Krootin': woe-line edition

It's a good thing Chad Slade is so freaking big, because he may have a lot of weight to carry on those shoulders.

This is a perfect time to panic. Just so we know where we stand, here is a comprehensive list of scholarship Auburn linemen with eligibility remaining beyond the 2010 season:

1. Jared Cooper
2. A.J. Greene
3. Andre Harris
4. Aubrey Phillips
5. Vance Smith
6. John Sullen

Bear in mind that that list includes two converted tight ends, two true freshmen, and just one player who received a grade better than 5.6 (i.e. "middle-of-the-road three-star") from Rivals. However, that player--Phillips--may of course never play football again.

So unless Auburn signs a player or two in 2011 capable of starting as a true freshman--anyone want to take odds on that?--the entire 2011 starting lineup will be comprised of the players listed above and whoever Auburn will sign this February. With the high school season about to kick off and the bulk of the recruiting for 2010 behind us, here is a comprehensive list of Auburn's current offensive line commitments:

1. Shon Coleman
2. Chad Slade

Bear in mind that Coleman has planned on taking visits to other schools and has been listed as a "soft verbal" since essentially the day he was signed; Auburn will have to work to keep him. Meaning that Slade--currently unranked by any service and with a second-best offer of Miss. St.--is the only lineman our staff can be said to have truly "wrapped up" by this point.

This is why it was a serious blow to read the following news:

Chase Hughes has named a new leader: Ole Miss. He says after a visit they slightly lead.

Under normal circumstances, missing out on a three-star, top-25 in-state, top-20ish center/guard wouldn't be a big deal. But as you can see above: these are not normal circumstances. When you've gotten three new linemen (counting Phillips) on to campus in two years, every body you can add to the mix is crucial, every opportunity to give Grimes another shot at developing a starting-quality player is one that has to be taken advantage of.

So I don't understand why the very next thing Beaver writes in the above post is:

The guys at Rivals seem to think Auburn has a shot at getting one of Kyle Prater's official visits even though he has cut Auburn from his top choices. Trooper Taylor is quietly working hard on Prater.

Yes, I'm sure he's an unbelievable prospect and all, but that's not going to stop me from making the following statement: I don't give the first crap about getting one of Kyle Prater's visits. He's not signing with Auburn. He's just not. Maybe Taylor--who's listed as Hughes's recruiter--is making every possible effort to reel Hughes in and the energy he's spending on Prater isn't detracting from Auburn's chances with Hughes. But if it is ... well, I'll just say that if you ask me whether I want Taylor trying to sew up a solid in-state lineman or chasing after the nation's No. 1 wide receiver from a thousand miles away, I take option A a thousand times over.

If this was the only instance of the current staff seeming questionably ambivalent about our offensive line recruiting, I'd let it pass. But it's not. Last spring, you'll recall, Tampa lineman Hunter Stout (who Grimes knew from Colorado) took a late visit to Auburn. He wasn't a stud by any stretch of the imagination, but he would have been something. The staff passed. He signed with Louisville. 2010 JUCO lineman John Cullen has had Auburn listed as one of his favorites for a while, but after the Phillips transfer, apparently Auburn backed off. Say whaaaa? Back to 2011: would we really rather have, say, redshirt sophomores Harris or Sullen starting with a true freshman backup over a senior Cullen starting with Harris/Sullen as backup? Really?

This is the point where--I can hear the chorus now--I'm reminded that I don't know what's really going on with recruiting, that our coaches have a plan, that they've forgotten more about this business than me, my children, and my grandchildren will ever learn, etc. And all that may be true.

But what's also true is that it's going to be awfully hard to put together a good offensive line from a collection of one or two solid players, five or six run-of-the-mill prospects, and bewildered true freshmen. But that's exactly what Auburn's looking at two years down the road if things don't change on the recruiting front, soon.

(For you rankings skeptics out there: remember 2007? Ziemba, Ramsey, and Pugh were all four-stars. Cooper? A low three-star. It wouldn't surprise me for the likes of Harris or Smith or Sullen to dramatically outperform their guru ranking, but expecting them all to--as Auburn will need them to unless something phenomenal happens--is delusional.)

A few other odds and ends ...

Goodwin. I was on my little sojourn when Antonio Goodwin committed, and so I didn't get to really make as big a deal out of it as it might have been, given that Goodwin is the first consensus four-star in the class and had the folks at ESPN--who invited him to their All-American game and rate him the No. 23 prospect in the country, period--say this about him:

ESPN's Billy Tucker added, "This was huge pickup for Auburn and in our opinion the most significant commitment under Chizik thus far. The Tigers are adding an explosive receiver and excellent overall athlete to their future roster."

"We feel Goodwin will challenge for the top receiver spot out of the state Georgia upon the release of our ESPNU 150 and will give Auburn an immediate vertical threat when he arrives in the Plains. Aside from his great vertical speed and elusiveness after the catch, this is a kid with the body length, leaping ability and strong hands to create matchup problems as a downfield pass catcher. Needs a bit of polish but Auburn is getting a much-needed playmaker in our opinion and a receiver with a very high ceiling for development."

Between Goodwin, Blake, Benton (if he sticks around), Jeremy Richardson, and the various slicky tricksters in the slot--not to mention Lutzenkirchen--it looks from here like Auburn should see its receiving go from being the weakest unit on the team to one of its strongest in the space of a year or two.

Super Senior fluff GO. Jawara White and Kenneth Carter both get the B'ham News Super Senior profile treatment. Interesting stuff on both, although reading that Carter would be willing to look around is a little bit disappointing. (I do think he'll have to have a hell of a year to draw any stronger offers, though.)

Justin Delaine commits and no, I hadn't heard of him either

Auburn's new commitment ... Mysterio!

So last night Auburn picked up their 15th commitment of the 2010 class in Linden (and/or Sumter County) defensive end Justin Delaine. Beaver's rounded up the pertinent details I suggest you take a look at, but to review ...

--Delaine not only hasn't been ranked by the major services, at the time of his commitment he didn't even have a profile up at Rivals or Scout. I haven't following this recruiting thing very long, but I don't think that happens for SEC commitments very often. This is as deep a sleeper as you're going to get at Auburn.

--He's listed as a defensive end, but Delaine seems like the kind of guy you get on campus first and find a position for later: 6-5, 225, track speed, played just one year of football. I don't have much doubt he's sushi-raw, but for Auburn to go ahead and accept a commitment from him now suggests to me that someone on our staff--Lolley, apparently--saw enough in Delaine not to take any chances on anyone else getting there first.

--Getting him on campus might prove tricky, though, since even he apparently admits he's got academic issues to work on. At the very least, if he's really transferring from one school to another solely in an attempt to drag his GPA up, at least he's taking things seriously.

--No doubt the Tide fans are having a good laugh this morning at Auburn taking a commitment from a kid whose offer list includes two Mississippi schools and Troy and hadn't even drawn enough attention for an evaluation from the gurus ... but as I've mentioned before, I lived and worked for a while out in that part of the state, and it would be unbelievably easy for a legitimate prospect like Delaine to fly under the radar at a place like Sumter County. There's virtually no press coverage, the football team is almost an afterthought compared to hoops, the facilities and equipment are, um, lacking, and while I thought much more highly of Sumter's coaching while I was there than some of the other schools in the area, the infrastructure's just not there that can turn a kid who's never played organized football into a superstar overnight. Beaver hid away some uncorroborated info on Delaine's living situation in his comments thread, but that sounds about par for the course in places like York and Linden.

In short, I'm not worried. This staff's not going to offer a player with one year of football experience unless he's got some serious athletic goods. And if Delaine does stick at defensive end, there's not a position coach on the staff I'd trust more to turn those goods into something useful than Tracy Rocker.

--So, yeah, Delaine's not going to move the guru needle; yeah, he's very likely going to need a redshirt even if he qualifies; yeah, it would be nice if Auburn could land another high-profile prospect to get some of that good ol' Big Cat feelin' back. But seeing what guys like Daren Bates and Anthony Gulley are doing already, it's already fair to give this staff the benefit of the doubt when it comes to evaluating under-the-radar prospects like Delaine.

Krootin' 7/14

Grant. If you haven't seen this, well, Corey Grant is fast (and the audio, as always, is NSFW):



Grant's made a whole series of unofficial visits to the Plains recently, and if he makes one more to Auburn's big senior camp this weekend, RBR's OTS says that could bode very well for us:

At this point I imagine it could go either way and he may still be undecided at this point. Hopefully he will commit to the Tide sometime this week, but if he delays his decision until this weekend, he may be tipping his hand by which camp he attends. Alabama has a big camp this weekend, as does Auburn, and if he shows up at one of those two, that ought to tell you where he is headed.

Also worth noting: Grant has apparently said he would prefer to operate out of the slot rather than line up in the backfield, and while I have no doubt 'Bama will accommodate him, this has to work in Auburn's favor, doesn't it? We're talking about two offenses, one of them that virtually always has a slot receiver on the field, and the other that goes without it in the base offense (and easily more than half the time) in favor of a fullback or extra tight end. For comparison's sake, check out the highlights of Auburn's spring game (in which a third receiver is on the field for every offensive play in the clip) vs. this selection of 2008 Alabama highlights, in which of the 8 or 9 plays that aren't goal-line sets (and where you can see the Tide formation) there's a slot receiver featured in 2 of them. I'm not saying this gives Auburn any kind of definitive advantage, but I do think it might explain why Auburn's got as decent a shot with Grant as they seem to have.

As for what Grant might mean to the class, well, if he's serious about sticking to receiver he would potentially give Auburn a huge boost at that position. And of course it would be an awfully nice statement--stop me if you've heard this before--about Auburn's ability to at least occasionally beat out the Tide in-state. Likewise, if both Grant and Brian Vogler leave Auburn's backyard to enroll across the state (as is expected in Vogler's case), that's not going to look so good. (The optimistic Auburn fan would point out that running back and tight end aren't the two biggest positions of need for Auburn ... but still. It won't look good.)

Speaking of this weekend ... Charles Goldberg is reporting that Auburn is "prepar(ing) to blend some big-time recruits with a high-profile high school senior camp next weekend," in what ought to be the long-awaited major July event Luper and Trooper have been promising basically ever since the end of Big Cat Weekend. Right now that's about all that isn't rumor, speculation, expectation, etc. but a visit from Lache Seastrunk's been hinted at for a while and Beaver has a list of other potential visitors. I'd say for an event as big as this is supposed to be we're not hearing much, but then again we didn't find out Big Cat was happening until the day it began, so with any luck it'll live up to expectations.

K-Scar wrote today that the only way to do that is with a boatload of commitments, but geez, acknowledging that we're SO FAR BEHIND and all, it's still July. If Auburn can add another couple of guys to the list on the same level with the first eight, is anyone really going to be disappointed? (And as for that piece-of-trash AP reworking of Evan Woodbery's recent "selective" recruiting piece, yes, Auburn would like to have 15-plus commitments of Texas or 'Bama's caliber, but just because Tubby racked up umpteen commitments last year doesn't mean last year was "better" when the average quality of those recruits just wasn't what this year's is to this point. Ohio St. currently has only eight commitments; should they be worried too?)

And hey, speaking of Seastrunk ... Via Auburntron, everyone's favorite fun-loving top-ranked Texas running back had a little more fun with the recruitniks and the fans who obsess over them at the big Texas 7-on-7 tournament:

On Friday, the first day he and his teammates competed in the Texas 7-on-7 state championships, Seastrunk showed up wearing an LSU shirt and Southern California armbands and socks. He also wore a pair of Auburn shorts during the event.

"It's just clothes, man," he said. "It's just the clothes I wear."

I know a big chunk of college football fans will frown on anything any recruit does to draw attention to himself, but ... a recruit who knows his every move is being watched to determine if he's going to USC, LSU, or Auburn showing up wearing articles of clothing representing USC, LSU, and Auburn? Sorry, I think that's pretty funny. And as Burnt Orange Nation pointed out, the joke's on all of us. I'll say it: well-played, sir.

But, yeah, there's also this:

Seastrunk, who also told at least one reporter that he plans to visit Texas again unofficially, offers no hints at even when he may decide.

"I've got a plan and all I can tell you is it's super funny," he said.

Cue the howls of the Fall of Western Civilization and all that. (Me? I'm curious. I can't help it.)

More of those running back-type guys we seem so fond of. Lattimore and Dyer make it 3-for-3 this week on Auburn's top-five running back recruits getting a media report worth linking up. Lattimore is profiled by Carolina paper The State here and Dyer by the ArkansasSports360.com here. Neither article provides much insight into where either is headed, but they're about as in-depth as recruit profiles get and I'd recommend reading both.

Hmmmmmm. So, after multiple reports--one of them mainstream--that Joel Bonomolo had already committed and multiple other reports--from guys like Phillip Marshall--that Bonomolo was likely to make it official on Monday, there's still no word from the latest Auburn JUCO hottness. It makes Sunday's post look awfully silly (hey, P-Marsh, I'd appreciate it if you stopped handing me guns to jump, please, since apparently I can't help myself) and you have to wonder what's holding Bonomolo up when every indicator we had showed an impending commitment ... but at the same time, in all likelihood this is just delaying the inevitable. I think.

Your complete Google guide to Auburn's class of 2009

With Emory Blake profiled earlier today, the Google Surveys the Recruits series is now complete for Auburn's 2009 class. I figured it might be a helpful resource to get a link to each profile of the members of that class in one location ... so, uh, this is that location. Every player that signed with Auburn last February, save confirmed academic casualties Reggie Taylor and LaVoyd James, has a dedicated JCCW post linked below. In alphabetical order:

1. Dontae Aycock
2. Daren Bates
3. Deangelo Benton
4. Emory Blake
5. Terrance Coleman
6. Robert Cooper
7. Nosa Eguae
8. Jonathan Evans
9. Nick Fairley
10. Dee Ford
11. Eltoro "The Toro" Freeman
12. Harris Gaston
13. Anthony Gulley
14. Andre Harris
15. Josh Jackson
16. Brandon Jacobs
17. Izauea Lanier
18. Philip Lutzenkirchen
19. Onterio McCalebb
20. Clint Moseley
21. Taikwon Paige
22. Tyrik Rollison
23. Travante Stallworth
24. John Sullen
25. Jamar Travis
26. Demond Washington

If you're a masochist who just likes reminding themselves of Auburn commitments that didn't work out, you can also read about JUCO refugee Jamontay Pilson, Aaron Moore, or Raymond Cotton.

Final thoughts? I thought about listing the signees in order of how excited I am to have each of them at Auburn or organized in rough groupings of how I'd project their Auburn careers to play out, but there's basically no way to do that without sounding like I'm writing off the kids at the tail ends of lists like those. I'd rather pass--there's genuine reasons to believe every single member of this class will become a solid contributor (or more) during their time at Auburn, and even if there's no way all 26 of them wind up panning out (hell, the odds seem good there's at least one more academic casualty out there) my guess isn't better than anyone else's as to who the real sleepers are or aren't.

So I'll just tack on a few scattered observations and positive vibes:

--I've made note of this before, but this class seemed to have more guru disagreement than you'd expect: Lutzenkirchen, Rollison, and McCalebb were the only three prospects to garner four stars from both major services, but 10 other signees picked up a fourth star from one or the other. (11 if you include Stallworth's "80" from ESPN.) Maybe this means that even the relatively modest "team rankings" for the class were overshooting things, since there's so few "sure things" ... but I'd prefer the glass-half-full viewpoint, which would be that when this many kids have someone recognize some kind of legitimate athletic potential, there's more collective promise here than any service recognized individually.

--Just for comparison's sake, once you account for academic casualties and Raven Gray's no-show, do you know how many Rivals/Scout consensus four-stars Tubby signed in 2008? Zero. None. Signees from that class garnering four stars from one or the other? Six. (Again, this season: 13. After 5-7. After the coaching change. This was either a hell of a job by Chizik and Co. or a measure of how unbelievably bad the 2008 effort was ... or, of course, some combination of both.)

--Personal favorite "sleepers"? Stallworth, an undersized burner who (like Neiko Thorpe the year before) was ignored by Rivals and Scout but got a rave review from ESPN and should be a great fit in the Spread Eagle 2.0; Moseley, who strikes me as having just enough athletic potential to turn his intangible gifts into a quality backup role or even the starter's job somewhere down the line in this offense; and Gaston, who should be able to combine his ample raw athleticism with early playing time and tutelage under a bona fide linebacking guru like Ted Roof into a big-time career.

--In addition to the obvious gains at wideout, I think we're going to remember this class are having particular impact at two positions: Quarterback, where in addition to Moseley, I think Rollison in the spread could someday a match made in an All-SEC-caliber heaven, and Defensive Line, where Fairley and Coleman (if he qualifies) are immediate-impact players and Travis, Eguae, and Ford should all be in the rotation no later than next year.

--As little help as Auburn got on the offensive line, this class isn't anything to write home about in the secondary, either. Taylor failed to qualify, Lanier and Bates have yet to be cleared and are both "project"-type players to start with (though projects with upside, of course), and past that it's Paige and possibly Washington, both of whom only have two years of eligibility even if they qualify ... which they haven't done just yet. The heavy (and successful, actually) emphasis on the defensive backfield in '08 means this isn't a crisis on the level of the o-line, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

--Lastly, three guys who I think Auburn fans could be even more excited about than they already are: Coleman, who was a top-25 end to both Scout and ESPN, always got raves from the Alabama newspaper gurus, and who I think just has too much motor not to flourish under a pro like Rocker; Aycock, whose combination of speed and size gives him the best shot of any back in the class of being an every-down guy, and that's before we start talking about his potential in the Wildcat; and Lutzenkirchen, whose hands make him as sure a thing as there is in the class, but who seems to have been just the teensiest bit forgotten in the wake of the Rollison/Benton/Blake surge and Freeman and McCalebb tearing things up in the spring.

Krootin' 7/8

Banneker boys. First, for no other reason than that I haven't embedded them before now, seven-plus minutes' worth of Shaun Kitchens highlights:



Second, Auburn's next commitment could be Kitchens' teammate at Banneker High in College Park, Ga., Demetruce McNeal. According to J.C. Shurbutt:

Athlete Demetruce McNeal (College Park, Ga./Banneker) recently received a written offer from Auburn, firming up the Tigers' interest in him. This makes Auburn the clear leader in the race for his services.

McNeal would be the lowest-rated member of Auburn's 2010 class-to-date, with a 5.6 grade from Rivals, an icky 75 from ESPN, and the No. 72 spot in the safety rankings at Scout. But McNeal camped at Auburn not too long ago, so it's not like Auburn's coaches wouldn't know what they're getting, and it's also not like Auburn isn't in some serious need for a safety or two after Christian Thompson's dismissal.

Super, thanks for asking. The Press-Register has released its "Super Southeast 120" list and there's a goodly number of prospects with some level of Auburn interest involved. Beaver has that run-down for you. Items of interest:

--Auburn's commitments did maybe a little better than expected. At No. 47, Jeremy Richardson gets more of his four-star Rivals treatment than the Scout skepticism; at No. 86, Jawara White ranks above several consensus four-star recruits like Craig Sanders, Antonio Goodwin, Jalston Fowler, Eric Mack, etc.

--No surprise Marcus Lattimore tops the list, but Michael Dyer ranking third over guys like DeMarcus Milliner and Trovon Reed is interesting.

--At No. 41, just ahead of Florida wideout commit Solomon Patton, it's clear the gurus expect LaDarius Owens to be a stud. Speaking of which ...

Linebacker trouble? RBR's OTS in his weekly recruiting update:

LaDarius Owens has made some positive news for the Tide as of late. As I previously said, we really need to have him postpone his decision as long as possible, and now it looks like he will not be deciding before the season starts. Auburn is still his clear leader, but we are staying alive. And, interestingly enough, Owens recently said in an interview that the schools recruiting him the hardest were Alabama, Tennessee, and LSU. No mention of Auburn. Given the Tigers' great need for Owens, that struck me as really odd. You can make plenty of valid criticisms against Chizik and company, but a lack of energy and intensity on the recruiting trails certainly isn't one of them. Perhaps they feel they have Owens in the bag? I do find it to be a bit of a mistake to not be going after him as hard as others, given how badly they need him.They will probably get him regardless, but I see no reason to be taking chances.

Suffice it to say, if Auburn's coaches are in fact taking it easy on Owens, I do not either. I would argue Owens is as big a recruit for Auburn in this class as their is: he's an Auburn legacy, a winnable in-state battle, by all accounts a tremendous prospect, and all at a position where Auburn is in desperate need. It's hard to see how letting him get away wouldn't be a massive blow to the new staff's claims about rebuilding Auburn's in-state recruiting, not to mention, you know, the football team itself.

On top of that, Nigel Terrell came back from a trip to Kentucky saying nice things about the Wildcats. Certainly nothing to panic about (in fact, it's possible that an Owens commitment would mean Auburn was done at linebacker, though as short as they are I doubt it), but it's something to be aware of.

Linemen. From that same Terrell link comes this article on Eric Mack from The State. If you want to be optimistic, he mentions that Auburn and Alabama are the only schools he's already decided he'll take official visits to. If you want to be pessimistic ...

But his college choice is not the only variable causing Mack to grow up fast.

Fatherhood weighs on his mind as well.

Mack has a 1-year-old daughter, Kaliyah, who lives with her mother in Orangeburg.

“It impacts a lot,” Mack said. “I don’t want to be too far so I can’t get home if something is wrong. But I don’t want to be too close and have all these distractions.”

Uh, when those "distractions" also equal home cookin' and all your regular day-to-day friends, are they really a negative? Bottom line: I'll be surprised if Mack goes out of state.

Which means Auburn fans might want to shift their attention to ... uh, Wes Rea? He visited Auburn last weekend as part of a baseball tournament and apparently doesn't have an offer yet from the SEC's heavier hitters, so maybe Auburn can get involved (if he doesn't decide to just play baseball instead).

Now for some good news. Michael Dyer apparently told Rivals that not only was Auburn still his leader, but Tennessee and LSU were the teams with the best shot at prying him away. That last bit of data is probably the sort of thing that will change by the end of the month, but as long as Dyer's still saying good things about Auburn, the glass is going to stay half full.

Volswatch. Maybe the two events aren't connected. But maybe it's not coincidence that just after Jesse Scroggins admits he's troubled by Kiffykins' avalanche of secondary violations, the Vols became the second halfway-decent program to offer fallback quarterback Chase Rettig? We can only hope, since it would lead to even more awesome posts from 3SiB like this one.

Etc. Albertville center Zach Underwood is hoping for an Auburn offer ... the answer to the first question posed here is apparently yes, for whatever it's worth.

Krootin' 9/30

Dee Ford: fast as a Mustang?

Not a ton going on on the 'Krootin front ... this may be the calm before the storm we've been promised in July.

--First, this is more "reportin'" than "krootin'," and it's not new news, but might as well note here that Dee Ford and Jamar Travis joined Tyrik Rollison in reporting to Auburn's campus last week. Not that either one was a surprise, but given that Auburn couldn't really afford for its defensive line commits to not make it through the clearinghouse, it's good to hear.

If you weren't around when Google got to surveying those two, the Ford post is here and the Travis post is here.

--While we're on the subject of reporting, there appear to be more whispers that LaVoyd James isn't going to make it, but of course those whispers have been around for months now and there still hasn't been anything official, so we'll see.

--Cue the "in-state" caterwauling: Jarrick Williams has committed to 'Bama as expected, the winds from Corey Grant still seem to be blowing in either Florida's or 'Bama's direction (though he's still got a visit to Auburn on the docket), and even Auburn legacy recruit Davis Dudchock took Auburn's evident apathy towards tight ends in this class at face value and committed to Vanderbilt.

As I said last time out, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it so long as the out-of-state recruiting continues to bear fruit, Auburn closes on the in-state recruits it wants and earns a lead with, and there's some kind of step forward next year. But at some point, it would be nice to start seriously competing for the likes of Williams or netting an early commitment from a local stud like Grant.

--Then again, from one recently-released perspective, Auburn's not doing half-bad in-state. The Mobile Press-Register released its preseason "Elite 18" list, and unlike the Scout list several Auburn commits and leans figure prominently. Jeremy Richardson comes in at No. 6, Jawara White at No. 9, Jake Holland at No. 12, and potentially heavy Auburn lean D.J. Howard at No. 13. There's also this:

4. LaDarius Owens, LB, Jess Lanier (6-2, 225, 4.49). Physical freak made 92 tackles and 18 sacks in his first year of organized football last year. Uncle James Owens was the first black scholarship player at Auburn. Considering offers from Alabama, Auburn and LSU.

Knowing that the Register's list is put together with the assistance of the Rivals guys (who get quoted a couple of times, mostly about how the level of talent in-state has dropped), it's fair to say they're pretty damn high on Owens. If Auburn sews up Owens (as, again, even some well-connected 'Bama fans expect them to) and Howard, that's a third of this top 9 and as many as five members of the Register's top 13. For a first real crack at it for this staff, that'll do nicely. (If Auburn misses on Owens--for my money, as important a recruit as there is in the class--well, then things are much less encouraging.)

--Your every-other-weekly "offensive linemen, please" update has some good news: according to ESPN, Arkansas line prospect Dakota Mosley came away from a visit to Illinois saying the following:

Auburn's going to still be my No. 1 even after I leave here. They've been my No. 1 for a while now and I don't see that changing even after this visit.

Mosley doesn't have much of an offer sheet--La. Tech and Tulsa are his only other listed offers--and neither Rivals nor Scout have rated him yet, but a) he was graded a 79 at ESPN (albeit as a tight end) b) Auburn can't afford to picky about their offensive linemen, can they? c) at this stage of the game, if Auburn's coaches like him enough to come across with a firm offer, that's good enough for the benefit of the doubt. I know most you will file that last part under "Duh," but just for the record, if Georgia can take a commitment from a linebacker whose next-best offer was either Duke or Buffalo, we really shouldn't hear anything from the peanut gallery about Auburn taking an offensive lineman they're as high on as they seem to be. (I'll also admit here that the fact that Mosley is teammates with Michael Dyer might have something to do with Auburn's interest as well.)

One other note on the in-state thing: for a team in desperate need of offensive line help, man, did Auburn have some bad luck with the state's 2010 crop of linemen. The Register article mentioned 35 different players, and Chase Hughes is the only offensive lineman among them. At least Auburn's in good shape with him.

--Via Auburn by Beaver, future visitors to Auburn could include Wes Rea, Tim Jackson, and Jeffrey Whitaker. Georgia DT prospect Mike Thornton will also visit if this header is accurate, though I think he's expected to stay in-state.

Krootin': Mincy, etc.

w00t! Commitment No. 8, come on down:

Auburn grabbed its eighth commitment for 2010 when Decatur, Ga., cornerback Jonathan Mincy announced his intention to play for the Tigers late Monday night ...

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound cornerback from Southwest Dekalb High is ranked as a three-star recruit by both Rivals and Scout. Rivals has him as the 25th ranked cornerback nationally. Scout ranks him 40th.

Mincy follows in the footsteps of virtually all of Auburn's other commitments: yeah, he's a three-star, but he's a three-star well on the high end of the three-star scale. Both Rivals and Scout report offers from LSU, Miami, and North Carolina, and Rivals adds on Michigan and Georgia Tech offers as well. However seriously you think these various teams might have been pursuing Mincy, you don't get that kind of attention by, well, not being good at the sport of football.

ESPN gives Mincy a better-than-average-but-not-stupendous 78, which I guess could be better. But the main thing is this: six of Auburn's eight commitments have gotten a 78 or better (with one of the two others one of the nation's best kickers). Whatever you think of ESPN's evaluative skills, this is a much, much better ratio than last year's dead-even 50 percent at 78 or better. In short: the talk about this staff improving Auburn's recruiting hasn't just been hype, and Mincy's just the latest example.

Highlights!



Hooray! Elsewhere, the news hasn't been quite as good, but nothing earth-shatteringly bad, either.

C'est la vie. Last time on "Krootin'," I wrote that if--if! if! if!--Michael Dyer didn't take any more visits (as one report had quoted him as saying), it would be a safe bet to expect him to come to the Plains. Not surprisingly in the least for a player of his caliber, either he changed his mind or he never said it or something along those lines, because since he's been talking about taking visits to LSU and Notre Dame and how the Irish (and Oklahoma) are apparently in the mix. From where I sit: hey, that's fine. (And totally expected: a smart kid like Dyer knows there's not really any reason for him to make a decision right away, a fact I should have emphasized more last time out.) Asking for anything more than a solid lead--which Auburn still holds with Dyer, even according to the Notre Dame ESPN affiliate--with a player like Dyer (especially at a program that's struggled as much of late as Auburn has) is getting greedy. Greedy is fun while the waiting is the hardest part, and all that, but that's how it goes. The news here will need to be much worse before the glass gets half-empty.

Bleah. Auburn has to have offensive linemen in this class. Good ones. Has to. It's the one legitimate caveat about the class so far, and so it's awful hard not to wince when the biggest line target on Auburn's board looks at two friends/teammates going to South Carolina and says ...

“It has impacted me a lot,” he said. “I like playing with both of them.”

Fortunately, it hasn't impacted Mack so much that Auburn's not still right there, as this quote from the same article demonstrates:

“I’ve liked every school that I have visited so far,” Mack said. “All have their own little different way. At South Carolina, I like coach Wolford. At Auburn, I feel like I’m at home. (Clemson) Coach (Chris) Rumph is from down here and he can relate to what I’m going through. At Georgia Tech, I like the atmosphere. So, right now, I’m (in St. Matthews) and that is basically it.”

Your guess is as good as mine whether "home" is more or less important than the factors he mentions elsewhere, but I also think it's fair to assume that Auburn doesn't have a lead here and that there's still a lot more work left to do--both with Mack and on the offensive line in general.

Yeah, you can give that up now. So much for the idea that Rivals is the pro-Tide service and Scout the more Auburn-friendly gurus: Scout's preliminary Alabama top 50 rates Jawara White and Auburn's best in-state commitment to-date at No. 10. The top eight consists entirely of Tide and Florida commits and/or leans, with LaDarius Owens at No. 9 the only other likely Auburn commitment in the top 10. Rivals' list should be a little kinder--they're much higher on Jeremy Richardson, as we know, and supposedly Owens is going to make a big move with them. Nonetheless it remains a little bit aggravating to see Auburn shut out of the state's best consensus talents again. No, it won't matter much if Auburn can keep pulling solid out-of-state talents like Mincy, and certainly Rome wasn't built in a day--nabbing Richardson, White, and (fingers crossed) Owens would make it a big improvement on last year. But there's still some obvious room for improvement.

Etc. As mentioned briefly yesterday, Scout has seen fit to rank Cody Parkey the No. 2 kicker in the nation and give him a fourth star, making him Auburn's only four-star commitment-to-date at that service ... four-star Auburn wideout target Antonio Goodwin will play in the ESPN All-American game. He apparently named Auburn his leader not too long ago and ESPN guru J.C. Shurbutt says "the Tigers are in good shape at the moment" ... at that same Insider link, Marcus Lattimore discussed trips to Clemson and Georgia without saying anything overly complimentary of either one. Nothing really new here: Auburn's in his top eight, and he says he'll cut it down by the end of July.

Krootin': good news

UPDATE: To the surprise of no one, Jessel Curry has committed to Auburn, becoming commitment No. 7 to Auburn's 2010 class. Reasons why this is a Very Good Thing are listed below and at the link above.


More video at www.michaeldyer5.com, strangely enough. (Via Auburntron.)

The headlines kind of say it all: Michael Dyer had a very, very good visit to Auburn this past weekend. At least, I think that's what his repeated use of the word "perfect" would indicate. The really big news for yours truly comes in this snippet from Auburn by Beaver ...

He will make his decision sometime this summer. He also said his visit to Auburn this weekend will be his last visit.

Emphasis added, because I think if this is one of those elementary-school logic tests where we're asked what comes next after

1. Names Auburn leader
2. Takes extended visit to Auburn
3. Says visit was "perfect"
4. Takes no more visits
5. Announces forthcoming commitment

the correct answer is "6. Commits to Auburn." It would be a peculiar thing indeed to take a visit to Auburn and decide that that "perfect" visit was enough to convince you that you'd seen enough to make a decision ... in favor a different school. So, yes, if Dyer's serious about not taking any more visits, it's hard for me to see how he winds up anywhere else.

That said: dude is a five-star, top-5 RB, top-20 overall certified stud. He can probably afford to wait (though I suppose the Seastrunk and Lattimore interest complicates things somewhat) and if he wants to take other visits, hey, if I'm in his position I want all the information I can get. So I wouldn't call it a done deal just yet.

That said, Auburn's obviously the team to beat at this point. Quote from ESPN:

"(Auburn's) No. 1, and have been No. 1 in my mind for a while. It's hard to say exactly how much Auburn is ahead of the others, but they are. Auburn is just a great place, and I like everything about it."

If Dyer sticks to that "sometime this summer" timetable, he's probably Auburn's, since that's not a lot of time for our competitors to make up ground. As for what Dyer's commitment would mean, well, as much attention as Seastrunk and Lattimore have gotten (and as terrific a pair of prospects as they are), trying to split the hairs of the Nos. 2, 4, and 11 players in the country or the Nos. 1, 2, and 4 running backs in the country is silly. It would be a massive, massive commitment for Auburn, essentially equal to one from either of the other two big RBs on the board.

To sum up: this is very good news for Auburn indeed. But there's more where that came from.

Curry. Jessel Curry was committed to West Virginia. Then he came away raving after Big Cat Weekend, and after another visit he's now "in love with Auburn" and has decommitted from WVU. If he does commit in the next couple of weeks, it'll be quite the stunner if it's to anywhere but Auburn. Curry doesn't have a ton of love from the gurus, but 1. he's academically sound (hello, Wake Forest offer) 2. he's drawn interest from several other Big East schools in addition to WVU, so it's not like Auburn's snatching him away from the Sun Belt 3. he's the son of a former NFL linebacker, so there should be plenty of professionalism/coachability there 4. uh, not that I encourage the drawing of conclusions based on grainy Internet highlight films, but over at ESPN (hope you've got Insider) Curry looks like a surprisingly fluid athlete--plus, at 6-2, 200ish, he's got room to grow 5. most importantly, he's a linebacker. We need those, and we need 'em bad. If we can grab one with as many positives as Curry has, all the better.

Timetables? Lache Seastrunk and LaDarius Owens appear to be settling on commitment dates in the relatively (and I mean that "relatively") near future. Both are probably going to look around this summer (Owens will reportedly look at Florida State and Clemson, and I'm sure the Tide will make a serious pitch at some point) but still, with Auburn at least somewhat out in front for both, the sooner they make a commitment it's probably the better. (Note that the same article on Seastrunk is headlined very differently at the Texas ESPN affiliate.)

Hughes. Offensive lineman and Jeremy Richardson teammate Chase Hughes of Springville said after a weekend visit that "Auburn is still on top" though Vanderbilt, of all teams, is "right there." Yes, surprisingly enough the kid who's taking the 'Dores seriously is another academic all-star, with the requisite offers from Stanford, Air Force, and Tulane. (Don't overlook that Stanford offer, by the way--the Cardinal have an impressive commitment list and have generally received rave reviews on the recruiting circuit.) Hughes is even on track to graduate early. A smart kid who'll be in for next spring at a position where Auburn desperately needs bodies and his brother's at Auburn and his next-best choice is Vandy ... this is a commitment I'd like very much like to see Auburn grab.

TE talk. Last week we discussed why high-profile Columbus tight end Brian Vogler (potentially--though certainly not conclusively--the recruit referred to in this post) wasn't feeling more love from Auburn's staff, seeing as how he lives 30ish minutes from Auburn, holds serious offers from 'Bama and LSU, and plays a position where Auburn could easily be short-staffed in 2010. It appears one answer could be that Auburn's staff has decided they prefer Travis Dickson, a four-star TE from Ocean Springs, Miss. He seems to have some gotten some serious attention from Malzahn over the weekend. Long road ahead, though, with Georgia and LSU (who offered him first) in the hunt.

Vols to the wall. Not Auburn, but I can't help but pass on the developing krootin' story at Tennessee. A recap: when Lane Kiffin took over, he released No. 4 mobile QB Tajh Boyd from Boyd's commitment to the Vols, essentially saying he wanted a pocket passer and had no use for guys without bazookas for arms. Kiffin then essentially ran off promising rising sophomore B.J. Coleman, in order to--according to Coleman and many who follow the program--name senior Jonathan "Evil Brandon All the Time" Crompton the starter and leave the 2010 starter's position open for recruiting purposes. Here's where the catch comes in: not only the class of 2010 light on top-shelf quarterbacks (Rival's top QB, Tide commit Phillip Sims, only ranks No. 58 on their overall list), but the Vols have swung and missed on a couple of targets already, including BYU-bound Jake Heaps. Their half-hearted recruitment of Memphis product Barry Brunetti--basically Boyd, just not as good (according to the gurus, at least)--probably ended yesterday when Brunetti committed to West Virginia. Virtually all of Kiffykin's eggs are now in Jesse Scroggins' basket--and while Scroggins looks like an excellent prospect to the gurus and Tennessee certainly has his attention, what's going to happen if Scroggins goes elsewhere? (Well, we all have ourselves the heartiest of chuckles at Kiffykins' expense is what happens.)

Krootin' links

A quick handful of stuff:

He totally deserves an extra star for the way he was able to pull the ball back onto the tee with his MIND. It's not embeddable, but you can click here to check out Cody Parkey kicking in a GIANT WINDSTORM with some EXTREME EDITING by some guy who just learned how to use the editing software at the PALM BEACH POST. (Sarcasm aside, it's hard to get too much actual insight into Parkey from the video, but the drop-kick at the end is still pretty impressive. I think.)

Good news, bad news. Here's some good news: linebacker Nigel Terrell, Jake Holland's teammate (hell, unit-mate) and a kid who allegedly came very close to committing to Auburn several weeks ago, has started to pick up some recruiting steam and is now on the ESPN150 Watch List thingamabob. The bad news is that after nearly landing him a little while back, Aubur ndoesn't seme to even have a clear lead anymore:

“I don’t want to say I have a leader, but I’ve got a top group,” Terrell said. “It’s probably Auburn, Florida State and Arkansas.”

Shucks. On the positive side, maybe spending an entire fall playing alongside a guy who'll whisper "come to Auburn" in his ear every huddle will turn things back around.

Yeah, it's still kind of a big deal 'round these parts. Over at RBR, Todd noticed my giddiness over Jeremy Richardson's commitment--perhaps a little over-the-top, I can admit--and decided to find out if four-star wide receivers are really such a big deal these days. His conclusion was that in the SEC there's a division along these lines of haves and have-nots--for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and Auburn, four-star wideouts have been very easy to come by the last several years, while much scarcer for the other eight teams (Tennessee included, as Dr. Saturday also happened to chronicle this week).

Unfortunately, Todd's research skewed a little too far from recent history when trying to gauge how happy we ought to be over Auburn's recent run on four-star receiving recruits. For starters, Chris Slaughter's been counted as both a 2006 and 2007 commitment, following his year at prep school, so only 42 percent rather than 46 percent of Auburn's receiving recruits since 2002 have been four-stars. Not a big deal, obviously, but if we're not counting Slaughter's 2007 re-commitment, it means that every one of the 10 receivers in question signed with Auburn in 2006 or before. Neither the 2007 nor 2008 classes included a single "new" four-star, and after Cameron Kenney's decommitment, Auburn went into Signing Day without one in the 2009 class, either. We'd essentially gone a full three years without a solid commitment from a four-star wideout. We'd become one of the "have-nots" in terms of this particular issue.

So, yeah, I still happen to think it's still a big deal that after those three years without, this staff has landed three four-star receivers in the space of four-and-half-months. That none of the three was a consensus four-star--neither DeAngelo Benton nor Emory Blake nor Richardson earned a fourth star from Scout, and ESPN wasn't particularly high on the latter two--should temper the enthusiasm somewhat, as should the fact that Auburn's last few highly-rated receiving recruits (Slaughter, Tim Hawthorne, Montez Billings) haven't made the impact expected. Still, any sign that Auburn's taking steps towards rubbing shoulders with LSU, the Tide, and Georgia again rather than the Kentuckys of the world is worth celebrating, right?

Etc. After his no-show at Texas's big camp last weekend, Longhorn fans sound pretty resigned to missing out on Lache "of Heaven" Seatrunk ... Auburn has offered Class of 2011 quarterback Kiehl Frazier of Springdale, Ark., who just-so-happens to play for Gus Malzahn's old high school ... Bad news from ESPN: Auburn's still in Demarco Cobbs' final eight, but Texas' renewed interest means it's an even longer shot than it was before, and Victor Beasley, son of an early-80s Auburn cornerback by the same name, is now a heavy, heavy Alabama lean.

Six-pack o' goodness

So, yes, Jawara White committed yesterday--committed quickly, at that, so as to make his 6 p.m. workout in what we can all hope is a good sign for his future work ethic--to become Auburn's sixth pledge for the class of 2010. As I mentioned in yesterday's recruiting post, both major services list White in the top 30 for outside linebackers nationally. White is Auburn's second straight in-state commitment to have generated at least some level of interest from Alabama*, while both services report offers from Florida St., Ole Miss, and Kentucky.

Add those tidbits of info in with ESPN's solid grade of 79, and it's fair to say that despite being a "three star," White has a better consensus profile with the recruiting gurus than Jeremy Richardson. Add on top of that White plays on the two Chizik-identified must-recruit positions (offensive line, of course, being the other) and this a big, big addition to Auburn's class.

Speaking of which: if you haven't noticed, this class is shaping up more nicely than you might think. While the flash of the Limo Gambit and Big Cat Weekend grab headlines and star-struck Auburn fans daydream about the likes of Seastrunk, Lattimore, and Reed, Auburn's coaches have quietly put together the foundation for a top-notch class. True, there's no Demarcus Milliner-type crown jewel just yet, and it's true that thus far Richardson is the only commitment to have received a four-star evaluation from any service (though Shaun Kitchens should receive a similar grade from ESPN once they move him off the "ESPNU 150 Watch List" or whatever).

But even if they're "just" three-stars, there's degrees of three-stars. Looking back at the class of 2008, both Drew Cole and Neiko Thorpe nee Lipscomb were three-star recruits according to Rivals. But Lipscomb had a grade of 81 from ESPN, offers from Georgia, Michigan St., and Virginia Tech, and a Rivals ranking in their top 40 safeties; Cole had an offer from Miss. St., a grade from ESPN to make the 14-year-olds in our audience giggle, and a position rank in the 60s. So while Cole may still prove to be a productive member of the Auburn secondary and special teams, it's not surprising that Thorpe was the guy who took over as a starting corner for most of his true freshman year and looked like a potential All-SEC player while Cole registered his last tackle of the season in the Southern Miss game.

I don't make the comparison to demean Cole, of course. (That he found his way onto the field in 11 of Auburn's 12 games as a true freshman speaks really well of him, actually.) I make it to point out that all six of Auburn's commitments so far, regardless of that "three-star" shorthand, are much closer to the Lipscomb end of the three-star scale than the Cole end. Consider:

--At Rivals, all five non-kicker commitments rank inside the top 35 at their respective position and none of the five received less than a 5.7 of their grading scale, Rivals' highest mark for three-stars.

--Scout's less enthusiastic, but nonetheless four of the five rank in the top 50 at their respective positions with Richardson the exception.

--None of the five have received a grade lower than 78 from ESPN. For comparison's sake, ESPN graded more than half of Auburn's 2009 non-JUCO commits at 77 or lower.

--All five have at least three or four--and usually more--offers from BCS-conference schools. Florida St. and Alabama both appear on the lists of three of the five.

--As for that sixth commitment, Copy Parkey is generally recognized as one of the best kicking prospects in the nation and was the first kicker selected to the roster of ESPN's All-American game.

--Auburn's three biggest areas of need are offensive line, linebacker, and wide receiver. All five non-kicker commitments play one of those three positions (and Kitchens, of course, could play WR or LB).

Now, it's true that an entire class of players like these would be a mild disappointment--Auburn will probably need to add some Benton/Rollison/Lutzenkirchen/McCalebb-style consensus four-stars at some point--and that at some point, particularly along the offensive line, Auburn will have to accept some commitments from players more along the low-end of the three-star spectrum. But right now? Looking solely at the six players committed to Auburn's 2010 class, I don't think Auburn fans could ask for anything more from our coaching staff.

p.s. I swear this is the last post solely devoted to krootin' for a few days.

*Tide fans will tell you players like Richardson and White only had "conditional" offers from Alabama and that the Tide would have only been interested if they'd whiffed a long list of other prospects at that position ... and, eh, that's probably true to some extent. Lord knows their roster is plenty overstuffed already, especially at linebacker. I don't care, frankly. Some level of attention from a staff like Saban's is a better sign than no attention, and we really shouldn't be so desperate that we have to claim head-to-head "victories" in situations like these, right? Whatever.

White commits

Thought I'd get more up than this this early evening, but, eh, it can wait until tomorrow.

Until then: Jawara White has committed to Auburn. He is a linebacker, and we are very happy to have him aboard.

Krootin': Good, not great just yet

Courtesy the Pigskin Pathos, because references to Big Cats are still valid a week-plus after the event itself, right?

Even outside of the Richardson commitment, there's been a lot of Auburn recruiting news to trickle out over the last week or so. Most of it's been the unambiguously positive kind of news ... but not quite all of it. Still, the steps forward have outnumbered the steps backward, starting with ...

White's announcing. I suppose we could all receive a major shock at 5:30 today, but given that Jawara White a) sounded like a kid who'd already made up his mind in the wake of Big Cat b) spent last weekend on Auburn's campus c) hasn't been prominently connected with any other school that I'm aware of, it seems highly, highly unlikely that Auburn won't receive its sixth 2010 commitment this afternoon.

White would be a solid pick-up for Auburn, with his ranking in both Rivals' and Scouts' national top 30 for outside linebackers. Although ESPN doesn't have their position rankings finished yet, their low four-star/high three-starish grade of 79 should have White right in that same tier. In short: White would be a nice addition even if Auburn wasn't desperate for linebackers. Which they are, making this (probably) a big, big get for the Tigers.

More on the impact of White's commitment on Auburn's budding class after he actually, you know, commits.

Things that make you go Hmmmmmm. The hullabaloo surrounding Big Cat weekend focused primarily on two things: the favorable reaction from the recruits in attendance, and the potential-secondary-violations-and-their-impact-or-lack-thereof flap. So it was probably a useful bucket of cold water Jay Coulter threw at us last week, especially since I think he's dead on here:

By limiting the invitee list, Auburn has shown its hand and told everyone who they covet the most. If you were left off the invitee list how do you feel now? Chizik has clearly rolled the dice on this event and he may win big. All of those visiting seemed to be having a blast. There were video game tournaments, watermelon eating contests and the now infamous Toomer's Corner celebration. What was there not to like?

Plenty if you were left off the list.

Earlier in the post, Jay relates a first-hand example of this phenomenon in action:

Like they say, with big risks come big rewards. Or do they? The fallout from last weekend is quietly being felt by Auburn coaches this week. They have spent much of their time taking calls from other recruits who were not invited to the event or in some cases, just ignoring them.

I talked to a four-star recruit's father yesterday who's looking for answers as to why his son was not invited. The kid has offers from virtually every big school in the country including Auburn. Phone calls to assistants Tracy Rocker and Jay Boulware have gone unanswered. Meanwhile, Alabama has pounced on the opportunity and the kid now appears to be leaning toward Bama and LSU.

First off: Yikes. "They didn't bother to answer the phone" sounds a lot more like the kind of anecdote we'd hear about the Tubby regime's late-era recruiting efforts than the current staff's. Second, it's not like the staff could have been caught off guard by the griping from the uninvited and their parents--they're smart enough guys to know that the kids who weren't there wouldn't be happy about it. Making sure there weren't any bridges burned should have been a priority, not (as it seems to be in this case) an afterthought.

Now, here's the other thing ... I think we can make an educated guess at the recruit Jay's referring to. Now, this is just idle speculation and is not confirmed by anything other than my silly Internettin' suspicions ... but 1. It's never been a secret Jay lives in the Phenix City/Columbus area (his Dad's the mayor, you'll recall) 2. You'd have to think, then, that the recruit is from the same area 3. A search of Rivals' database for Phenix City and Columbus turns up several college prospects, but only one kid boasting offers from Auburn, Alabama, and LSU ... namely, Brian Vogler.

Again, this is just a guess. But Vogler wasn't on the Big Cat invite list and the last time he talked to the recruiting press, it was about the Tide. So he fits the description, certainly better than any other recruit in the Phenix/Columbus area. And if the disappointed mystery recruit is Vogler--hell, even if he isn't--you have to ask: why wasn't he at Big Cat? For all of the talk of the importance of in-state recruiting, Columbus is a ton more important for Auburn's recruiting purposes than, say, Muscle Shoals. And even if Vogler wasn't almost a "hometown kid," geez, he's got solid Alabama and LSU offers--seems pretty awful unlikely he can't play. It's also not like Auburn's stacked at tight end, not when the preliminary 2010 depth chart reads 1. Phil Lutzenkirchen 2. Bailey Woods 3. No one at all, assuming Vance Smith stays at tackle. When you look at all of those factors, it seems like Vogler should be the kind of recruit Auburn's all over, rather than a guy--I'm guessing--whose Dad has to ask for attention.

Now, with all that said, I'm sure Auburn's staff have their reasons for not inviting Vogler--or any other recruit--to Big Cat, and if they were able to come right out and offer them, they might even be convincing ones. But I also have a hard time figuring out what they might be in this particular case, and whether my suspicions about the identity of the mystery recruit are right or not, Jay's absolutely right that the pros of the event also came with some pretty serious cons.

Now, on the other hand ... As I said in its immediate wake, it was apparent from the Big Cat guest list that the two primary goals were 1. snagging the attention of some big-time recruits from out-of-state 2. firming up potential commitments from in-state kids that were on the verge of, uh, committing. Goal 1 was accomplished. And assuming White commits, Goal 2 will have seen Auburn grab two legit Alabama prospects in the space of a week afterwards.

So whatever the negatives might be, from a recruiting perspective the Big Cat glass is still very much past the half-full point. But don't just take my word for it ... ask nationally-renowned recruiting expert Tom Luginbill! (Actually, if you're a plugged-in Auburn fan, I think you could probably skip that column, which just rehashes the "Whoa, Gene Chizik is taking fox-approved crazy pills!" fluff that's been all over the place the last few weeks. Still, national press, no complaints.) You could also look over this free helpful wrap-up from Rivals. It's a little out-of-date with the Richardson commitment, but the optimism regarding Seastrunk, Lattimore, and especially LaDarius Owens is always fun to read. And then there's this ...

July, July. That Rivals link includes this little tidbit:

The coaches are also planning another big recruiting event in July, although details have yet to be disclosed.

Luper's already made a couple of veiled references to this. While I still kind of wish Big Cat hadn't been quite so out-of-hand, you can still consider my curiosity piqued.

Oh, and about Owens ... Auburn leads, as expected. Very nice to hear. Positive vibes on Seastrunk and Corey Grant at that link as well.

In the interest of accuracy. I stand by my claim from Friday that Jeremy Richardson was Auburn's biggest in-state recruit since the 2007 class--the closest contenders are guys like Cameron Henderson and Terrance Coleman, solid prospects but with nothing like Richardson's offer sheet or attention--but I probably should have made a note that Rivals' ranking and top-30 evaluation of him are something of an outlier. Scout has him rated a run-of-the-mill three-star, and while ESPN's grade of 78 is a little kinder, their scouting report suggests Richardson is "a great athlete that may need to switch positions for the next level to maximize his upside as a football player." Because both Rivals and the Auburn coaches--who by all accounts have made Richardson a priority from early on--seem to believe so strongly in him, I'm not sure it's something to worry about. But it does mean Richardson probably shouldn't be portrayed as a consensus slam dunk, not when there's that much dissent about him.

Money where their mouth is? A lot of coaches make noise about valuing academics, but Auburn's appear to actually be walking this particular walk. Their first commit for the 2010 class was Duke-and-Vandy-offered Jake Holland, their second was on-track-to-graduate early Shaun Kitchens, and one of their most recent offers went out to Florida's Tim Jackson, who boasts offers from virtually every academically-stringent school in the country: Northwestern, Wake Forest, Tulane, Vandy, Stanford. Me, I think this is a great development--if you're going to be taking on a sleeper, might as well make it a high-character guy who's not going to screw with your APR and who you know doesn't have a problem with dedicating himself. Yet another reason to give Auburn's staff a thumbs-up for their work so far this recruiting period.

Etc. Tyrone Cornileus is likely going to either Georgia Tech or Miami ... ESPN's J.C. Shurbutt reaffirms the Lache Seatrunk optimism, saying "it's hard to imagine the Temple (Texas) standout ending up anywhere else at this point" ... JUCO corner Dequan Minzie said that Big Cat wasn't any better than his experience in Hattiesburg.

Richardson commits

Oh, the games people play. Specifically, the people who coach college football for a living.

Last weekend, as you know, Auburn's Big Cat Weekend stole a boatload of recruiting headlines. In a not-so-stunning coincidence, it emerged early this week that five-star CB DeMarcus Milliner would be announcing his certain commitment to Alabama Thursday, which he did. Yours truly predicted this would lead to a Big Cat "Auburn = flash, Saban = substance" backlash, which I don't get points for because sometimes it's just too easy.

Besides, what I should have also seen coming is that Auburn's coaches would be smart enough to see that coming themselves. And so, in a second not-so-stunning coincidence, Jeremy Richardson committed to Auburn today, all of a day after Milliner committed to Alabama.

Auburn fans will surely respond with something along the lines of WE'RE BACK while 'Bama fans will surely respond that nabbing the commitment of the No. 26 wide receiver doesn't compare to the No. 1 corner/top player in the state. the truth, as always, in somewhere in the middle: while Milliner may--may--be even more of a lock to be a productive SEC player than Richardson, the odds are that both players will prove to be quality additions for their respective teams. Neither Auburn nor Alabama have really "won" this round over the other by virtue of either commitment: both schools had built-in advantages with their respective recruit ('Bama with their connection to Milliner's high school coach and general 'Bamaness, Auburn with their available playing time and family connection), pressed those advantages, and locked them up. The real test for Auburn will be snagging a commitment from a recruit of Richardson's quality where they don't have those advantages; at the same time, Alabama can't dismiss Auburn's recruiting efforts as empty gimmickry when it's earned them a recruit that the Tigers have seen slip away from them in recent years.

So I wouldn't go overboard with the WE'RE BACK talk. But we also shouldn't minimize that Auburn

1. just landed (or has very, very likely landed--Signing Day is, as always, forever away) their highest-profile in-state recruit since 2007

2. has received commitments from three different four-star wide receivers in the five months since Chizik and Co. have been in operation

3. is being coached by a staff that has a very clear picture of how to rebuild Auburn's recruiting brand and are more than willing to play the same game of one-upmanship their foe across the state has proven so adept at.

Things still aren't perfect on the recruiting front--as Jay's post from this morning could tell you, about which I'll have more Monday--but they're better than they've been in a long while, we can say that much.

UPDATE to add the Richardson highlight clip below (HT: Auburntron) and ask you to enjoy your weekend.

Krootin' talk

Not much in the way of actual developments since the weekend, I guess, but there's enough chatter out there to put together a post, so here we go ...

Where no Auburn coach has gone before. Writing as much as I have about Chizik and Co.'s recruiting efforts the last few weeks sometimes seems like so much useless creepy blithering ... but then again, as K-Scar points out today, we are talking about some unprecedented developments for Auburn in the, uh, "modern" era for recruiting:

Look at the biggest of the big cats who visited Auburn over the weekend. Rivals.com ranks running back Lache Seastrunk, running back Marcus Lattimore and wide receiver Trovon Reed as the Nos. 2, 4 and 15 players in the nation in the class of 2010.

If just one of them inks with Auburn next February, he'll be ranked higher than any recruit who signed during the entire Tommy Tuberville era.

Scarbinsky points out that the "highest-ranked" record holder for the Tubby era was Tray Blackmon at No. 17, which isn't going to do much to win over any Auburn fans dedicated to their skepticism of recruiting rankings. But when gauging the impact of what landing a Seastrunk or Lattimore might be, it might be more instructional--painful as it might be--to look at the Tide, who saw Andre Smith (No. 2 overall) and No. 4 Julio Jones live up to the hype and then some. K-Scar also mentions Cadillac, ranked No. 24 in his class, as evidence that the gurus can underrate players sometimes ... but I think that only undermines that point, since it hardly seems a coincidence that the highest-rated running back Tubby ever signed wound up being every bit the stud he was supposed to be. (And before you say "Ronnie Brown," I'll respond that the other architects of 2004 were mostly of the guru-approved variety: Jason Campbell was viewed as a huge recruiting coup for Tubby, Marcus McNeill was a four-star, and both Ben Obamanu and Devin Aromashadu came in for similar praise.)

The point is this: getting the attention of the likes of Seastrunk, Lattimore, and Reed is a big deal. Getting a commitment from them obviously would be a much bigger deal, and I don't blame any Auburn fan who just wants to ignore the whole thing, but when we're talking about recruits the caliber of those guys or going head-to-head with the Tide for the likes of LaDarius Owens or Jeremy Richardson, I also don't think you can blame the Auburn fan who gets a bit obsessive about it.

(One other note about that Scarbinsky column, which I thought hit the target squarely: he's absolutely right that as much as we remember Dye as a dogged old Southern throwback of a coach and Tubby for how closely he played it to the vest in his final years, both arrived on campus more than willing to ruffle the necessary feathers and maintained that edge through their best years. Chizik doesn't seem to have quite that same edge, but perhaps he's made up for it by hiring a staff that sure as hell does.)

Seastrunk. We mentioned yesterday that Seastrunk's coachbot-taunting was a positive sign, since you wouldn't think he'd say things like "wait 'til we get here," if, you know, he wasn't at least considering getting to here in the first place. But even that tidbit probably isn't as encouraging as the following quote, dropped by Bruce Feldman in his blog:

"I can't reveal all the information, but you guys will be surprised when I commit [in early January]. And I think y'all might like where I choose," he told Auburnundercover.com. "This is the best ever," Seastrunk continued. "They just welcome you in. I feel the warmth of everyone. I love the environment here and I feel at home."

I'll just come right out and say this: I think if Seastrunk had to commit today, he'd be on his way to Auburn. I'm not the only one who feels that way, either. ESPN guru J.C. Shurbutt says Seastrunk "should be classified as a heavy Auburn lean." Seriously plugged-in Texas blog and Seastrunk coveters Burnt Orange Nation admit that "Auburn may now lead for Seastrunk."

That BON post drops the knowledge that Seastrunk's mother came to Auburn with him--another good omen, that--but is also an interesting (and, OK, fun) read from the Auburn perspective, thanks to the writer's concessions that what he once referred to as a "dalliance" for Seastrunk has reached this point. But he also sagely reminds us all that 1. Seastrunk immediately followed the above comments with "I don't have a favorite" qualifications and disclaimers 2. it's a long way to January 3. Seastrunk is "known for playing it coy with his real thoughts." The Trovon Reed situation complicates things--while Auburn fans are lovin' the dream of Seastrunk bringing his good buddy with him to the Plains, it's also possible that Reed could help Seastrunk settle on LSU. So while, yes, he's a 'Bama fan commenting on a guy who just made enemies all over Tuscaloosa, I'm not dismissing OTS's contention that Seastrunk will end up in Baton Rouge out of hand.

So: I think we've reached the point where Auburn fans can feel good about our chances. But anything more than that is counting chickens.

Lattimore. Not long after declaring .. wait, you know what? There's no point in me paraphrasing what Lattimore wrote in a public blog post when you can read what he said yourself:

Auburn is no longer my leader. After the visit I thought about it. I have no leader right now, but I have narrowed it down to eight schools. My final eight schools are Auburn, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida State, Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and Maryland.

It was hard to cut schools. It really was, but I needed to start. Georgia was one of my leaders, but they didn’t make it. When I went down there I just couldn’t see myself living there.

Wow, dude, even I happen to think Athens is a hell of a town (don't excommunicate me, please), but good to hear. Less good to hear that he's backed off of the "Auburn leads" talk, but hey, it's early June: for a prospect of Lattimore's stature, there's nothing wrong with playing it slow. Auburn's still the last known leader, Rivals's Jamie Newberg has predicted Lattimore ends up at Auburn, so things are still much more positive than not.

Steel yourself, Auburn fans. Later this week, we'll have the pleasure of a wide round of "While Auburn's busy clowning around, Alabama's getting the results"-type articles and trash talk, because all signs are that when Demarcus Milliner announces his college choice Thursday afternoon, the state's top prospect is going to choose the Tide. There's not much drama when you read this ...

“He is just tired of the process already. He is tired of the calls and the hoopla surrounding his recruitment,” Foshee told BamaOnLine.com. “He has made his decision and he doesn’t want to waste anyone else’s time by dragging it out longer.”

... and realize you're reading a high school coach who played for 'Bama talking to a 'Bama recruiting site about a player who's been considered a heavy 'Bama lean for weeks. Seriously, if you can find a bookie who'll give you odds on Schmaul Schmineschmaum writing a column along the lines of "Chizik can rent all the limos he wants, but Saban's still got the keys to the state" or some such, bet the mortgage.

Etc. Any positive news on upright, breathing offensive linemen is most welcome, so this header claiming that Springville's Chase Hughes shares teammate Jeremy Richardson's enthusiasm for Auburn was, well, welcome ... other assorted tidbits here, here, and here.