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

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Who does Auburn expect to enroll/sign early?

There are still three big weeks of college football’s regular season left. In Auburn’s perfect world, there are at least two — and potentially — three games after that. So it’s a little premature to talk about anything other than that.

With that said, we’re inching up on the first December in college football history with an early signing period. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. I think even college coaches and programs are still a little curious of what to expect when Dec. 20-22 hits and players have to choose whether to use the early period or wait until the normal February signing day.

One thing is certain: The guys who enroll early will sign during the early signing period. Among guys already committed to Auburn, that includes the following seven guys:

4-star QB Joey Gatewood: He’s been committed the longest and wants to get on campus as soon as possible to begin his development and insert himself into the quarterback competition. Gatewood has always wanted to be an early enrollee, and it appears he’s slightly more than a month away from doing that.

3-star WR Shedrick Jackson: Jackson is a high-academic guy, so it shouldn’t surprise you he’s able to enroll early. He’s someone who, despite his somewhat lower ranking, I expect to contribute as a freshman. His ability to enroll early is a big part of that.

3-star ATH Josh Marsh: It seems like Marsh just likes to speed up the process as much as possible. He camped and communicated with Auburn all for the first time on the same day this summer. He received an offer that same day, and rather than wait, he went ahead and committed. Now, instead of waiting things out, he’ll sign and enroll early, as well. That’s efficiency.

4-star RB Asa Martin: Alabama isn’t going to give up on Martin, so it’s certainly in Auburn’s best interest that Martin plans to enroll early. That eliminates a full month and a half for the Crimson Tide to poach the star running back away from their in-state rival. It’s not to say a flip is impossible, but the timeline works majorly in Auburn’s favor.

4-star safety Quindarious Monday: Similarly to Martin, Monday continues to be recruited by a top program — Clemson. Georgia could re-enter the mix, as well, if the Bulldogs missed on a few secondary options. But Clemson is really the team to watch out for here, and the fact Monday will enroll early indicates 1) he is comfortable with his decision and 2) Clemson won’t have much time to change things with the state playoffs on deck.

3-star DE Daquan Newkirk: Newkirk’s time is finally here. All that stands between Newkirk and Auburn is school, something that held him up in the past. Newkirk suggests everything is looking good academically to be at Auburn in early January to finally live out his dream on the Tigers’ defense.

3-star safety Jamien Sherwood: Sherwood is a sure thing to stick with Auburn, as a long as the coaching staff remains in place, which I expect it to. Sherwood is in a similar boat to Jackson. He’s someone who isn’t as highly-rated as some, but as an early enrollee, I expect will have an early role as a freshman at Auburn.

The final question centers around the early signing period. Who will sign early even if they don’t enroll? Colleges are trying to work out all those kinks right now. In Auburn’s case, the Tigers would like to have everyone committed sign in December in order to avoid any extra distractions in January.

So far, only Shaun Shivers has confirmed he wants to sign early, even though he won’t enroll early. I anticipate a few more names will add to that list as Dec. 20 approaches.

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- 4* LB Quay Walker apparently had a good visit to Bama & sources seem to think despite visits they will hang onto him. Still expect him to visit other places but think he will stick with Tide -
Bama thinks they might have slight lead for 3* DE Andres Fox but both AU & LSU are considered very real threats. He's a take for Bama. Won't have decision until NSD

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Well he's going to UGA and they have probably the best TE in the country and they never throw it to him so obviously this kid isn't very wise.

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Rhonda Pritchett Rabon (Facebook): Who is the next to commit in your opinion?

@TAKKFANACCOUNT: When is Richard Jibunor’s commitment date?

I tipped off my answer to the first question with the second question. If I were guessing right now, I’d go with Richard Jibunor. With that said, this wouldn’t be the first time I said Jibunor would be the next to commit — and obviously that hasn’t happened yet.

This time feels different, however. Jibunor is adamant about making a decision in November and signing in December, even though he won’t be an early enrollee. That’s how I expect it to play out.

There’s only one school left to visit for Jibunor. He will be at Auburn for the Georgia game and would like to be back for Louisiana-Monroe and Alabama, as well. It’d shock me if Jibunor didn’t have his Auburn decision in by the end of the month, though there isn’t a specific date in place.

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@JasonLinton55: Any JUCO prospects on the radar?

Here are all the junior college guys on Auburn’s radar.

3-star DT Daquan Newkirk (committed)
4-star CB Saivion Smith
4-star OT Badara Traore
4-star DT Tayland Humphrey
3-star TE Dominick Wood-Anderson
3-star CB Keith Washington

Of that group, aside from Newkirk, Traore is the only one who I think has a legitimate shot of landing in Auburn’s class. It’s worth noting, however, that at this time last year I wouldn’t have had Sal Cannella on my JUCO lists. A lot of times, JUCO guys are judged in full at the end of the season when an entire year of film is in hand.

Look for JUCO names to pop up more in early December.

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Ryan Pearcy (Facebook): Are there concerns about Gatewood?

I wouldn’t say that necessarily.

He’s actually had a surprisingly impressive senior season, even though he still has to split time at quarterback. Gus Malzahn and Chip Lindsey went down to see him at the end of October, and Gatewood tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass early in the game to impress his future coaches.

I wouldn’t look at the Williams offer, or the search for a second quarterback, as a slight on Gatewood. It’s something Auburn feels like it has to do for depth purposes, so the Tigers might as well try to get the best quarterback possible.

Gatewood is one of the best pure athletes in the 2018 class, regardless of position. With a little development, his upside is unmatched in this cycle.

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@CJ4Six: Is there still a chance that Quay Walker flips?

It’s possible, but I wouldn’t count on it. In fact, I’d tell every fan base in the country to never count on flipping an Alabama commit.

In Walker’s case, there are something advantages working in Auburn’s favor. He’s always had a strong connection to Auburn. He has a close relationship with Kevin Steele, Rodney Garner and Travis Williams. His high school teammate and close friend Markaviest Bryant is at Auburn. Walker will visit Auburn yet again this weekend and likely for the Iron Bowl, as well.

It still feels like a long shot, but it might be the closest long shot of all time (if that makes any sense at all).

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Playing it safe at the safety position

Quindarious Monday won’t be at the Auburn game on Saturday against Georgia. Instead, he’ll travel to Clemson for the matchup versus Florida State. That is going to worry a lot of Auburn fans.

How could the top safety not come to Auburn’s biggest game of the season?

Fear not, at least for now. Monday wanted to make it for Clemson’s final home game of the season. With mostly Saturday games, it hasn’t been easy for Monday to take college game visits throughout this year. Auburn has the Louisiana-Monroe and Alabama games ahead, so Monday felt taking a visit to Clemson would be his last chance to go there.

It’s not time to panic yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on considering Auburn narrowly beat out Clemson when Monday committed.

Auburn appears to be taking precautionary measures at safety, just in case.

I spoke with New Orleans safety target Joe Foucha at the beginning of the week to ask if he’d be at the Auburn-Georgia game. He said it’d be much more likely for him to be at the Iron Bowl. Later in the week, Foucha reached back out to tell me he had “exciting news” — that he was, in fact, going to the Auburn-Georgia game.

It seems like Foucha’s increased interest in the Auburn visit this weekend isn’t a coincidence. If things were to fall apart with Monday, Foucha might be option No. 1.

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