletic as all get out. Great moves, leaping ability, and it sure looks to me like he can throw the football a good 50 yards off his back foot.
The bad thing from this footage is that it looks like he throws off his back foot a whole lot. He's an amazing talent, but it sure looks to me (from my very amateur evaluation skills) like he still needs some polishing when it comes to his release. Still, though, can you imagine him in a Gus Malzahn offense? I sure can.
The Class
The 2018 recruiting class consists of... Joey Gatewood. That's it. He's enough to put Auburn at #6 in the nation and 4th in the SEC by himself, though.
The biggest thing for Auburn with Gatewood's commitment is that Auburn already has their elite QB commit for the class. Gus Malzahn always wants to have at least one elite QB with each cycle. For 2016 Auburn has Woody Barrett. For 2017 it's Lowell Narcisse. Now Joey Gatewood is on board for 2018.
It should be obvious why that is just from the 2015 football season. I'll have more on this in the next few days (and weeks), but Auburn never wants to get caught in a position like... well, like 2015. Jeremy Johnson struggled, Sean White got hurt, and the other elite QB (Tyler Queen) was redshirted to have surgery on his arm.
Hopefully Auburn can hold on to this one, as he sure looks like a special talent. We'll see.