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

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Auburn jumps in ESPN 300 rankings

Several Auburn prospects played in the Under Armour All-America Game. Because of that game’s partnership with ESPN, that’s generally an indication of how ESPN’s recruiting scouts feel about the nation’s football talent. So, when ESPN released its final recruiting rankings of the cycle on Thursday, it was expected to create a boost in a few Tigers’ rankings.

It wasn’t only the Under Armour Game participants, however, who saw boosts.

Eleven Auburn players landed in the ESPN 300:

No. 36 Joey Gatewood
No. 46 Anthony Schwartz
No. 99 Matthew Hill
No. 104 Harold Joiner
No. 116 Seth Williams
No. 118 Quindarious Monday
No. 164 Kayode Oladele
No. 200 Christian Tutt
No. 213 Coynis Miller
No. 248 Zakoby McClain
No. 295 Shaun Shivers

It’s good enough for the No. 8 class in the national rankings and third best in the SEC behind Georgia and Alabama.

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Official visitors who are uncommitted, unsigned

There are four visiting prospects who fit that category:

Ross
Tannor
Johnson
Daniels

Ross has been the talk of the Class of 2018 well before his senior season. He has been visiting the Plains for years, and his time has finally come for an official visit. Ross is one of Auburn’s remaining can’t-miss targets. This weekend will be for all the marbles. He has already taken his official visits to Alabama and Clemson. After the visit with the Crimson Tide last week, there is a growing level of confidence in Tuscaloosa. Auburn will have its chance to woo him — and expect Gus Malzahn to go see him within the next couple of weeks.

When Tannor originally committed to Georgia last summer, it was a two-team race between Georgia and Alabama. He chose the Bulldogs, but he has since backed off that commitment. Tannor visited Auburn a few times late in the season. That gave the Tigers the perception as the favorite. Auburn likes Tannor’s pass-rush skill set. Now the question is: What position will get the final spots in this recruiting class? If it’s an edge rusher, Tannor is a likely candidate.

Johnson hasn’t been the most highly publicized recruit, but several SEC programs are making him a priority. He visited Florida last weekend, and the Gators made an impression on him. Auburn has been a contender the whole time. Johnson’s position fit makes him a tough projection. He could end up as a defensive end or even defensive tackle, but right now he’s listed as a linebacker by some recruiting services. Johnson is a prospect who will be a steal for whoever lands him.

Daniels has been on Auburn’s radar for a while. The Tigers have kept an eye on the in-state cornerback’s development since the beginning of the process. He recently de-committed from Memphis. With Auburn recently taking Roger McCreary at cornerback, it’s unknown what kind of availability the Tigers will have at the position. Daniels will be in a group with Cam Taylor and Joe Foucha trying to make the cut.

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Official visitors signed with Auburn

There is one visitor who make it into that category:

Williams

There isn’t much to say regarding Williams, considering he’s already signed. He will take his official visit to Auburn this weekend, which will coincide with Ross. There will be two big, physical, in-state wide receivers on campus. In Williams’ case, he’s already in the bag for Auburn.

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The circuitous path to being a grad transfer

Calvin Anderson, more or less, is going through the recruiting process for the first time.

That’s somewhat of a surprise for a 6-foot-6, 301-pound tackle who was a three-year starter for a Division-I program. To fully understand why, however, you must first understand who Anderson was before becoming the potential future NFL draft pick that he is now.

As a high school player in Austin, Texas, Anderson started out small — by his standards, at least. Anderson weighed only 210 pounds. Rice’s coaching staff saw something in him, though. Rice saw a tall, athletic tackle with the frame to sustain massive weight gains.

Anderson trusted the Rice staff. So in his senior season, when a few other programs checked in, he told his coaches he was rolling with the Owls.

“At the time, I was just so committed to Rice, I told them I’m not talking to anybody. If anybody comes, just tell them I’m going to Rice. I didn’t go to any camps. I didn’t do any of that,” Anderson said. “So I didn’t really have a recruiting process.”

Rice’s coaches were vindicated.

Anderson took a redshirt season because, admittedly, he needed to gain weight. By his redshirt freshman season, he was up to 265 — still not where he wanted to be — but it was enough to earn the starting left tackle job. He held onto that post for three seasons, 36 straight games, as his weight increased from 265 to 280 to 300.

Anderson earned honorable-mention all-conference his last two seasons, which says a lot about the tackle’s impact given Rice’s 4-20 record during that span.

As his redshirt junior season winded down, Anderson’s full intention was to finish his career at Rice. But he began to lean on advice and conversations with his father. At 6-foot-6 and 301 pounds — with the ability to play quickly and comfortably at 310 pounds — Anderson started to see a potential NFL future, something the 210-pound Anderson couldn’t have envisioned.

Alas, after last football season, he made the decision to depart as a graduate transfer. That decision caught the attention of Auburn, Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, TCU and others.

“Shoot man, it was an end-of-season decision. I never thought I would transfer because, like I said, I love Rice,” Anderson said. “We talked about the NFL dream, which had been floating around for a year and a half. We decided it was a real possibility. I just have a unique opportunity to pursue my NFL dream.”

Anderson, set to graduate in May as a mathematical economics analysis major, used some coursework terminology to help explain his final decision to leave Rice.

“I mean, talk about maximizing utility. The grad transfer option was the perfect opportunity to capitalize on a situation and try to maximize your utility,” Anderson said. “I think I’d still be able to develop at Rice, but going to a bigger conference, notably the SEC, which is the best conference in the country, it would give me a better platform, more visibility, more exposure and allow me to play better talent every week. It just seems like a better opportunity. If I’m going to chase this thing, let’s chase it full-throttle.”

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The Herb Hand factor in this recruitment

Anderson has been in college football for four years, so he understands the business.

Coaches come and go even when they are in the middle of recruiting. Anderson learned that firsthand a few weeks ago when Auburn offensive line coach Herb Hand took the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach job with Texas. Hand went from Anderson’s point man with the Tigers to his lead recruiter with the Longhorns.

That makes it particularly interesting since Texas and Auburn are two of the top 3 programs in contention for Anderson.

“What a whirlwind, man,” Anderson said. “I was talking with Herb Hand. He was actually the very first coach to come see me. Recruited me to go to Auburn. Then, three days later, I’m talking to him and he’s in a Texas shirt. It’s wild.”

Anderson has a strong relationship with Hand.

The two have gotten to know each other well in recent weeks. Hand was out to see Anderson later in the week after Malzahn and Lindsey visited him. It’s been an adjustment for Anderson, watching the coaching change take place.

But both sides speak so highly of one another, Anderson doesn’t expect that to play into his final decision.

“But what role does it play? I mean, my first impression of Herb Hand, he’s just great. He’s a great coach. He’s ambitious, which is probably why he took the co-OC job at Texas,” Anderson said. “He thought the Auburn job was a great job. He spoke so highly of Coach Malzahn and Coach Lindsey, all those guys. It was a little interesting.”

Auburn didn’t hesitate during the coaching change.

When Hand left, Auburn was swift in rehiring offensive line coach J.B. Grimes. He took the job and, in his first recruiting move, flew to Houston to spend time at Anderson’s apartment.

If Anderson had any doubts, they were put to rest quickly with the Grimes encounter.

“It was nice to know after all that took place that Coach Lindsey called me right away and reminded me and assured me I was still a priority,” Anderson said. “They hired J.B. Grimes who is also a great guy. He’s a really, really good guy. He’s been doing this a long time. It was nice to see the same day he was hired, he came down to see me and was his first stop. That meant a lot too.”

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Kristi and Gus were chatting up Nakobe at the game

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Looks like we offered Jarret Patterson yesterday. He is a 4* OT from Cali that we have zero shot of getting. Why offer unless we are just that desperate.

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