AuburnFamilyNews.com: Auburn Football Recruiting: Another Busy Weekend on the Plains

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Auburn Football Recruiting: Another Busy Weekend on the Plains


Another home SEC game means another big recruiting weekend for Auburn.
A late recruiting article is better than none right?
Auburn once again plays host to an SEC team from Mississippi this weekend and will once again have a number of top 2018, 2019 and 2020 prospects on campus. Last weekend, the Tigers hosted some big time recruits who were able to witness in person Auburn’s beatdown of Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs. Benjamin Wolk over at SECCountry put together a great recap of last week’s visitors including two 2019 prospects that have the Tigers on top.
This week the list might be even more impressive. Based off reports from 247, SECCountry and Twitter, here’s who is expected on the Plains this weekend.
For the second straight weekend the #1 player in the state of Alabama, Justyn Ross, will be in Jordan-Hare Stadium. More than likely, Auburn is chasing Clemson right now for the big bodied WR but Auburn’s recent improvement in the passing game should help the orange and blue Tigers stay in the race.
Possibly the biggest visitor of the day will be Coynis Miller. The outstanding defensive lineman will announce his commitment next weekend and it wasn’t completely clear which school he would visit Saturday. The Florida Gators are still his public leaders but Auburn is supposedly a very close 2nd. The Gators were working hard to get Miller back down to Gainesville on an official visit for the LSU game. Instead, the Birmingham native will travel to the Plains on an unofficial visit. Miller is probably Auburn’s top defensive target right now and Auburn would love nothing more than to land his commitment next weekend. Expect Auburn commits Asa Martin and Joey Gatewood to spend a lot of time recruiting the big man. Martin and Miller specifically are close friends. I still think he picks Auburn as of today and him visiting this weekend only gives me more confidence in that prediction.
There’s another big man on campus as well who decided to travel to Auburn instead of going to a “bigger game”. Trey Hill is Auburn’s top remaining OL target. The big man was long considered an UGA lean but recently it sounds like Auburn and Florida State have made a major push. With the Noles facing Miami this weekend it’s a pretty positive sign that Hill chose to visit Auburn instead Tallahassee. I admit that I lean posibarner but I really like Auburn’s chances with Hill right now, especially if Auburn continues to put together a strong season.
Finally, keep an eye on former 5* LSU signee and now the top rated JUCO CB prospect, Saivion Smith, who is expected to visit today with his teammate and Auburn commit Daquan Newkirk. The Tigers want to sign at least one cornerback and Smith has emerged as a top target for that position. Right now, Alabama is considered the team to beat and honestly it might be hard to overtop them. However, whenever a kid visits you always got a shot. If Auburn can impress him today they might be able to make a run for the 6’1” 175 lb DB. He has immediate impact potential.
I don’t expect any commitments this week but if there were someone to pull the trigger the two names to watch are Richard Jibunor and Seth Williams. Jibunor has long been on commit watch for the Tigers but the Florida Gators are making a big push. I expect Auburn puts on the full court press this weekend and would love to lock him down today if possible though I expect he holds off on any decisions. Williams is a guy the Tigers have done an outstanding job recruiting and have emerged as his leader. Today could be a great opportunity to showcase Auburn’s rejuvenated passing offense and could possibly convince him to pull that trigger earlier than expected. I don’t expect either to commit today but definitely two guys to keep an eye on.

Justin Fields Commitment

If you haven’t heard by now, 5* QB Justin Fields committed to the Georgia Bulldogs yesterday. When Fields first decommitted, Auburn was considered one of the top threats at landing the stud QB’s signature. However, as time passed, the Tigers began to fall behind in the race as Kirby Smart and company made a big time push, ultimately snagging the #1 overall player.
It stinks to lose out on a top talent but this was far from a must have kid for Auburn. The Tigers already have a big time QB committed in 4* Joey Gatewood who is putting together a ridiculous senior season. The longtime AU commit reaffirmed he’s all AU yesterday afternoon.
The real question moving forward is will Auburn take a second QB? It’s far from certain though I imagine the coaching staff would like to have 4 guys on scholarship next year. Keep an eye on AJ Curry who is having a breakout senior year and will be on campus this weekend. There’s also 3* Steven Krajewski who camped at Auburn over the summer and whose coach is close with Chip Lindsey. Also guys like 3* James Foster (Missouri Commit), 3* Cordell Littlejohn (former Illinois Commit) and 4* Jarren Williams (Kentucky Commit) are all names to file away.
Bottom line is while seeing an elite player like Fields go to a rival isn’t fun, the Tigers should be just fine moving forward. Gatewood gives the Tigers a kid with tremendous upside and the potential to have just as dynamic a career as Fields. Over the next few months we should get a better feel for if the Tigers plan to add a 2nd QB or not.
War Eagle!


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