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

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Auburn wide receiver commit George Pickens may have risen his stock this weekend more than any other 2019 prospect.

The 4-star wide receiver from Hoover, Ala., came into the Atlanta Opening regional weekend as the No. 26-ranked receiver, according to the 247Sports composite. If people thought there were 25 better receivers than Pickens coming into the weekend, that likely changed quickly when they saw Pickens on Sunday at Buford High School.

Pickens competed against a few of the nation’s best wide receivers, namely Georgia commit Jadon Haselwood and Miami commit Jermaine Burton. He more than held his own with his highlight-reel tendencies.

That comes with some repercussions for Auburn, however.

When Pickens committed to the Tigers last summer, they were the only top-tier program to have offered. In recent months, Georgia, LSU, Florida and others have quickly gotten in on the Pickens sweepstakes.

I spoke with Pickens on Sunday afternoon, and he said he’s still “very firm” to Auburn.

As of right now, it’s the three aforementioned programs — Georgia, LSU and Florida — who are making the hardest push outside of Auburn. Pickens already has taken a few visits, most recently to Georgia, and he expects to make regular visits to multiple schools between now and December. Pickens expects to sign during the early signing period, so Auburn only needs to hold other schools off for eight months.

The big factor helping Auburn is quarterback commit Bo Nix.

Pickens and Nix have a unique relationship, and it showed on Sunday at the Opening. Auburn’s two commits have been playing 7-on-7 together this spring. A special bond has formed. The two hung out for a while following the Sunday event and clearly want to play together at the next level.

As of right now, I really like Auburn’s chances of holding onto its top wide receiver in the class.

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Son of former NFL standout recaps Auburn visit

Kaiir Elam comes from an NFL family.

His father, Abe Elam, played for the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Cleveland Browns after his college career at Notre Dame. Elam’s uncle, Matt Elam, was a standout at Florida before moving on to the league.

The youngest is now in the spotlight with offers from Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Clemson, N.C. State, Miami, Michigan and others. Elam made a recent Southeast round trip to Auburn, Georgia, N.C. State and Clemson.

His Auburn visit overlapped with a practice during which he recorded multiple pages of notes on a notepad.

“I was taking notes, trying to get better, seeing what college guys do and try to implement it into my game. I’m just trying to be a student of the game,” Elam said. “I thought it was pretty cool, better than I expected. Nice facilities.”

Elam isn’t in a rush to make a decision, but he isn’t setting any kind of timetable.

He said he could narrow his choices in the coming months, or he could just commit at any given point. Elam said he’d “definitely” return to the Plains before making a final decision.

If Auburn has one thing in its favor, it’s how the coaches treated him on his initial trip.

“Just the coaches. The coaches were real. They weren’t artificial. They only told me the truth,” Elam said.

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Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey

- Northwest Alabama
- Southwest Georgia

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Tight ends coach Larry Porter

- Dekalb County (Atlanta)
- Broward and Miami-Dade counties (South Florida)

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Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele

- Montgomery, Ala. to Mobile, Ala.
- Florida panhandle west of Tallahassee
- South Carolina

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Defensive backs coach Greg Brown

- Palm Beach County (Florida)
- Bradenton, Fla.
- Sarasota, Fla.

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Linebackers coach Travis Williams

- Gwinnett County (Atlanta)
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- South Carolina

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BUFORD, Ga. — George Pickens has been committed to Auburn since August.

When the 4-star wide receiver from Hoover (Ala.) High School made his commitment, he was just starting to scratch the surface of national recognition. Pickens is full-blown recognized at this point. He remains the No. 26 wide receiver in the nation, but his stock will rise rapidly following his spring 7-on-7 and showcase camp performances.

Pickens has caught the attention of a several SEC schools, including Georgia and LSU.

He’s standing strong with his Auburn commitment, however.

“Oh, it’s very firm right now,” Pickens said. “I still look at other colleges just to view the experience, but that’s pretty much it.”

It’s not an easy thing to communicate through written text, but Pickens put an extra emphasis on the words very firm in the previous quote.

He’s open to taking visits elsewhere. It’s something he didn’t do much before committing to Auburn. Pickens has visited Georgia twice so far, but his communication with LSU is just beginning, though he hears from those Tigers on a regular basis now.

The Bulldogs are likely the most potent threat right now. But they already have two wide receivers committed in this class, including Jadon Haselwood, who Auburn is similarly trying to flip from Georgia.

“It’s a very good relationship with Georgia. I have a very good relationship with Coach [Cortez] Hankton. He moved from Vanderbilt. That’s about it. And [Kirby] Smart. Smart, too,” Pickens said. “I’ve visited two times. Those were great experiences. My first time, we were talking to Smart, and then we went down to go eat. All I can remember is that the food was very good in Athens.”

LSU has some work to do — like getting Pickens on campus — before it can become a serious contender. Still, it’s one of the few schools Pickens openly mentioned outside of Auburn.

“We just started communicating. When we did, they broke it down and what they would do to provide for me,” Pickens said. “I plan on getting down there for a visit sometime this spring.”

Anytime a top target takes visits elsewhere, it’s an attention grabber. If and when Pickens shows mutual interest with Alabama, it’ll become particularly interesting.

But there’s a special connection between Pickens and Auburn quarterback commit Bo Nix that should help the Tigers in a major way. Nix and Pickens play for the same 7-on-7 team, so they’re playing with each other at least every other weekend. During the Atlanta Opening regional on Sunday, the two were hip-to-hip after every rep, designing ways to beat some of the Southeast’s top defensive backs. After the camp, it was more of the same.

That’s perhaps the most revealing way to describe how firm Pickens’ commitment to Auburn is — the way he talks about building the Tigers’ class with Nix.

“We always talk about trying to get the guys we hang with the most, like Jadon [Haselwood], people on our 7-on-7 team or people in our state to come to Auburn,” Pickens said. “That’s really what we talk about. Just trying to get more big guys to come in.’

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Top-100 DE puts Auburn at No. 1 after visit

Jaren Handy, a former LSU commit, doesn’t plan on rushing into his next commitment.

The 4-star defensive end from New Augusta, Miss., committed to LSU on March 3 and de-committed two weeks later. Handy felt he’d made an abrupt, on-the-spot decision and wanted to collect his thoughts before making a final choice. The nation’s 96th overall prospect now plans to wait it out through the entirety of the process, ensuring he makes a well-informed pick.

“National Signing Day,” Handy told SEC Country. “No need to rush.”

That won’t stop Handy from being open about where his recruitment stands.

Despite the LSU de-commitment, those Tigers remain among the top few schools. The same can be said for Ole Miss, the only one of the two in-state schools making a serious push right now.

Following his decision to back off the LSU pledge, Auburn was one of the first schools to connect with him about a possible visit. Handy took that trip over the weekend, his first time on the Plains.

“Auburn is No. 1 now that I visited there,” Handy said. “They passed expectations by a lot. Meeting the people and meeting some of the players, it just was more than I expected. Probably because of the coaches. That visit, just how they are. It was real cool.”

Handy spoke with Gus Malzahn, Marcus Woodson and Rodney Garner on his visit. Those are the coaches one would expect a top Mississippi defensive end to speak with during a visit. Garner is the position coach, Woodson is the area recruiter and Malzahn is generally involved with top targets. All three preached early playing time to Handy, given the potential NFL draft overhaul coming up at the position.

Handy was particularly impressed by Garner.

“Mostly, I liked Coach Garner. As a guy off the field, he’s cool and everything. But you can tell when you put them pads on, you’re going to meet a different guy,” Handy said. “I like that. No, I love that. He holds you accountable for your actions. He wants you to be the best player you’re supposed to be.”

Handy wasn’t the only top Mississippi defensive lineman on campus last weekend.

Mississippi State defensive end commit Charles Moore accompanied Handy on the trip. The two want to play together at the next level. Handy made that clear during his conversation with SEC Country. Moore and Handy spoke several times with each other during the visit regarding the potential of playing together on the Plains.

“We could see ourselves playing there,” Handy said.

Other schools who can get into the mix, according to Handy, are Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida and Louisville.

He plans to return to Auburn on June 6. A little tidbit of news, in itself: That will be Big Cat Weekend, so the first weekend of June will be a big one for the Tigers.

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