re: 2017 Football Recruiting Thread ["N$D Bryant" Edition]

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Per Friedman: Hunter will not OV to AU this weekend.

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Who are the elite prospects in the 2017 Auburn recruiting class? Barton Simmons, national director of scouting for 247Sports, shares his thoughts in this video interview. He highlights six Auburn commits, a few of who already are enrolled. And, he noted, one of those players -- quarterback Jarrett Stidham -- could make Auburn a title contender very soon. (NOTE: This video was cut before the 247Sports rankings were updated earlier this week. The rankings you see with these players are not the current ones).

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Yes, Auburn is focused on finishing up the 2017 recruiting class on a high note. But the Tigers also have visited several top 2018s this week as well.

One of them is Lorenzo Lingard of Orange City (Fla.) University.

If you haven't heard of him, you will. The 6-feet, 180-pound running back is a 5-star recruit and top-10 overall player in the junior class according to the 247Sports rankings.

On Wednesday, Tigers assistant Scott Fountain stopped by his school. Auburn has been there mutiples times, with Fountain, Lingard's area recruiter, splitting visits with running backs coach Tim Horton.

At this time, our sources indicate Auburn is one of a handful of programs very much in the mix with, most notably, Florida, Florida State, Miami and Ohio State. When reached Thursday, Lingard told us his interest in Auburn was "medium" at the moment. He added, however that "I really like Coach (Gus) Malzahn."

Multiple schools want Lingard at their junior day events next weekend (Auburn will have some elite 2018s in town). But according to Lingard, he won't make it to any -- he has a track meet that day.

Auburn hopes to get Lingard on campus this spring and/or summer but Lingard said, "as of right now, I have no clue when I can visit them." For the moment, his focus is on running track. In the 100 meters, he has a best time of 10.79 seconds.

Lingard visited Auburn last summer.

When asked in the fall what stood out there, he replied, “You know, great hospitality. They showed that. And just giving me lots of information about their program and how they could help me in the long run.”

Additionally, the Tigers played up the “Running Back U.” angle.

“They showed me a lot of their trophies they have for the running backs —for their individual achievements,” Lingard said.

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That’s Malik. The 3-star prospect who barely attended camps. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound athlete who maybe or maybe wasn’t wanted as a quarterback by schools. That’s him taking over when his team needed a leader, against a defense loaded with next-level talent.

“Just so calm, collected. Nothing you can teach. Completely un-rattled,” then-Roswell coach John Ford said. “The moment was never too big for him.”

Overtime ended with an unfavorable result for Willis & Co. Grayson made its field goal. Roswell missed its attempt. For the second time in his QB career, Willis lost. But that wasn’t the takeaway most grabbed from that night.

It was that Willis — 21-2 in his season-and-a-half as a varsity quarterback — deserved to be in the same conversation with the likes of Jake Fromm, Davis Mills, Trevor Lawrence and the other elite signal-callers from Georgia. Willis finished his high school career with 3,318 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, 1,725 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns against the toughest competition in the state.

Coaches who might’ve erred on the side of caution before had no choice but to take notice.

“He’s not done learning. That’s something Coach (Gus) Malzahn and Coach (Rhett) Lashlee was also attracted to — his upside,” Mark Willis said. “Malzahn was like, ‘If he was playing the position at this high of a level his full sophomore and junior year, he’d be a top guy in the country. I told him I’m glad it happened the way it did. That’s where his character comes from. That’s where his work ethic comes from.”

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They watched the Colquitt County game early in the season. They reviewed the North Cobb semifinal game against Auburn linebacker commit Chandler Wooten. And, of course, they witnessed the title game against Grayson.

The Auburn offensive staffers were mesmerized by Willis’ progression as a quarterback, and they didn’t wait to tell him.

“Over the phone, it was just excitement in their voices,” Willis said. “They said they liked my skill set, my ability to throw and run. They said I fit the offense perfectly. They’ve got Sean (White), John (Franklin), Jarrett (Stidham), all those people. But they said they like my fit and skill set.”

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Four years ago, John Ford made multiple trips to Auburn to discuss the development of his playbook with Gus Malzahn and Tim Horton. That gives you a proper idea of the playbook Willis orchestrated during his senior season. By the end of the season, John Ford felt like Willis picked it up better than most quarterbacks who have used it.

That will make Willis’ transition to Auburn much simpler.

“It’s going to make it easier to lock into the Auburn offense. It’s just terminology really. They run a lot of the same plays. The inside zone. A lot of play-action. All that. I’ve just got to find the terminology and match it with my old terminology, and I’ll be straight,” Willis said. “I’m ready to just get into the playbook.”

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Stidham, White and Franklin all have the Power 5 experience. Barrett and Queen don’t have that, but they both are mobile with big-armed ability that should make them conversation starters this offseason. Willis is garnering comparisons to Cam Newton and Nick Marshall — logical associations for athletic Auburn quarterbacks. The only difference: Willis is much further along than both of those were as passers when they left high school.

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That's a great article on Malik Willis.

Kid is impressive. Now just hoping he can put on 15-20 pounds.

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I just sent her a message asking if she'd deliver an envelope of cash for me

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