News of the day, 2/8
Hey everyone. Signing day remains a hot topic on the airwaves FO SHO, so I guess we'll keep talking about this a bit longer.Gayle (our Alabama beat ace) and I are writing recruiting analyses for Sunday's editions that are supposed to include a letter grade. I said yesterday on the blog that I'd give Auburn a C- or a D+. The final grade, the one that ends up in the paper, will be a tad higher.
I look around and see some pretty good players. Raven Gray should be excellent. Jermaine Johnson should be excellent no later than 2009. Cameron Henderson has stud potential. I feel the same way about Jomarcus Savage, T'Sharvan Bell, Harry Adams, Reggie Hunt and Freddie Smooth. Any number of the other guys could emerge as Sen'Derrick Marks did two years ago.
So I think the final grade will be a C+. A reasonable final day -- say Auburn got Enrique Davis and Robert Quinn -- would have me thinking B+. It's not fair to drop the grade so far based on two guys.
Rivals.com today selected Auburn assistant Eddie Gran as one of the nation's 15 best recruiters. He was one five SEC coaches included. Also earning recognition were Steve Addazio (Florida), Charlie Strong (Florida), Jon Fabris (Georgia), Josh Henson (LSU) and Lance Thompson (Alabama.) Gran handles south Florida for the Tigers. Gran generally doesn't receive the credit he deserves. It's good to see him get some love.LSU men's coach John Brady is out of a job. LSU held an afternoon press conference to announce the move. Former Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Chuck Culpepper once referred to Brady as the most miserable human being alive, which Brady insisted was inaccurate. Things like that cannot be proven, of course, but Brady is one seriously sour dude.I know some of you all are familiar with the saga of alleged Cal recruit Kevin Hart, who signed with Cal on Wednesday only to have Cal fail to acknowledge his existence. I felt so bad for the kid. It seemed to be an elaborate prank designed to give Hart the embarrassment of a lifetime.It was a prank alright. It turns out that Hart was the genius behind this stunt. He concocted the whole story about being recruited by Cal.
"I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything," he said in a statement. "When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality."
Add this to the reasons I don't like to cover recruiting.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
2:16 PM
58 Comments:
I feel for the Hart kid as well.
He was probably the big man on campus, and people kept asking him who was recruiting him. Sadly, he probably couldnt bring himself to simply say "no one" so he made some teams up. One thing lead to another and his lies became bigger and bigger. Poor kid is just some 18 year old who screwed up.
I'm sure there's a good life lesson in there somewhere.
No doubt there's a lesson in there somewhere.
At some point, though, you gotta think long term and realize that Cal or Oregon or Oklahoma State are going to find out and be unhappy about it.
Jay,
Have you seen chris slaughter around campus? How is his weight training/ weight gain going? What do you think his impact will be this comming year?
I haven't seen much of Chris Slaughter since the season ended. I only catch a few guys here and there. Slaughter hasn't been one of them.
I don't think strength training is going to help him a whole lot. He's a lean dude and he's going to be that way. His emphasis needs to be on running better routes, learning where to be in pre-snap situations and building relationships with Tony Franklin and Chris Todd.
Chris Todd, you're damn right about that, Jay. Snap, pass, and catch. Snap, pass, and catch. 1 2 3. 1 2 3.
Yep. That's how it's going to be for a while.
Jay, where is Swinton? Is he just speed and nothing else?
He doesn't handle contact and one-on-one scraps for the ball very well.
A friend of mine once said Swinton would be all-world in flag football.
Guys like Swinton...all you could do is line him up behind center or QB and just hand him the ball. See what happens. That's only at Arkansas, I mean Ole Miss.
Swinton can streak down the field, but doesn't adjust to the flight of the ball to get body position and, if necesary jump in order catch the ball at a highpoint. Ironically,His HS friend, walk on player Rod Smith does these ting well.
I agree more with your re-assessment of the recruiting situation. AU missed out on a lot of the glamorous recruits. But when you look at what they ended up with, and don't compare them to Alabama's class, you've got a solid group that fills needs on a very young team. Not to mention there are some guys who could end up being major sleepers in there, such as Winter (His most recent film is extremely impressive), Pybus (Amazing measurables for a HS kid), and Lykes (If not for grades this guy is easily a 4 star).
Reasonable assessments, all.
Not sure what to say on Swinton. I think he's out there trying. He just doesn't handle some skills that are pretty necessary at this level.
Is Todd expected to start over Kodi? I figure Kodi will beat him out of the job once he gets his timing down with the recievers
Everything I have heard indicates that Todd ultimately will have the best shot to start. We have a long way to go, though.
I'm guessing Kodi Burns and Chris Todd will switch in and out much like the bowl game. I was very impressed with how seemlessly they pulled off the quarterback rotation only having practicing 8 days or whatever. I haven't seen enough of Kodi Burns besides the "we'll snap it to and you run it for a two yard loss because everyone in the stadium knows this coming play" to write him off.
Everyone knows the old saying that if you have two QB's then you dont have any QB's.
We need to play one and only one.
Yeah but this isn't the 90's. If you played both it gives you more options as a team and more stuff for the other team to prepare for. Tony Franklin's quote after the chicken bowl was something like "everbody tries to make playing two quarterbacks hard but it really isn't." Sounds like he ain't scared.
Kodi Burns is a very intelligent person. He had a bit of a confidence problem when he was inserted into the starting role early in the season. I would never, ever count that man out. He's already been schooled on his mechanics problem. I think he will prove many of us wrong.
Auburn is sucking it up on the basketball court. I figured a performance like this was coming and i'm surprised it hasn't really come before now.
Jay, you should pull the fire alarm and end this misery.
Ron, Jay, don't pull the alarm. I enjoy Frankie 12 Finger's freakish plays on the court. What an athlete.
Officiating is horrible as usual.
AU Running Backs:
I'm thinking it really, really hurt to lose Enrique considering we only signed one back, Eric Smith. We didn't sign any the year before besides Enrique.
We signed 1 running back, not counting McCallebb who may never see the Plain we signed 1 running back the year before who, of course, is now trying to become eligible to play at Ole Miss.
We may be in trouble depth-wise the next two or three years.
Mario fannin was a freshman this year. We also signed Reggie Hunt. Auburn runs the spread now. I don't think depth at tailback will be an issue.
plus i heard that Auburn has been on this David Oku kid out of Oklahoma for a while. He is a senior in high school next year.
Oku has a long winding road in front of him. Character will be extremely critical for Auburn moving forward on any target on the board.
Hip hop ... The two quarterback systems works pretty well if you have two quarterbacks that can do it. Ask Coach Meyer, Tebow and Leak what they thought about it.
101, that is one example of it working. There are WAY more examples of it ending badly.
Not to mention Leak was a senior a Tebow was a true freshmen. Leak was the leader of that team and Tebow was the heir apparent who came in for a change of pace. Now he's the leader.
Kodi didnt come to AU to be the change of pace guy for four years.
Just my humble opinion.
ive seen video on david oku... the guy is a stud.. he is like a cj spiller-type... and if chris todd gives us a better chance at winning, then i say let him play, but i am thoroughly convinced kodi gives us a better chance. He has a bigger arm than people think, and he is more elusive under pressure in the pocket than Todd is
hip hop ... here's the deal. if you run 90 plus plays a game, you almost have to have two quarterbacks. One will have a hard time simply due to fatigue.
The ideal situation is two QBs of fairly equal ability, which is what I think they have going for them now. Both Burns and Todd can run and throw. Trotter can run and throw. But once again, I seem to be the odd man out. That seems to happen alot on this blog. Which is weird, because my opinion usually winds up being the same as the AU coaching staff. Huh ... go figure.
I'm not thinking this Todd kid can run a whole lot. He might move around better than brandon cox but to say he can run is a little much. I still think Kodi Burns will at least get 15-20 snaps a game next year. Regaurdless i'm looking forward to the ball getting to receivers a little quicker than the past three years.
But Auburnmath they will not have to play two quarterbacks due to fatigue that's stupid. They are getting a shotgun snap either throwing it or handing the ball off with the occasional quarterback draw play. They are not running an ironman triathalon.
i agree with you ron... Todd may have been brought in to compete with kodi, to bring out the true athlete within.. im putting my money on kodi starting, he is a proven winner for this program
AUkeller:
How low is the bar to be "a proven winner?" Burns has a loooooong way to go before he's anything close to an SEC-ready passer (remember all those ducks he threw last season?), and his "winner-ness" is based on...what, exactly? The bowl game? That's quite a stretch.
You guys are debating hypathetical scenarios. You don't know enough about Todd yet. Assumptions won't get you far without a true knowledge of what he can do.
For all intents and purposes he can run some with a 4.7 time. Cox did not run under a 5.0, I don't have to guatantee that. However, Kodi is a dynamic athlete on his feet. He does have a big arm. He needed some restructuring of his mechanics and TF has already proven he can help in that area.
WAY to early to concede Todd is the winner when he didn't do squat in juco and he's supposed to be a highly touted QB coming out of the spread in high school.
we'll see
But ronnie, I'd like you to do something for me. Go out in the back yard and get somebody to snap the ball to you. 32 times, I'd like you to take a 3-5 step drop and just turn and drop the ball. Another 32 times, I'd like you to sprint 5-10 yards to your right or left and pitch the ball to your imaginary running back. The last 32 times, take a 3-5 step drop and throw the ball 25 yds. It would be even better if you could get one of your neighbors to knock you down about every fourth time. You need to do this in 30 minutes or less.
After the paramedics leave, write me back.
I didn't want to respond to your idiotic scenario but I don't think there has ever been a football game in history where a quarterback took 96 snaps in 30 minutes.
When you can post something worth reading write me back.
well, you obviously have not watched very many spread games. A football games last 60 minutes. Or at least it used to. Average offensive time on the field ... 35 minutes or so. Auburn vs. Clemson ... around 93 snaps.
Check it and see.
Actually in the Clemson game, we ran 90 plays in 30 minutes and 46 seconds.
here ... read it for yourself ... our totals are the ones to the left of the slash mark.
http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2007-2008/teamgbg.html#TGBG.GBC
last time i checked a football game lasts three and half hours. Dude what you said was stupid, face it.
Ron ... dude. You play 60 minutes of football. Period. End of story. It might take 3 1/2 hours, but it's a 60 minute game. There is no argument about that. It's been that way since leather helmets.
Spread is a high pace game. And if you are going to practice for it, then you do it the way I just described. Run as many plays as you can as fast as you can.
What chaps my ass about the whole thing, and the only reason I made any comment to you at all, is that you seem to have a pretty low level of respect for what it takes physically to accomplish 90 offensive plays in a football game. Lineman, running back, and recievers are shuffled in and out of the game at chaotic levels. Why? Because the men on the field need to be somewhat fresh if possible. Why exclude the quarterback if you don't have to? Why run him in the ground and risk a fatigue injury? It doesn't make good coaching sense, and I guarantee you right now that Auburn will run a two quarterback system ... for all of the reasons I just explained to you. Count on it Ron. I know you think you are a genius and I am some redneck idiot, but really man ... you are not thinking these things through in a "football" way.
Ron ... I do know one thing though ... you were lying when you said you played center in HS. You want to know how I know?
BECAUSE, if you had, the "60 minutes" comment wouldn't have taken you by such complete surprise. You would have remembered every single coach you ever had say about five thousand times per season something like, "It's a 60 minute game boys!" or "All we have to do is play football for 60 minutes!" or at halftime, "Okay, we still have another 30 minutes of football left to play."
Really ... dude
If you don't understand what i'm saying you are an idiot. I do respect that these kids are all athletes (including long snappers) and that's why i think quarterbacks can play a whole game. Quarterbacks usually play the whole game. Tim tebow doubles as a tailback and plays every snap. And I did play center for St. Paul's (5a state champs this year) seven years ago. I'm not responding to you anymore.
That's great but I still don't believe you.
Tebow doesn't run the no-huddle spread.
NO, I don't understand what you are saying because as far as I can tell, you aren't saying anything specific.
What I am saying: it's a serious physical challenge for one quarterback to run the no-huddle spread for the whole game, every game of the season. i.e. Oregon.
You get beat up, you get tired, and then you start getting hurt.
But I am glad to hear that you are not responding to me anymore. That IS good news.
Are we forgetting about teams' allotted timeouts, TV timeouts, officials timeouts, replay timeouts, etc. The 30 minute drill in the backyard just doesn't cut it. Those 30 minutes ARE spread over a 3 to 4 hour timeframe.
C'mon.
101,
Please, just stop now. Your posts are making less and less sense.
The 30 minute discussion is ridiculous. I'm not even sure how to respond to it.
As far as running two QB's, why didnt TF do it at Troy? (Note: this is the part where you tell me it was due to lack of depth.) There's a reason that NO COACH AT ANY TIME wants to run two QB's. I think Franklin is a good OC, but dont try and convince me that he is the only genius is football history to aspire to run a successful two QB system. It's just not true.
There are things you lack when running a true two QB system. Leadership and consistency. Two big components if you ax me.
I'm tired or arguing with people who have never played the game of football. You don't play during time outs, commercials, etc. Go talk to a player or coach. Ask him how long a football game is. He'll say 60 minutes. YOU PLAY FOOTBALL FOR 60 MINUTES!!!
So, all you "I couldn't even start in highschool but I think I could have played for Auburn" guys have a real nice day.
101,
I have an idea. Why don't you look at the stats for Troy last year. Haugabook accounted for 92% of the total offense for all QB's. I would guess that the other 8% came in blowouts. Why can't you just admit that your argument that fatigue is a reason to run the 2 QB system is riduculous.
By the way, YOU DON'T PLAY FOOTBALL FOR 60 MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!
101,
Not sure how else to say this. A football game is 60 "game minutes" long. Not 60 "actual minutes".
Your theory would work better if you told ron mexico to take 90 snaps intermittently over a three hour period (minding to take breaks, sit on the bench, drink some gatorade if necessary), and then judge his fatigue.
For the record, this may be the dumbest argument I've ever seen.
wow ... really!? man, I didn't know that. you're kidding right? How could I be so stupid? But hey, I'm only 11 years old so what do you expect?
I guess I shouldn't have had that partial lobotmy. Is that how you spell it? They did that in 60 minutes too. Although it really took 4 hours. So, I'm not sure how much time they actually spent operating.
And that is my last comment and post on what is officially the most stupid and ridiculous argument on record.
101,
obviously you didn't play high school football since you don't realize that it isn't a 60 minute game(48 minutes actually).
also kicking is included in those 90 snaps, so you might want to take that number down to 80.
oh wait the game went to overtime so take out those extra plays to realize the 90 plays in a game is not really how many times the QB in this system will get a snap in a normal game.
huh ... didn't know that either
One thing I'll mention later today.
Tommy Bowden ran the spread at Clemson for a while. He runs power stuff now. The main reason? Clemson couldn't recruit tailbacks to play for their version of the spread.
Could the loss of Enrique Davis be some important foreshadowning? I don't know the answer to that question, but I'm highly intrigued.
My speculative prediction is that CTodd will be more steady and will be the starter during the Spring and early Fall. KBurns will take a while to develop passing touch and defense recognition skills necdessary to play every down against SEC defenses.
CTodd will begin next Fall as the starter with Kburns coming in for a change up. Sometime during the season, KBurns will take over as the starter. AU will probably be 10-2 or 9-3 for the regular season with losses to LSU, UGA and maybe another hiccup.
I find it interesting that Tommy Bowden recognized that he had to change in order to get good TBs but his brother did not. No surprise that he is the one still in coaching.
I know the offense concerned him, but don't you think that the depth at AU compared to UM was the biggest issue? He can go there and probably start right away.
kodi contributed to the win against new mexico state, a big touchdown in the win over florida, if he wouldve finished against mississippi state, we probably wouldve won then... he did throw some duck passes, but he just came out of highschool. i would be nervous too. with the opportunities he has had, he has done about as much as he possibly could to put our team in a winning position. he knows the atmosphere of the game now, and i believe with the little experience he got, he will be more calm and will show us how much of a gamer he truly is. also he read coverage and was smarter about his passes than brandon cox, who would throw into double converage like it was a new trend. i have seen video of chris todd, and although he may be good, i say kodi is better. and i say he is the number one guy. if todd outplays him in the spring and fall, then i will be supportive as i always have been about the decision. but i can promise you that kodi has more potential, and will more than likely showcase it next year... and why are auburn fans arguing with eachother? we have more class than that
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