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

KN put up an insider, here's summary

- AU continue to feel good about where they stand with 4* DT Coynis Miller who is planning on committing on October 14th. The confidence stems from Miller's relationship with Rodney Garner and Garner's closeness with Miller's parents. Also Miller could have the change to play pretty early with the transfers of Antwaun Jackson and Byron Cowart. Not a slam dunk tho. UF & Bama are both major threats

- No official visitors this week which is a change as there was some talk there might be a few this weekend. The staff wants to save most of the official visits for after the season. Those who plan on signing early like Asa Martin will have an official during the season tho. KN says visitor list still being finalized and will release it sometime tomorrow

- There's a chance 5* QB Justin Fields visits this weekend but it's not set in stone. He told KN earlier this week "maybe" and KN says Fields could show up anywhere this weekend. UGA is trending. AU felt good over the summer about their chances but not so much anymore

- AU is in early stages of evaluating Torrance Gibson. They haven't really started recruiting him and KN says he's been told that Lindsey really hasn't spent much time looking into Gibson. KN says no certain thing AU will take a 2nd QB if they don't get Fields. Stidham leaving early would obviously change that

- Burns will be at 4* WR Seth Williams game tonight and there's a chance Gus Malzahn could be there as well. AU continues to feel good about where they stand with him. Also could have a coach or 2 on road this Friday but no details yet

- Despite recent offer from UGA, AU still feels like 4* WR Matthew Hill is a solid verbal

- 3* TE Michael Parker is planning on attending his first AU game this Saturday. Coaching staff would love to land him but won't take him unless they get assurances that he will sign early in December so they don't have to worry about Bama stealing him away late. AU staff fell in love with his skillset at camp this fall and feel he has a very high ceiling

We really need another player arrested.

That is exactly what AU needs now.

IDC if he can run the derby faster than Seattle Slew. Let him go to USF, or wherever.

A lot of moving moving parts on defense, I know some of this is wishful thinking but.

Newkirk and maybe Miller inside. Fox or Oladele end up on strong side. Jibuner and maybe Walker at buck. That leaves LB. Harris is a great start I think Walker will just grow into a buck so who else. Does Marsh become an LB. Hes pretty good size now, another 15 lbs with that speed could be pretty impressive, he definitely has a nose for the ball.

Thoughts guys?

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A lot of moving moving parts on defense, I know some of this is wishful thinking but.

Newkirk and maybe Miller inside. Fox or Oladele end up on strong side. Jibuner and maybe Walker at buck. That leaves LB. Harris is a great start I think Walker will just grow into a buck so who else. Does Marsh become an LB. Hes pretty good size now, another 15 lbs with that speed could be pretty impressive, he definitely has a nose for the ball.

Thoughts guys?

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I agree on Marsh. I don't think he sticks at the star spot. Similar to Atkinson who came in as a safety and grew into a LB. As for front 7, here's what I hope happens

DT - Daquan Newkirk/Coynis Miller
DE - Andres Fox/Kayode Oladele
Buck - Richard Jibunor
LB - Michael Harris/Quay Walker/Channing Tindall

However, I don't feel confident in Fox and Tindall right now. Walker is a guy whose recruitment is still up in the air as well. Then you got Jibunor and Miller looking hard at UF. So hard to tell what will happen.

Also if say Dontavius Russell and Jeff Holland were to declare early, I wouldn't be surprised to see us go after a JUCO or take a harder look at guys like Allen Love, Caleb Johnson and John Mincey. KN says that La'Dedric Jackson is a name at LB that could pop up as well. Personally wish we would go after Alfred Thomas from Montgomery but I don't think he has the length Garner likes up front

Like you said, lots of moving parts right now so not really sure how it shakes out. Need to keep winning and it should go just fine

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Kodi Burns to see top WR target

Speaking of wide receivers, Auburn receivers coach Kodi Burns will be on the road Thursday night.

Burns plans to head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a Thursday night game between Bryant and Central High Schools. Central’s most prominent prospect is Ole Miss linebacker commit Jacquez Jones, so I don’t expect Central to be the focus of Burns’ attention. Instead, it’ll be on Bryant wide receiver Seth Williams.

Williams is one of the Tigers’ top remaining wide receiver options, and it would be a sweet feeling for Auburn to pick him out of Tuscaloosa.

So far this season, Williams has impressive performances, including a game with more than 200 yards receiving and multiple touchdowns. Williams will hope to put on a show Thursday night with Burns in attendance.

As of now, the Tigers feel good about where they stand with Williams, and my Crystal Ball projection to Auburn hasn’t changed.

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FWIW Williams did put on a show

Auburn recruiting mailbag: Which Auburn commits should see a rankings boost? (SECCountry)

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Auburn’s 2017 football season appears to be moving in a positive direction. In turn, it should create positive side effects for the Tigers’ Class of 2018 recruiting.

Per usual, I fielded questions about Auburn’s recruiting for my weekly mailbag. If you have questions that you’d like included, tweet them to me @benjaminwolk.

Read away.

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@BradleyBGroover: Name the three Auburn commits who could see a ratings bump at the end of the year?

This is always a tough thing to project because it’s less about what I see during the season and more about what these scouts see. Sometimes these scouting sites are trying to grade players based on how they’ve done during their senior season, but also based on how they feel they project at — not just the college level — but the NFL level. So sometimes, when you see a 3-star prospect, that doesn’t mean these sites project them to have average college careers. Rather, they just don’t see them as future NFL first-round picks.

With that said, Auburn has had three players who have had strong starts to the 2017 football season that should, at the very least, boost them up the overall rankings list, even if their star rating remains the same.

First and foremost, Asa Martin.

Martin is Auburn’s top running back commit in the 2017 class, and he’s already a 4-star prospect. I’d be surprised to see Martin move up to a 5-star, but his play has certainly warranted a climb into the top-200 prospects in the nation. Martin’s stat line this season looks like this: 62 carries, 860 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The other offensive riser should be Shedrick Jackson. Despite having to sit out a couple games with an injury, Jackson has proven he’s not the same wide receiver who was ranked the 85th-best at his position coming into the season. Jackson is a deep threat that has broke open a few games, but he excels in the short-to-intermediate passing game. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: You can’t find 84 wide receivers who produce more than Jackson.

Last but not least, Quindarious Monday needs to make a jump.

He’s already Auburn’s fourth-highest-rated commitment, but it’s unexplainable that Monday is ranked as the 25th-best prospect in the state of Georgia. Monday excels on the offensive and defensive side at Carver High, and you aren’t going to find many high school players who embrace contact the way Monday does.

Our SEC Country reporter Jeff Sentell ranked the top 30 players in Georgia and put Monday at No. 18. I think it’s too low, but that’s moving in the right direction.

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Never thought Jackson would rise higher than a 3* but he's shown early on he deserves it. Legit deep threat at next level

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Alex Little (Facebook): If Auburn were to take a second quarterback — not named Justin Fields, like you said last week — who are the guys you think Auburn should look at? Maybe the guys who aren’t as well known.

Like Alex pointed out, I hinted last week that Auburn’s most likely quarterback scenario is to take a second quarterback who isn’t Justin Fields.

I didn’t do a very good job of detailing who that second quarterback, and a big reason for that is it’s hard to assess who Auburn is evaluating at this time. Like I pointed out last week, Auburn didn’t offer Malik Willis until Dec. 29, 2016, and he committed the next day. So oftentimes, the Tigers like to keep these evaluations close to home to prevent other programs from swooping in.

With that said, if I were to guess right now, Auburn’s second quarterback would come from this list of players, though don’t expect a random name or two to pop up.

4-star Emory Jones (Ohio State commit)
4-star James Foster (Missouri commit)
4-star Jarren Williams (Kentucky commit)
4-star Gerry Bohanon
4-star Tyler Shough (UNC commit)
4-star Justin Rogers (TCU commit)
4-star Dakereon Joyner (South Carolina commit)
3-star Cade Fortin (Texas A&M commit)
3-star Steven Krajewski
JUCO quarterback Torrane Gibson

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Would love to see us go after Foster. True dual threat guy with a big arm

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Thanks for the info Paw. So I guess this means Zacoby is going to sign with the European summer league at this point?

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Basically

It sucks because dude is a beast. My two favorite LBs this class are Michael Harris and McClain which we had a legit shot at signing. However, McClain seems to really struggle with the recruiting process and it sounds like he doesn't have anyone close to him to guide him through all this. I wouldn't be shocked if AU were to miss on Walker, Peterson and Tindall (very possible) for them to circle back and see if they can get McClain to sign in December or right before NSD. But as of now he looks WV bound because LSU & AU have moved on