re: Roster as of 1/12 @ 10pm

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Quarterback (3) - Ashford, Geriner, Brown Runningback (4) - Hunter, Alston, Jackson, Cobb Receiver (9) - J. Johnson, Johnson Jr, Moore, King, Kelly, Dawson, Fair, Brown, Sorey Tight End (5) - Deal, Fromm, Frazier, Fairweather, Riley-Ducker Offensive Line (14) - Britton, Stutts, Tate Johnson, Wright, Jernigan, Miller, Smith, Langlo, Wade, Harris, Lew, Joiner, Wedin, Tyler Johnson Defensive Line (13) - Harris, Lawrence Johnson, M’ba, Jones, Walker, Okoli, Sledge, Travis, Williams, Denaud, Stephen Johnson, Nasili-Kite, Reed Edge (3) - McAllister, Brooks, Faulk Linebacker (10) - Riley, Steiner, Asante, Tisdol, Brown, Levant, Woodyard, Tolan, Gordon, Love Cornerback (10) - James, Simpson, Scott, Rhym, Ausberry, Lee, Hart, Hood, Scott, Pritchett Safety (8) - Puckett, Kaufman, McDonald, Gilbert, Bridges, Wooden, Smith, CJ Johnson Special Teams (2): - Chapman, McPherson

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Add RB Battie, WR Mardner and C Jones

Anyone want a basic breakdown of each new player (transfer and portal) from yours truly of their skill set and how I see them being used?

Upvote yes
downvote no

I'll go with the majority. I'll start with Battie if so

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I'll go with the majority. I'll start with Battie if so

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Just do it, baw

Avery Jones

I started last year saying everything for Auburn offensively and defensively begins and ends up the middle of the field. The 2022 team failed miserably in the middle on both sides. QB, C, NT, MLB.

Avery Jones enters the picture here and is my favorite transfer as of now. He solidifies a very weak position group on the team and will likely be the starting center on a revamped OL. Jones plays with good leverage and pad level so detailed coaching isn’t required and can be focused on some of the younger centers which helps a new staff out incredibly. Jones will be going against a different talent level week to week then before but this kid has all the talent to be a top of the conference center. He was a former 4 start guard coming out of high school played 2 years at UNC then transferred to ECU. His PFF grades are very high in pass pro for a center and maybe a hair below average in run blocking but ECU’s run game ran 60 percent of their runs in the 0 and/or the 1 gaps so essentially right behind Jones. This is a huge need for a new OL. I love all the Tigers but not sure we had anyone with enough talent plus experience to make this position even possible yo get a stalemate. Lee and/or Joiner will be good centers in the future but to be competitive we needed Jones.

As I mentioned he’s my number 1 transfer because I know as a former OC that you build your OL inside out.

Shivers was way thicker than he gets credit for. I think he was listed at one point at nearly 190lbs. That’s absurd for his height

I like the smaller Tre Mason comp. That’s not to say he’ll be anywhere as good but it makes sense if you watch his highlights

Gunner Britton

Might as well stay with the OL. Britton comes from Western Kentucky. He was the LT this past season for them. He has a prototype body for an OT at 6’7” but is a litttle more sloppy compared to Wade. Still an experienced OT compared to no experience basically on the roster is a big pickup. He has great length with his arms as well which is a plus in pass protection. Britton is rumored to have had a tooth issue and lost almost 30 pounds last season but continued to compete. His feet aren’t as smooth as Wades but he’s pretty good in pass pro. Needs a little cleaning up and strong competition could help him develop into a better player. He has also played some RT so it might be his ability to kick step either from LT or RT to slide into the RT spot since Wade has played mainly LT. For me there is a gap in technique from Jones and Wade to Britton. That can be cleaned up by good coaching. He also needs use of the nutrition and workout center. He wanted to transfer to big boy football to increase his NFL value and he has every opportunity to do so with what he has to work with at AU. I think he will make the right steps to improve his play and expect him to be a starter at OT.

Rivaldo Fairweather

Staying on the offensive side of the ball we come to our first transfer in for this cycle and kind of signaled that Freeze and staff weren’t here to frick around.

I’m not certain we needed a TE but we don’t have an explosive TE in the room. Just look at what Bowers does at UGA or any number of TEs on Sundays in the NFL to show how important an explosive pass catching TE can be to moving the chains and making a difference in games.

I’m not exactly sure what to make of Fairweather. He’s definitely has good hands but I don’t see him being like Evan Engram as many have tried to say. Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t see him like Pitts from UF either. He improves the room with his pass catching ability but being a key component like we hope for might not happen. I have a feeling safeties and linebackers are gonna be a little more difficult to get work in against in SEC but we should target him enough to keep things open for the other parts of the offense. Maybe I’m too low on Fairweather and hope I am but currently I see him in a dog fight with Deal. Whichever can be more flexible in the run game might be the difference. At this time I expect Deal to be the starter and Fairweather to push the room to be better route runners. Ducker and Fairweather need to team up and push each other since they are similar players. This is how bringing in experienced players is supposed to work. I want to see great competition at this spot and will be an interesting position to keep an eye on in the spring.

Nick Mardner

Finishing out the offensive side of the ball for transfers is Nick Mardner. Comes from Cincinnati via University of Hawaii. And was a former player for new WR coach Marcus Davis at Hawaii.

Mardner brings a much need big long guy to the WR room. Coach Davis says he has the ability to stretch the field but on film for the most part I don’t see that. Maybe he’s faster then he looks a lot of times those guys with long legs look slower than they really are. Time will tell. He comes in at an incredible 6’6” around 200 lbs probably depending on if he has taken his morning shite on if he’s on one side of that number or the other. Spring will be very important for Mardner if he can take the physicality of our DBs or not will be a big tale in what to expect. He fills a role every WR room needs a jump ball guy in the red zone. 3 things happen in those situations with a legit jump ball option. You almost assure yourself either square or outside leverage from the man up defender opening up the quick slant, double move to the post for the jump ball, or schemed leverage to run outside to help the WR in blocking. It was a big missing piece of the puzzle in our WR room. Mardner brings experience with him working with Coach Davis and as I mention with Wade prior will know what is expected of him from Marcus and know what some of the drills and terminology Coach Davis uses. That will be a plus in prior to spring for the WR room. I have to see more from Mardner to know exactly how he will fit in on the offense but he will have a role just don’t know if he is a starter or not. He could be anything from a star in the making to role player. Much like Fairweather in my opinion.

Elijah McAllister

Elijah transferred from Vandy to AU and provides immediate depth at a position that lacked experience and depth. The edge spot. He’s a big bodied edge player that isn’t particularly dynamic but can rush the passer and set the edge as well. With the lack of experience any transfer edge would have been a blessing. One with experience in conference is a huge plus. He knows the ins and outs of the long season an SEC schedule can be. He was a captain on the Vandy squad and will probably be a team leader at AU as well however I doubt he will be a captain.

Elijah is not a 15 sack a season guy or doesn’t appear to be but he fills one of the biggest needs the roster has at the edge position. Behind him will be Dylan Brooks and Faulk so McAllister seems like a great guy to motivate these younger players. Team leaders and positional leaders are incredibly important to a new staff and even tho he’s a new comer I expect him to fill that role as well. I expect McAllister to start at Edge.

Demario Tolan

A much needed younger linebacker ended for depth come to AU from LSU. Auburn finished second in his recruitment out of high school and once he decided to get out of Red Stick he came calling to Auburn. We have plenty of experienced some what unproductive linebackers so bringing in a 1 and done here wouldn’t have made much sense for roster management. I could see us close out the winter transfer period with possibly another younger linebacker as well or post spring. Have to layer the depth on the roster and Tolan definitely does that. Tolan is extremely fast but is a little undersized. Some of our best LBers have been undersized. Hard to say what type of player Tolan will be for the 23 squad but he provides depth at minimum to a weak linebacker room. I could see Tolan being anything from special teams player to a starting backer.

Coach Roberts scheme requires different types of line backers. They have to be able to move to be able to pressure or to drop and be in their gap assignments. Tolan has that skill.