re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

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In-state ATH thinks Auburn will offer

Cam Taylor remains optimistic.

The 3-star athlete from Park Crossing (Ala.) stayed that way through ACL tears in back-to-back seasons. Taylor’s positivity is starting to pay off. He received SEC offers this spring, including Missouri and Mississippi State who have revved up their recruiting efforts substantially.

If Taylor’s offer sheet ended today, his decision would likely come down to one of those two schools. He hopes to add (at least) one more offer to the list before it’s said and done.

That school is Auburn.

“I talk to Auburn every day when I can,” Taylor said. “I think (they’ll offer). I know so. I have to say that, but I know so.”

Taylor’s most recent visit to Auburn came in June when he attended a camp and arrived a day early with close friend and teammate Tank Jenkins. It was a standard visit for Taylor who has visited Auburn a handful of times this spring despite not yet receiving an offer. The camp prior gave him the opportunity to give coaches first-hand proof he’s recovered from his ACL injury.

And it showed Taylor the Auburn staff is taking notice.

“I had visited up there the day before for a camp just to see how everything was going to go. After camp, I talked with Coach [Gus] Malzahn. I talked with Coach [Greg] Brown. They like the way I play because I’m so physical,” Taylor said. “They said they’re going to talk in the office together and let me know something.”

Now comes the interesting part: When does Taylor want to commit?

“During the season or before the season,” he said.

He’s seen most of what he wants to see. Taylor has one visit planned to Missouri coming up within the month, and he’d like to be able to visit Mississippi State again. So he feels like he could be on the verge of a decision in the near future.

But he doesn’t have a concrete answer from Auburn.

Taylor, likely to play safety at the next level, might remind some Tigers faithful of 2016 class member Daniel Thomas who had to wait until National Signing Day to receive an offer after a few other misses. Taylor doesn’t want to wait that long, but he’s willing to give Auburn more time to evaluate him and decide on an offer.

“I’d wait on them, but I’m not going to take it all the way to signing day,” Taylor said. “They, Coach [Kevin] Steele mostly, wants to see me during the season really.”

As for his relationship with Jenkins, that could come in handy for one school, potentially Auburn. There is a lot of talk about package deals in recruiting. Some of that is realistic. Some of it isn’t.

When it comes to Jenkins and Taylor, the two in-state prospects have played together since grade school. Taylor even left Prattville (Ala.) so he could play alongside Jenkins at Park Crossing for their senior years. Missouri is heavily recruiting both of them and should be considered the most likely candidate to land both.

If Auburn were to offer, however, well …

“There’s a big chance we’ll play together. That’s my boy. You may see it. I’ll give you that,” Taylor said.

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I spoke to Kearis Jackson for the first time back in early April of 2016. He’d just picked up his second offer from Mark Richt’s Hurricanes down in Miami. They came in right behind Western Kentucky.

He was one of those quick-twitch kids at Peach County. That program’s reputation means something. An athletic kid in Fort Valley is akin to a salesman pointing out that real expensive Ferrari on their lot.

A lot has changed for Jackson since then. The 4-star receiver has picked up offers aplenty. Georgia’s came in on April 25 of last year. He’s somehow won a state championship in the shot put. That’s pretty rare air for a pass catcher.

Jackson is even set to become a big brother to a new addition to the family. His baby sister Madeline is on the way.

The next grand reveal for the family will be where he will choose to play college football. The nation’s No. 24 receiver for the 2018 cycle (per the 247SportsComposite) will make his choice on August 19.

UGA will be anticipating that day. The folks at Peach County told me at their spring game that receivers coach James Coley had him as a top priority at the position going back to last football season.

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What keeps Kearis Jackson coming back to Auburn?

That answer is two-fold.

“I just like their receivers coach a lot,” Jackson said. “I like coach (Kodi) Burns a lot. We have a good relationship. I can see the things he is trying to do at Auburn plus that quarterback (Jarrett Stidham) they just got over there at Auburn is pretty good.”

The big reason is there in plain sight for all to see. That depth chart.

“That depth chart is not so loaded either or full,” Jackson said.

How does that compare to his opportunity to sign with UGA?

“Georgia seems like it has a list full of receivers and Auburn does not,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that his recruiting experience has been similar to what he expected it was going to be.

“It is going how I thought it was going to go,” Jackson said. “Some coaches are going to mess with you and really recruit you because they want you. Some are not. It is starting to really show right now.”

He noted that Auburn, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State have recruited him the hardest.

“Alabama is starting to hop on board a lot now,” Jackson said. “But when I went out to Oregon, I just saw how things would be going out far like that. I thought about that and going up to Ohio State and Michigan. I don’t think I could play in that cold.”

And it wasn’t that cold up in Oregon that week.

“But in the mornings it was cold,” Jackson said. “Kinda.”

Jackson said he would not mind running track in college for one of those schools.

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Any reason to feel good about Jackson? I don't follow recruiting much anymore, but it looks like he's all UGA...

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Auburn landed a very intriguing, high-upside safety prospect on Tuesday night in Atlanta (Ga.) Carver tone-setter Quindarious Monday.

The Tigers were the long-time leader for the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Monday, but had to hold off a late charge by “dream school” Clemson to secure the Peach State product’s verbal.

A four-star recruit, Monday is a long, athletic ball hawk, a banger upon impact and a prospect with improving cover skills. He sees the field well defensively and puts himself in position to break on the football, whether that’s downfield, in the red zone or the screen game.

Monday has the traits to develop into one of the better strong safeties in the SEC.

“He’s a dog, I’ll tell you that,” Derrick Tatum from Elite Talent Football Academy where Monday trains said. “He’s still raw because he’s still learning the position. They’re getting a guy that’s not maxed out. He still has room to grow.”

Tatum added that Monday has a 6-foot-8 wingspan.

“He has really good instincts for the ball and most importantly he’s a guy I know will have success because he wants to get better.”

Ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 9 athlete, Monday also had offers from the likes of Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon and Tennessee. He is commit No. 8 for the Tigers in 2018 and quickly becomes one of the jewels of the class.

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Maybe the fact that he has visited Auburn 5 times this summer and UGO 0? Or the fact that we are about 45 minutes closer to home than Athens? Or the fact that Kirby Smart is generally a douche bag?

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I guess that's positive for us, but not sure I agree with it.

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