re: 2019 Football Recruiting Thread - Auburn Goes 4/7 & Land Brothers

I understand the frustration with not consistently landing elite backs in a sense. But to expect to get them most of the time or even half the time is unrealistic in most cases. Yes we have great RB tradition but there are 16 other FBS schools that have great RB tradition too. 5 others alone in the SEC. In the last 4 classes there were only 11 5* RBs. Not everybody is getting one. It's kind of implied on here that we are 1 of only a few schools w/ great RB tradition w/ alot of Great RBs to choose from. That's just not the case. Getting Roc as a 5* then Jovon & Kerryon who were just outside 5* range means we have been hitting about par relative to competition & pool available in terms of landing elite RBs as it pertains to recruit rankings. I can understand wanting to do better than par but reality is where aren't struggling overall recruiting at the RB position.

How Auburn quickly — and quietly — landed 5-star LB Owen Pappoe over Georgia (SECCountry)

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ATLANTA — It’s hard for a prospect of 5-star linebacker Owen Pappoe‘s status to keep a low profile.

After he made his college decision Tuesday, “Auburn” and “Owen Pappoe” were two of the top-5 trending Twitter topics in the Atlanta area. Since the eighth grade, he’s been one of the Class of 2019 alphas mentioned non-stop on the recruiting circuit. He accepted interview requests regularly for the last four years.

In theory, it should’ve been close to impossible for anyone to not know where Pappoe would commit. Yet he managed to keep his Auburn interest much quieter than even he could’ve expected.

“I’ll be honest, I was just trying to throw everybody off. Auburn’s been around for a long time. This is the only school I did a good job keeping them low key,” Pappoe told SEC Country. “They were one of those first schools that offered me, and ever since then, they put the full-court press on me. They just picked the heat up a lot back last July.”

Pappoe and Auburn linebacker coach Travis Williams have had a strong relationship for a long time.

Auburn has been a school involved since the eighth grade. Owen said Tuesday night the Tigers were one of the three or four schools that recruited him consistently from start to finish. Georgia was also a part of that group.

Pappoe admits he even had reservations about Auburn at times. There were a few heart-changing moments for Pappoe, however.

Moments 1A and 1B? The Auburn-Georgia and Auburn-Alabama games to end the 2017 season.

Pappoe soaked in both of those games. He’d always been interested in Auburn, but the Tigers had never caught his attention like that. Pappoe knew then he needed to spend as much time as possible on the Plains in the weeks that followed.

“Yeah, it was right around then. Obviously earlier this year, they really came onto the scene. I wanted to keep them on the low because I really wanted to surprise everybody,” Pappoe said. “It was really around then I decided I was going to take a bunch more visits to Auburn. I thought maybe I was a little more interested in them than I thought. And it turned out, I really was. That’s when I pulled the trigger.”

By the time Pappoe committed, there was enough Internet chatter on either side, so any choice he made would’ve been “expected” in some regard. In typical Pappoe fashion, he still managed to share an eyebrow-raising surprise following his announcement.

Pappoe silently committed to linebackers coach Travis Williams early this spring.

“I’ve been committed for about three months now. I knew,” Pappoe said. “I knew if I felt the same way that I did three months ago, then this was the place for me.”

Still, for some, it’s hard to reason how a top prospect out of Georgia could choose Auburn over a program that dominated its in-state borders last recruiting cycle.

There were a few factors that went into that.

His relationship with Williams must be mentioned first. Pappoe talked on the phone with Williams shortly before talking to SEC Country, and in typical Williams fashion, there was seemingly never-ending hooting and hollering. That’s the type of energy that led Pappoe to Auburn in the first place.

There’s also the depth-chart availability. Pappoe didn’t label it as a big factor because he knows he’ll have to compete wherever he goes. But when he looked at Auburn compared to Georgia, yes, he saw an earlier opportunity to see the field because of the three senior linebackers leaving.

Ultimately, however, Pappoe and his parents reached this decision as a “family decision.” Pappoe’s No. 1 factor was seeing his parents comfortable with his destination.

“For me, I’m really close to my family. This became a family decision. Like I said 100 times, my family, they’re really, really comfortable over there. Every time we go, they always make us feel like we’re at home. They let us know we’re wanted over there,” Pappoe said. “It’s a gut feeling. If I picked Georgia, I couldn’t go wrong if I went there today. I just felt like Auburn was the place for me and my family.”

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If we have been hitting on RB recruits, Gus wouldn't be riding one player into the ground. He didn't know what he had in Pettway until KJ got hurt. Then this year, Pettway was hurt/suspended. The last true 1/2 punch Auburn had was Mason and CAP. Right now, there aren't a lot of RBs on the roster with that caliber. If any

We've missed on nearly every "big back" in the last few years.

Akers, Chubb, Holyfield, Teague, Sermon, White, Pierce.

I think Whitlow will be fine but if he goes down it will be 175lb KM and Malik Millis who probably runs close to a 5.0 40

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Didn’t we just sign a big time back last year?

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Beat out Alabama for Asa Martin. Also signed a bigger back in Herold Joiner. Shivers is the little scat back we signed.

Per 247 Noah Cain will visit for BCW

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Kerryon Johnson accounted for 55.3% of the rushing attempts by non-QBs

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Where does that number wind up taking out the games KJ missed for injury?

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Wasn't a true 1-2 punch

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In the SECC that year, when the game was still on the line, CAP got whole series. Grant got whole series. How many times has that happened since?

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The last true 1/2 punch Auburn had was Mason and CAP.

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Na

Dyer and Omac