re: 2023 Recruiting

I am open to Ashford competing for the QB job against a Georgia backup in fall practice.

May the most dynamic win.

Anybody that disagrees is nuts.

So what’s the issue here.

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Alright folks, for the sake of the thread, let’s try to reign in the Ashford discussion. We’ve got all off season to hash it out.

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Inb4 Jones yells at us for cluttering up the recruiting thread

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I am open to Ashford competing for the QB job against a Georgia backup in fall practice.

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Ashford vs Vandergriff gonna be a hell of a battle

If Vandergriff is doing summer tiktok videos bet the house on Ashford

I will say I hope you all are ready for AU to throw a lot of interceptions. Kelly and Wallace did at Ole Miss and Willis even threw 12 at Liberty his last year. We've grown accustomed to interceptions being a rarity. Strip sacks too.

Freeze trusts his QB's to make plays. This is markedly different than we have seen at AU since maybe Terry Bowden?

I think OL and finding smart QB's is paramount to the Freeze tenure at Auburn. He has traditionally built in 15-20 turnovers a year for his starting QB.

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Meta, you say those reads were scripted, but in Gus’s whole career I’ve never seen him get as mad at his own player like he did against Malik.

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Ok, and?

28 carries for 309 yards. Those are the actual stats.

How many zone reads do you think he allegedly "screwed up"? It couldn't have been that many. So Malzahn got mad once or twice, and that's the rationale here? Malzahn also ran plays all the time that had zero hope of working, so I'm not sure what this is supposed to prove? Was Malzahn known for his elite evaluation of QB play?

There is this weird narrative to try to paint it as if Willis got into the game for Auburn and just looked hopeless. You are free to confirm the stats yourself: he never did anything to show that he was a bad football player. He just didn't get to play, because it turns out that Bo Nix was actually pretty good.

So really, what actually happened is that Malik Willis was likely a capable and promising QB who just so happened to be stuck behind another capable and promising QB (Nix). He wasn't some horrible QB that Freeze magically "developed" at Liberty. If he was a bad QB, Freeze never would have taken him in the first place.

With Ashford, the reality is that he was a backup on a team with no good QB's. He got to play a lot due to a lot of things going wrong, and he showed often why he was the backup to all of those guys. At his previous school, he was 3rd or 4th string. That isn't the same situation as Malik Willis at all. Malik Willis actually never dipped below 61.1% completion percentage in any of his 4 NCAA seasons.

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4-star S Tony Mitchell

The buzz: Tony Mitchell has always been a wildcard. He is committed to Alabama, but he was at Texas A&M this past weekend and Auburn the weekend before that. Both schools are pushing hard to flip Mitchell from the Crimson Tide. At one time the Aggies were viewed as the biggest threat to Alabama, but that has shifted to Auburn. According to one source, Alabama should be a little worried about Auburn. — Chad Simmons

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Kayin Lee will enter Signing Day as an Ohio State commitment. Auburn is lurking though and the Tigers are a legit threat to the Buckeyes. One source feels Lee is headed for the SEC.

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Auburn is one to watch for Keldric Faulk. He is still communicating with the Tigers after visiting the in-state school Sunday. Florida State still has confidence they can hold on.

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Texas showed Tyler Scott a lot over the weekend, but this one is expected to come down to Auburn and USC late. The new staff at Auburn has made a strong impression on the Atlanta cornerback and his family.

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5-star DL James Smith and 5-star EDGE Qua Russaw

The buzz: These Montgomery (Ala.) Carver teammates went through this process together. They took most visits together, they met with coaches sometimes together and they still are expected to sign with the same school. Alabama has been in the best position over the last couple of months, and it will take a lot to change that late. Auburn is viewed as the biggest competition. James Smith did visit Auburn without Qua Russaw over the weekend. Florida and Georgia are not considered contenders here at the end. — Chad Simmons

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Good work Jones.