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re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:02 am to TideSaint
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:02 am to TideSaint
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5-star QB Matthew Corral, Long Beach Poly (Calif.): Since Corral de-committed from USC recently, he has become one of the hottest commodities on the recruiting trail. He told reporters at the Opening that Auburn has, in fact, reached out to him. It’s important to note that most schools considering Corral are also looking at Justin Fields, so Corral will likely wait until Fields’ decision to announce. Auburn plans to take two quarterbacks, so if the Tigers miss on Fields, Corral could be the next move.
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Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:03 am to TideSaint
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5-star Justin Fields QB, Harrison (Ga.): There is no question Fields is the top target remaining for Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Florida State, USC, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU and any other program who feels like it has a shot at the stud dual-threat quarterback. In Auburn’s case, the Tigers feel like they’re in great shape for Fields, but Georgia and Florida State are viewed as the biggest competition. Fields will likely announce sooner rather than later.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:03 am to TideSaint
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4-star TE Luke Ford, Carterville (Ill.): Ford de-committed from Arkansas and immediately became a top want for several programs across the southeast. He recently visited Alabama and Auburn. He called Alabama his leader after that visit, but said Auburn made him slightly reconsider after his trip to the Plains. Gus Malzahn gave the Ford family a personal tour around Auburn on his visit, and that’s going to make a major impression going forward.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:04 am to TideSaint
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4-star OT Richard Gouraige, Cambridge (Fla.): Gouraige’s interest in Auburn appears to have waned in recent months. When he visited earlier in the spring, he said he’d be interested in visiting a week later. That didn’t end up happening, and he hasn’t been back since. That says Florida and Clemson have had slightly more pull on him than the Tigers. Gouraige is up there with Barnes for the Tigers’ top tackle target in the class.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:05 am to TideSaint
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4-star OG Trey Hill, Houston County (Ga.): Hill continues to visit Auburn. That has to be a good sign for the Tigers despite the widespread public belief he’s a Georgia lock. Hill attended for Big Cat Weekend with his father and left saying Auburn was as in as good of shape as anyone for his services. Ultimately, Georgia is the most likely team to beat, but in the case of a Justin Fields commitment, Hill could be one of those influenced targets.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:06 am to TideSaint
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4-star WR Kearis Jackson, Peach County (Ga.): Like Hill, Jackson visited Auburn for Big Cat Weekend. His commitment to a schools could be somewhat liked to two prospects — Hill and Fields. The Tigers sent a graphic edit to the three of them with all three dressed in Auburn jerseys together. I think it’s quite possible the trio ends up at the same program, though Georgia is the most likely destination for the entire group. If Fields were to pick the Tigers, however, it could cause a massive shift.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:06 am to TideSaint
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4-star OG Tank Jenkins, Park Crossing (Ala.): Jenkins visited Auburn a couple weeks ago with his high school teammate Cam Taylor. It’s been tough to read Jenkins throughout this process. He claims the Tigers are recruiting him as hard as anyone else, but he doesn’t seem tied down to the idea of staying in-state for college. Still, it seems like it would be tough for the Tigers to miss out on Jenkins if they give him the full-court press recruitment. Missouri, Oklahoma and others are the biggest threat.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:07 am to TideSaint
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4-star RB Harold Joiner, Mountain Brook (Ala.): Joiner will be a hot topic over this weekend and throughout the rest of the summer. He has come out and said LSU and Georgia are no longer in consideration because of those schools taking a few running backs in the last week. Strangely, he spoke publicly about his new interest in…Michigan State (?). With all that said, I put in a 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction to Auburn — the first one — because I don’t see the Tigers missing on him now that he appears within their grasp.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:08 am to TideSaint
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4-star DE Azeez Ojulari, Marietta (Ga.): Ojulari has visited the Tigers since the start of the year, but he’s also been unable to make it on occasions that he said he would. Auburn is likely playing behind Georgia and Alabama right now for Ojulari — others could emerge — but the Tigers can remain patient. If the two rival schools look elsewhere on the D-line, Auburn could swoop in to snag Ojulari late.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:08 am to TideSaint
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4-star OLB JJ Peterson, Colquitt County (Ga.): Peterson seems like an Alabama lock. With that said, there is only one program who has a true shot at making him reconsider the Crimson Tide. Peterson’s best college coach relationship is with Auburn linebackers coach Travis Williams. Williams’ impact has made Peterson stay patient with his decision, but it still seems unlikely the Tigers can out-duel the Tide.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:09 am to TideSaint
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5-star WR Justyn Ross, Central (Ala.): Ross isn’t in a rush to decide, but when he does, there will be four programs to watch: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson and Florida State. The two in-state schools have often been called the favorites by people not named Justyn Ross. Ross claims he hasn’t narrowed in on any leaders in that bunch. Still, this will likely come down to an Alabama-Auburn battle and both sides feel positive about their chances of landing the No. 1 prospect in the state.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:14 am to TideSaint
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The Elite 11 portion of The Opening will get underway in a few days, pitting the nation’s top quarterbacks against each other both in drills against air and in a 7on7 tournament setting.
It’s arguably the biggest football event of the summer, and one that recruiting diehards salivate over.
247Sports has already broken down the history of Elite 11 members, which showed a surprising rate of production for these quarterbacks billed as future stars. In the Elite 11, a player is just as likely to bust as he is to reach the NFL. Hey, projecting quarterbacks ain't easy.
You can find that full story here.
But, thanks to a deep numbers dive, there are plenty of interesting facts to be found.
So here are the Elite 11 facts you don’t need to know, but should probably know anyway.
1. There are currently 210 members of the Elite 11 fraternity for a competition that’s run since 1999. That comes out to an average of 11.7 quarterbacks per season. Why? Despite being called the “Elite 11,” from 2000-10 and again in 2016 the Elite 11 consisted of 11 quarterbacks plus one MVP. In the other years, there were 10 QBs plus an MVP.
2. Florida’s signed the most Elite 11 members with 11. USC (10), Georgia (9), California (9), Florida State (7) and Alabama (7) round out the Top 5.
3. Each of those schools had its misses, but none are worse at turning Elite 11 members into stars than California. Of the nine, only Jared Goff – who, to be fair, went No. 1 overall – reached the NFL.
4. Speaking of the NFL, the Elite 11 has produced 15 first round draft picks: Deshaun Watson, Goff, Jameis Winston, Teddy Bridgewater, EJ Manuel, Andrew Luck, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Tim Tebow, Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman, JaMarcus Russell, Vince Young and Matt Leinart.
5. On that note, more than 65 percent of draft-eligible Elite 11 members were never drafted.
6. Circling to the busts, there are seven football-focused Elite 11 alumni who never threw a pass in the FBS – not counting currently active players.
7. In terms of not throwing passes, a few Elite 11 QBs ended up with a baseball career. Archie Bradley, Clayton Richard and Matt Tuiasosopo all went on to play in Major League Baseball.
8. Another Elite 11 member, Shane Dillon, opted to play college basketball at San Diego instead of football at Colorado.
9. Dillon left Colorado after one semester to pursue basketball, one of many Elite 11 quarterbacks to transfer in their career. Of the 198 players Elite 11’s produced from 1999-2015, 77 have opted to transfer at least once.
10. Speaking of those transfers, seven Elite 11 members have actually transferred multiple times in their college careers: Mike Affleck (Arizona St, BYU, Utah State), Harrison Beck (Nebraska, NC State, North Alabama), Rob Bolden (Penn State, LSU, Eastern Michigan), Phillip Sims (Alabama, Virginia, Winston-Salem State), Jake Heaps (BYU/Kansas/Miami), DaMarcus Smith (Western Kentucky/North Texas/Kentucky Wesleyan) and Zeke Pike(Auburn/Louisville/Murray State).
11. Finally, in symmetry that doesn’t matter at all, exactly one Elite 11 MVP (Winston) is a Heisman Trophy Winner and exactly one Elite 11 MVP played in one career game (Asiantii Woulard). Put those numbers together, and you have a completely irrelevant 11th fact.
Hey, this fun fact thing ain’t always easy. Much like projecting quarterbacks.
LINK
This post was edited on 6/29/17 at 11:15 am
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:22 am to TideSaint
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Breaking down Alabama wide receiver target Justyn Ross
Justyn Ross waited more than a year to hug his mother once again.
Charay Franklin had been stationed in Kuwait as a truck driver in the National Guard. She returned home and surprised her son this last Mother’s Day. It wasn’t the first time he needed to go days, weeks and months to hug his mother. This tour was was Franklin’s third deployment.
“Grandma has been unbelievably strong during that time and raising him,” Phenix City (Ala.) Central High School coach Jamey Dubose told SEC Country. “She’s been getting him to the ball fields when mom wasn’t around. Just having to deal with your mom not being around is tough. A lot of us don’t have to go through that. Family is just always there.
“When you have to go years without your mom there, you have to start realizing things differently. He’s already had to deal with being away from his mom like he’s already in college.”
Not having his mother around regularly until recently is one of the main reasons why Ross is nowhere close to being ready to choose a school. Franklin went on her first visit with her son since he’s become a national recruit earlier this month.
Before his mother returned to the United States, Ross would usually go on visits with his former teammate Markail Benton, who signed with Alabama in 2017. Once Benton signed, Ross was chauffeured around by Central High School coaches or his grandma.
But, the one thing with Ross, you aren’t going to get any indication on what he thought of his time on campus. Ross is just a quiet, humble kid.
“Justyn doesn’t change his personality all that much,” Dubose said. “He could go to places and you’d think he didn’t like it. That’s just his personality. What you see when you interview him is what he is when the recorder is off.
“He is a just very humble guy. He’s a hard worker. He’s also a focused guy. I think those three things really fit him well. He never seems to get too full of himself. He’s so quiet and self-reserved. He doesn’t realize what he has accomplished.”
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:24 am to TideSaint
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Justyn Ross, the player
Dubose has been a head coach for 12 years and an offensive coordinator for another 12. In those 24 years, he has had all of one freshman play for him on the varsity level.
Justyn Ross.
Ross didn’t start as a freshman for Dubose but he saw action. It was just too hard to not get him on the field.
“As a freshman, I saw things in him that made me realize that he was really, really good. He started to make plays against guys like John Broussard, who is at Auburn now. We knew when he was a freshman that he was going to be good.”
Just how good does Dubose think Ross can be? Well, he only compared him to arguably the best wide receiver in Alabama history and one of the best receivers in the NFL.
“What I tell people now, college recruiters now, I’ve been in this game now 24 years,” DuBose said to AL.com’s Drew Champlin. “I’ve seen good ones. A lot of people want to compare him and the first one you throw out there is Julio Jones. He’s comparable. He may be better at some places at that time in his career and he may not be. He’s comparable to him.”
Dubose thinks Ross is a no-doubt first-round NFL type of talent who’ll leave college after three years to pursue his professional career. He believes he’s that good.
He believes that because Ross is never satisfied with his game. He can always get better at something. That was on display at the Nike Opening regional camp in Atlanta earlier this year. I noticed several highly ranked recruits not take many reps that day. Ross was not one of them. He consistently was skipping people in line to get extra reps, all despite pulling a leg muscle that day.
“He’s become even more of a hard worker over the years,” Dubose said. “He has a plan to make something out of himself. I think he understands that in order to get something that he’s never had growing up and get the lifestyle he could have, he needs to work hard.”
Ross, who has a top five of Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida and Florida State, possesses a trait that not many receivers have — the ability to make basketball-type of catches over the top of defensive backs. He stands 6 feet, 4 inches and weighs 197 pounds.
“Justyn is No. 1 on a lot of people’s board,” Dubose said. “Everywhere you look, Justyn is at the top of the board for what he brings to the table. I think Justyn has been looking and listening and talking to everyone. I think he has an idea of where he is.”
Whichever programs lands Ross — who has talked about making his commitment on National Signing Day in February — is landing an instant-impact type of player, according to his coach.
“I think he is a guy who could start right away for any program.
“I’m going to tell you this, I’ve been around a lot of great players,” Dubose said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to coach some really exceptional players. Justyn Ross is by far, I don’t know if there’s one better out there, but I would like to see anyone go head-to-head with him and see what they can do.”
And now Franklin will get to see what he can do, too. This time, she’s home for good.
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:27 am to TideSaint
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BEAVERTON, Ore. — The Opening finals 2017 kicks off Thursday and SEC Country has multiple bodies on hand at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
There is no shortage of Alabama targets and story lines this week, and SEC Country will be providing daily updates, analysis, buzz, breaking news and full rosters.
This year will be different for the Crimson Tide at The Opening. Last year, there were eight commitments on hand. The Tide only have one this year in 4-star wide receiver Xavier Williams. This event allows commits to interact with other major targets, so Williams, who is actively recruiting for the Tide, will have his hands full.
Notable targets in attendance for the Tide include: Tanner McKee, Justin Fields, Matt Corral, Jack Tuttle, Justyn Ross, Josh Jobe, Jaycee Horn, JJ Peterson, KJ Henry, Micah Parsons and many more.
The Tide enter The Opening with five commitments and the No. 60 recruiting class in the country, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. It’s shocking to see Alabama with a lower-ranked class than schools such as Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Rutgers, Western Michigan and many others. Alabama has had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for seven years running. So, it’ll be interesting to watch the team climb the rankings over the next few weeks and months. You can bet that several participants at The Opening will be Alabama signees by the time National Signing Day rolls around.
Remain with SEC Country and Alabama recruiting reporter Chris Kirschner (Twitter: @chriskirschner) for live updates of all things Alabama Crimson Tide recruiting. Refresh the live blog for daily bursts, analysis and highlights from the top recruiting event in the country.
LINK
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:28 am to TideSaint
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Schedule for The Opening finals 2017
Thursday, June 29
1-3 p.m. ET: QB/WR/TE Morning Practice
3-3:15 p.m. ET: Interview session
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:30 am to TideSaint
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The Opening finals 2017 full rosters
Players in bold are serious Alabama targets.
Team Hyper Strong
QB: Quincy Patterson, Jack Tuttle
RB: James Cook, Jamal Elliot
WR: Tommy Bush, Isaiah Crocker, Elijah Moore, Anthony Schwartz, Xavier Williams
TE: Kyle Pitts
LB: Amari Gainer, Cameron McGrone, Ovie Oghoufo, Channing Tindall
DB: Derrik Allen, Tyson Campbell, Jevon Holland, AJ Lytton, Asante Samuel Jr., Steve Stephens, Patrick Surtain Jr.
OL: Daniel Faalele, Richard Gouraige, Rasheed Walker
DL: Jayson Ademilola, Robert Cooper, Ja’Mion Franklin, PJ Mustipher
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:31 am to TideSaint
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Team Untouchable
QB: Tanner McKee, Tyler Shough
RB: Devon Lawrence, TJ Pledger, Mychale Salahuddin
WR: Chase Cota, Joshua Moore, Gunner Romney, Jalen Preston, Devon Williams
TE: Chigoziem Okonkwo
LB: Brandon Kaho, Micah Parsons, Merlin Robertson
DB: Chase Williams, Corione Harris, Tyreke Johnson, Bookie Radley-Hiles, Bryan Addison, Amari Burney, Talanoa Hufanga
OL: William Craig, Brey Walker, Reuben Unije
DL: Jowon Briggs, Dante Stills, Michael Thompson, Rick Sandidge
Posted on 6/29/17 at 11:33 am to TideSaint
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Team Mach Speed
QB: Cammon Cooper, Justin Fields
RB: John Emery, Ricky Slade
WR: Kamryn Babb, Solomon Enis, Justin Shorter, Josh Vann, L’Christian Smith, Alontae Taylor
TE: Luke Ford
LB: Micah Baskerville, Jack Lamb, K’Vaughn Pope
DB: BJ Foster, Kelvin Joseph, Leon O’Neal, Chris Smith, Caden Sterns, Isaac Taylor-Stuart, Christian Tutt
OL: William Barnes, Penei Sewell, Sam Taimani
DL: Zachary Harrison, Nelson Jenkins III, Ron Tatum
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