Auburn update, 7/19

Hey everyone. My recruiting story didn't make Thursday's editions because of space concerns. Sometimes we aren't allocated much space in the section, and that forces editors to make difficult decisions about which stories make the paper. I'm pretty sure the piece will run in Friday's editions.

Still, I promised more content from the recruiting gurus. You'll find that below.

Before I get there, though, I wanted to run through the Auburn players who made the coaches' preseason All-SEC teams:

FIRST TEAM -- Quentin Groves, DE
SECOND TEAM -- Jonathan Wilhite, CB
THIRD TEAM -- Brad Lester, TB; King Dunlap, OL; Josh Thompson, DL; Tray Blackmon, LB; Patrick Lee, CB; Eric Brock, S.

I know. You're probably surprised or upset or saddened about quarterback Brandon Cox, pictured above from his girlfriend's MySpace page. Auburn's three-year starter didn't even make the list. Coaches voted Kentucky's Andre Woodson, Tennessee's Erik Ainge and Vanderbilt's Chris Nickson (a Brundidge native) ahead of Cox.

This will lead to rash of criticism from a variety of sources who will claim that Cox is an outstanding quarterback. You won't read that here. You know my position on Cox: Tough kid, bright kid, polite kid, great ambassador for Auburn, average quarterback.

I'm more shocked about Wilhite making the second-team defense. He wasn't very good in 2006. Wilhite lost his job to Lee. I know Wilhite is capable of high-level play. Still, second-team defense?

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Here are some additional unpublished quotes from:

MILLER SAFRIT, Scout.com
What is most impressive about Auburn's recruiting ability?
"They can get the big-name guys like Marcus McNeill and they still do a great job with the lower-profile players. They do a great job of not missing on signees. They get a lot out of their kids."

J.C. SHURBURTT, Rivals.com
Is Alabama under Saban going to be a threat?
"Hard to say. It's impossible to know which players Shula would have gone after and how that list differs from what Saban is doing. This stuff is better at identifying and going after the best players. Alabama is a real threat to Auburn in the state, but I'm not sure how much that will affect Auburn. They recruit in a lot of different places."