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

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Master Teague starting to separate schools

The 4-star running back has made his rounds.

Teague has been busy this spring taking recruiting visits to many of his top schools of interest. He dropped a top 12 that included eight programs that had offered and four schools — Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ohio State — that could remain in the conversation despite no offer, though none of those schools have changed their stances yet.

Since his March 19 release, Teague has taken visits to Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, Tennessee and Georgia. South Carolina hasn’t hosted Teague since the season opener last football season, but the Gamecocks still are considered one of the front-runners for Teague.

On Sunday, Teague confirmed that his list has been reduced from 12, but he opted not to make any official statements on which schools made the cut and those that didn’t. It’s fair to assume that the offering programs he’s visited recently — Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia — are major contenders.

“We already answered most of the questions about the schools and stuff like that,” Teague said. “Now we’re kind of reading and praying, just trying to listen for God, to where he would have me be at. Just kind of listening and praying, hoping that we’ll find the right place for me, where I can grow as a person and fulfill God’s will.”

Teague’s initial comment on “answering questions” follows a similar talking point he referenced after his first Auburn visit in February.

He had all of those questions and concerns figured out with Auburn then. The most recent visit in March was more about learning fit and establishing a stronger relationship with a coaching staff that he considers one of his closest bonds in the country.

Many names have been mentioned in regards to Auburn running back recruiting: Shaun Shivers, Asa Martin, Harold Joiner and Tae Provens, but Teague is sometimes lost in the out-of-state shuffle.

That isn’t the case with Auburn’s coaching staff. It was on that most recent visit to Auburn that he began to feel prioritized by the Tigers compared with some other staffs.

“It was my second time visiting, and they enjoyed having me there. Coach [Tim] Horton and coach [Gus] Malzahn like me a lot. They think I have great character and would be a great fit for them. They’re really recruiting me pretty hard, and Coach Horton really wants to coach me. They’re not pressuring anything on me right now. They’re just letting me take my time, but they’re really excited about me,” Teague said. “They want me to be an Auburn Tiger.”

Now that he feels comfortable with Auburn, Teague has started to look for other factors to help him differentiate one top school from another.

His natural next move: scheme fit.

The way programs use the running back helped Teague eliminate programs early on. It also showed him on his visit tour how some schools might make more sense than others. But as Teague prepares for his senior season, there’s one offense that makes him feel comfortable.

“Auburn’s [offense] is more like how I run my offense now, how the offense is run at Blackman [High School]. I think, if I went there, it would be a really easy transition, as far as how they run the power and things like that,” Teague said. “I think it is a part [of my decision] because I feel like certain schools use their backs in different ways. I prefer some more than others. Certain schools, I didn’t like the way they ran their backfield, so I didn’t really have them up there on the list, like the ones I have, so I think it does play a big role.”

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