Which is the most important aspect of this year's recruiting. I know the answer is probably, "They all are important", I guess which one do you think is most true about this class?
1. We got who we wanted - Seriously, we only "struck out" on a few prospects, and I'm having trouble really thinking of any that we really went hard for and didn't land - maybe Robert Quinn or EJ Manuel(?). After the last few years where we stuck out on big name after big name... Two years ago, I think we struck out on like 7 LB prospects when we were in need of a few. This might be the best sign of the effectiveness of our recruiting.
2. Guys who can play multiple positions - As another thread asks... We have several guys who can play offense or defense, LB or WR, WR or TE, etc. These guys can be very valuable because it is almost like an insurance policy - for example, if they don't pickup route running at WR very well, we can try them at LB and test their instincts.
3. Dominated the state - It's so great to see Rivals.com's rankings of in-state players. Aside from Dee Finley and William Green, we pretty much have everyone in the top 15. And neither of them went with Auburn. Establishing ourselves as the state's #1 team can just be a cycle that repeats itself.
4. Filling needs - It sure seems that we got what we needed. That's always the coaches' opinion as to what we actually need, but it seems like although Shula's classes were good in my opinion (in relation to where we were as a program when he took over), we never really loaded up on positions of need (DL, LB, and we missed an entire year of OL - those all come to mind).
5. Just being in contention for the #1 class - From a PR prospective, this is huge. The nation will be talking about Alabama on Wednesday. 2009 prospects will see that there is a foundation to be set that they can join on the way up. And Auburn definitively NOT being the #1 class can't hurt either.
1. We got who we wanted - Seriously, we only "struck out" on a few prospects, and I'm having trouble really thinking of any that we really went hard for and didn't land - maybe Robert Quinn or EJ Manuel(?). After the last few years where we stuck out on big name after big name... Two years ago, I think we struck out on like 7 LB prospects when we were in need of a few. This might be the best sign of the effectiveness of our recruiting.
2. Guys who can play multiple positions - As another thread asks... We have several guys who can play offense or defense, LB or WR, WR or TE, etc. These guys can be very valuable because it is almost like an insurance policy - for example, if they don't pickup route running at WR very well, we can try them at LB and test their instincts.
3. Dominated the state - It's so great to see Rivals.com's rankings of in-state players. Aside from Dee Finley and William Green, we pretty much have everyone in the top 15. And neither of them went with Auburn. Establishing ourselves as the state's #1 team can just be a cycle that repeats itself.
4. Filling needs - It sure seems that we got what we needed. That's always the coaches' opinion as to what we actually need, but it seems like although Shula's classes were good in my opinion (in relation to where we were as a program when he took over), we never really loaded up on positions of need (DL, LB, and we missed an entire year of OL - those all come to mind).
5. Just being in contention for the #1 class - From a PR prospective, this is huge. The nation will be talking about Alabama on Wednesday. 2009 prospects will see that there is a foundation to be set that they can join on the way up. And Auburn definitively NOT being the #1 class can't hurt either.
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