AU recruiting: Day 22...

[BamaGSR]

......of aubarn recruiting held hostage.

After Tubby did a great job of getting most of the barner leans to commit early on, the barners were sure this was going to open the floodgates for the greatest class college football had ever seen!

As expected, aubarn recruiting has been totally dead for 3 months.

While Alabama has been putting together a Top 5 class, the barners have been watching as their rankings slip further and further down the scale. They've also had to watch as the Tide spanked them for Earl Alexander (prompting the immediate 'we pulled his offer' explanation).

How bad is it for the barners? They've only landed 1 commit, Raven Gray, in the last 5 weeks, and he's going straight to JUCO.

Alabama has more commits in the last THREE WEEKS than aubarn does in the last THREE MONTHS!

And it won't get any better. While Alabama is still on board for many of the nation's top players, aubarn will have to scrap and claw to sign anyone else. And that's assuming they can keep the commits they have.

 

[cbi1972]

Auburn is doing just fine, unfortunately.

 

[CHATTBRIT]

Bama GSR - I think the Barn will do fine, unfortunately. Remember, a commitment is not the same as signing the Letter of Intent, so I'll wait until signing day before making a judgment. If we can close strong on the few schollies we have to give with maybe Smith and Whitehead, it should be a great year. Many of the Bama commits so far should do really well and have a whole lot of talent. However, for the most part, we won't realize just how good the signing class is until their junior year. There are injuries and off the field issues that can derail any promising career no matter how many stars were attached to their name during the recruiting process.

 

[BamaGSR]

Oh by barner standards they are doing great, but that's not the point. Both last year, and now this year, Tubby locked down almost all of the barner leans by October. And both last year, and this year, we started hearing from the boogs in October that aubarn was going to sign the greatest class in SEC history.

Last year their recruiting literally died after November, which is because Tubby locked up all his leans early. I still remember one barner giving me a list of 10 or so of the best players in the country, including Antoine Smith, who were all going to pick aubarn on NSD. Of course aubarn didn't get any of them, and I never heard from him again.

And it's happening again this year. As soon as Caudle and Eddins committed, we started hearing about how this was 'the year' for aubarn recruiting. Now we are at the end of December, and again aubarn recruiting has been dead for weeks.

And it won't get much better going forward. Just like it didn't last year.

 

[cbi1972]

I don't pay attention to what their fans say.
Going by the quality of commitments and which school prospects are still listing as a favorite, we are pretty even.
I find it a bit silly to point and laugh and say, 'Ha ha, Auburn. You got early commitments, and can now afford to be selective in recruiting.'

 

[BamaGSR]

I don't pay attention to what their fans say.
Going by the quality of commitments and which school prospects are still listing as a favorite, we are pretty even.
I find it a bit silly to point and laugh and say, 'Ha ha, Auburn. You got early commitments, and can now afford to be selective in recruiting.'

Feel free to move on to the next thread then.

 

[UAEngineer113]

He's right though. Commits don't mean anything until signing day. Auburn's recruiting class isn't THAT bad, and there's still plenty of time until signing day.

I think we should focus on OUR recruiting and only OUR recruiting. Who gives a crap who the 'barners get a "Hey y'all, I wanna play fooseball for da' tubby" from.

 

[derek4tide]

Losing Earl Alexander...

continues to sting the cow college faithful! :biggrin:

 

[GreatDanish]

It is comforting that this should have been the year AU raked in an elite class because of the undefeated season last year and a solid season this year. We'll likely end up in a wash - we've got some great prospects while they've got some too.

However, we've got to prove it on the field before we have any advantage over AU.

 

[mlh]

I don't know how they'll finish, but according to this site the Aubies have 13 recruits and their class is ranked #13 in the nation. We have more recruits, but are ranked lower overall at #19.

Scout.com

Personally I don't put much stock in recruiting class rankings. I look at it very simply...are we getting what we need? This year I'd have to say a resounding YES with the OL, DB, and WR recruits we have lined up. Besides, you still gotta "coach 'em up." That's where the rubber meets the road, not in how many "stars" commit.

 

[BamaSteve999]

Agree up to a point

mlh, I agree with you that we all tend to get a bit too hung up on who got how many "stars" to commit to their schools, and there are many factors that determine whether any of them will ultimately be successful, including coaching and personal work ethic. However, it is just as true that even the best chef in the world cannot take chicken mess and make a good chicken salad with it. You have to have both. JMO, I could be wrong.

 

[Crimson Hawk]

If you take away the kids from both schools, that absolutely were committed to that school "from birth", I wonder how we match up? Seems we're doing pretty well in head-to-head competitions.

 

[LTBamaFan]

Auburn, like Ut usually closes with a bang. They always save their big recruiting weekend till near signing day. And in the barners case, during the Iron Bowl trophy presentation. That impresses some recruits.

 

[GreatDanish]

Recruiting rankings have some legitimacy to them, but some of us followers stick to them like glue. If we got the #26 prospect in the country and you got the #51 prospect, then we got the better prospect! So much is negligible. There's hardly a difference in the quality of athlete in the top 50 or so. There are some kids that stick out above the rest (like an Andre Smith - type athlete). The lowest 4-star kid is not really any better than the highest 3-star kid, but schools will drool over the low 4-star and hardly bat an eye at the high 3-star.
Having said that, I think scout.com does a poor job keeping up with the recruits. Rivals.com does a much better job in that department.

One more thing... in regards to recruiting to our needs, we need some big ol' DTs in a major way. I'd love to get some that are not DEs that we have to bulk up. I want some big 6'3, 280+ guys. Coach knows best and I'll leave it to him.

 

[doctorgonzo]

If AU gets Whitehead,Stevens,Ricks,Hawthorne(which is definitely possible) then you'll be singing a different tune. Let's not gloat until Feb. 2.

Also, I agree that Rivals does a much better job of evaluating and ranking the prospects than Scout.