Back in April, one of Auburn's primary offensive line targets committed to the Tennessee Volunteers. Yesterday he decommitted from the Vols and named Auburn his leader. Now, 4* OL Brodarious Hamm of Spalding High School in Griffin, GA has announced he will be an Auburn Tiger according to a tweet by Keith Niebuhr of AuburnUndercover.
Hamm, aside from being a candidate for the All-Name Team, is a beast of a young man. He's 6'5, 320 lbs, already. He's the 24th best recruit in the state of Georgia according to his 247Sports composite profile, and the 32nd best offensive tackle in the nation. He had offers from Tennessee (previously committed), Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, and Missouri, among others.
The Film
I don't really know much about what to look for in an offensive lineman, but what I can see from his Hudl film is a guy with a lot of strength. He's tossing people to the ground left and right. I also like that he seems to play low, getting up underneath the defensive players' pads and driving them backwards. I love that he keeps on driving, too. He never stops attacking his man until the whistle blows or the defensive player is on the ground.
The Depth
Auburn will only lose two offensive linemen to graduation after the 2015 season, but you can go ahead and chalk up Avery Young as gone, too. It wouldn't surprise me if Alex Kozan goes early, either. He'll be eligible for the NFL draft as a redshirt sophomore. Austin Golson will be eligible as well, but I don't see him leaving early.
The Tigers will still have a strong contingent on the line, but injuries and attrition have Auburn set up to sign quite a class full of offensive linemen this coming February. Auburn brought in a few linemen as early entrees this past cycle, but still need to sign 5-6 linemen to keep a strong depth. Hamm is an excellent way to start that off for the 2016 class.
The Class
After the changes in ratings for Auburn's last two commitments, the Tigers bumped up to the 18th ranked class in the nation and 8th in the SEC. Hamm bumps the Tigers up one more spot to #17 in the nation and #7 in the SEC (just passing Kentucky).
We're still a little below halfway through the class Auburn is likely to sign in 2016. I don't know exactly how many the Tigers will take, but I suspect it will be in the 24-25 range. Things are starting to pick up after Auburn's Big Cat weekend and the summer camp sessions. This is why we tell folks to be calm in the months immediately following National Signing Day when they're already panicking about the next year's class.