Auburn Football Recruiting: Good News Coming Soon?

Auburn’s recruiting has hit a bit of a lull in recent weeks. Auburn’s last commitment came on June 15th when 3-star tight end Landen King chose the Tigers. A lot has happened since that commitment, not much of it good for Auburn:

• 4-star WR Christian Leary made a surprise commitment to Alabama after it was believed Auburn had taken the lead in his recruitment
• 4-star S Kamren Kinchens elected to stay home and play for Miami over coming to the Plains
• 3-star WR Adonai Mitchell flipped from Ole Miss as expected but to Georgia, not Auburn
• Twins 5-star OT Tommy Brockermeyer & 4-star C James Brockermeyer committed to Alabama

At least Auburn didn’t lose any commitments right?

The Tigers are in need of some momentum and there is some hope it’s coming soon. Over the weekend, big time Auburn Buck target 4-star Jeremiah Williams announced on Twitter he’s ready to make his decision.

On the surface, this seems like good news for Auburn. The Tigers have long been considered the team to beat in this race thanks in large part to Williams’s close relationship with Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. But this isn’t as slam dunk as some people want it to be.

While Alabama has faded, Florida has quietly become a top contender in this race, some even believing they are the team to beat. Gators linebacker coach Christian Robinson has connected with Williams and he seems to be a fan of how the Gators plan on using him in their scheme.

I still think Auburn will be the pick but this is a close race. It would not be a shocker if Florida won out. If that were to happen, it would obviously be a massive blow to Auburn’s recruiting efforts specifically at the Buck position. 4-star Dylan Brooks committed to Tennessee earlier this year and recently 4-star Keanu Koht chose LSU. The Tigers can’t lose out on their top 3 pass rusher targets. Williams is as must get as any recruit on Auburn’s board right now.

Tigers Make Kool-Aid’s Top 3

Another instate recruit that could be closing in on a decision is 5-star CB Ga’Quincy McKinstry. He dropped a top 3 over the weekend that included Auburn, Alabama and LSU.

His top 3 wasn’t a surprise but it’s still pretty big to see Clemson not make the cut. The Tigers were once believed to be the team to beat for the nation’s top ranked cornerback. Now it’s an SEC West battle.

All three programs have given McKinstry a basketball offer as well as one for football. But no team has pushed that angle as hard as Auburn and Bruce Pearl has become a major factor in this race which is good news for the Tigers. Still, Alabama hasn’t missed on an instate 5-star defensive back since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa so I am skeptical Auburn’s push will be enough. You can’t sleep on LSU either though apparently Will Wade hasn’t been as involved in McKinstry’s recruitment as Pearl and Nate Oats.

Interestingly, another major Auburn target took note of McKinstry’s list this weekend.

That’s 4-star safety Ahmari Harvey implying that he and McKinstry should team up at the next level. Both Auburn and LSU recently made Harvey’s top group. However, if Kool-Aid and Harvey are on the same team next fall, odds are good they will be suiting up in orange and blue. If Wesley McGriff could pull that off along with landing 4-star Nyland Green to go with commits 3-star Tar’varish Dawson and 3-star Phillip O’Brien Jr, this would be a historically good DB class for the Tigers.

New WR Name To Know

Just a month ago, it looked like Auburn’s WR class was about to be filled by 4-star Christian Leary and 3-star Adonai Mitchell. Instead, both committed to Auburn’s rivals. Now the Tigers are having to reevaluate the wideout board specifically their plan to land a speedster to play the 2 in Auburn’s system.

4-star Malcolm Johnson Jr remains a top target and reportedly really likes Auburn’s plan for him if he were to sign with the Tigers. But there’s a lot of work to do if Auburn wants to win that race. Alabama, Georgia and Maryland are also in the thick of things and I am not sure the Tigers are ahead of any of those 3 programs at the moment in Johnson’s recruitment.

Last week, Auburn offered instate standout 3-star Roc Taylor who is committed to Tennessee. While Taylor was pumped to land the offer, he made it clear that the Tigers have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to flip Taylor form the Vols. The fact Tennessee offered so early still means a lot to Taylor.

Over the weekend, a new name emerged as a top priority for the Tigers. AuburnUndercover’s Keith Niebuhr interviewed Baylor commit 3-star WR Hal Presley. He stated that every program had backed off him after his commitment sans one. That program? Your beloved Auburn Tigers.

Auburn offered Presley in early May, a week later he committed to the Bears. But the Tigers have stayed after the playmaker out of Arlington, TX and have made some real headway. Unsurprisingly, Auburn QB commit 4-star Dematrius Davis is working hard behind the scenes to get Presley to join him on the Plains. Could Auburn land a 4th offensive commit from the Lone Star State? It’s not out of the question.

Tigers Land Punter

Finally, in case you missed the big news yesterday, Auburn filled their need at punter with another former footballer from Australia. Oscar Chapman announced on social media he will be attending Auburn this fall and should be on campus in August.

Chapman is part of the ProKick Australia program that has continuously pumped out big time punters. It’s where Auburn found Arryn Siposs three years ago.

This is a very important pickup for Auburn’s 2020 roster. There was a glaring hole at punter that was looking like it would be filled either by Auburn’s starting quarterback Bo Nix or by walk on signee Evan McGuire. Neither of those options were all that palatable. If there is a season this fall, Auburn will now actually trot out an actual punter on those rare times they actually need to punt (it’s the offseason, a time for dreams).

And who knows? Maybe he too will piss Nick Saban off so bad that he gets another rule added to the rulebook.

War Eagle!