With 27 new signatures securely in hand, it appears that Auburn’s recruiting class for 2010 is finally in the books. According to Rivals.com, the class is currently rated the third best in the nation, while Scout.com has Auburn at No. 5 and ESPN has them at No. 4.

Based on the projected positions of the players, it appears that the coaches did a great job of addressing needs. Including the five early enrollees, there are 16 defensive players, 14 offensive players, and two kickers. The offensive line class, in particular, looks outstanding, with both quantity and quality all across the line.

Here’s a quick look at this year’s signees — and Auburn’s newest Tigers.

OFFENSE

Ed Christian, OL, Lowndes High School, Valdosta, Ga.

Shon Coleman, OL, Olive Branch High School, Olive Branch, Miss.

Michael Dyer, RB, Little Rock Christian Academy, Little Rock, Ark.

Tunde Fariyike, C, Upson-Lee High School, Thomaston, Ga.

Roszell Gayden, OL, College of the Sequoias, Visalia, Cali.

Antonio Goodwin, WR, Booker T. Washington, Atlanta, Ga.

Shaun Kitchens, WR, Banneker High School, College Park, Ga.

Eric Mack, OL, Calhoun County, St. Matthews, South Carolina

Brandon Mosley, TE, Coffeyville Community College, Coffeyville, Kansas

Dakota Mosley, TE, Little Rock Christian Academy, Little Rock, Ark.

Cameron  Newton, QB, Blinn College, Brenham, Texas

Trovon Reed, WR, Thibadoux High School, Thibadoux, La.

Jeremy Richardson, WR, Springville High School, Springville, Ala.

Chad Slade, OL, Moody High School, Moody, Ala.

DEFENSE

Joel Bonomolo, DE, Fullerton College, Fullerton, Cali.

Kenneth Carter, DL, Greenville High School, Greenville, Ala.

Jessel Curry, LB, Buford High School, Buford, Ga.

Chris Davis, DB, Woodlawn High School, Birmingham, Ala.

Justin Delaine, DE, Linden High School, Linden, Ala.

Jake Holland, LB, Pelham High School, Pelham, Ala.

Corey Lemonier, DE, Hialeah High School, Hialeah, Fla.

Demetruce McNeal, DB, Banneker High School, College Park, Ga.

Jonathan Mincy, DB, Southwest Dekalb, Decatur, Ga.

LaDarius Owens, LB, Jess Lanier, Bessemer, Ala.

Ladarious Phillips, DT, Handley, Roanoke, Ala.

Craig Sanders, DE, Ariton High School, Ariton, Ala.

Ryan Smith, S, Cordova High School, Cordova, Ala.

Jeffrey Whitaker, DT, Warner Robins High School, Warner Robins, Ga.

Jawara White, LB, Charles Henderson High School, Troy, Ala.

Ryan White, DB, Lincoln High School, Tallahassee, Fla.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Steven Clark, P, Park Hill High School, Kansas City, Mo.

Cody Parkey, K, Jupiter High School, Jupiter, Fla.

Congratulations to the coaching staff on a job well done, and welcome to Auburn!

War Eagle!

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National Signing Day is less than 48 hours away now, and Auburn is still in the mix for some very good, uncommitted players.

Two Rivals100 players, RB Marcus Lattimore and DE Corey Lemonier, are set to announce between Auburn and a couple of home-state schools (South Carolina and Florida State respectively), while another, Jeffrey Whitaker, has long listed Auburn among his leaders.

Byran Jones, out of Arkansas, is another top player to keep an eye on. The four-star defensive tackle visited Auburn recently and is said to be deciding between Auburn and Arkansas.

ANNOUNCEMENT DATES

Here is the expected announcement schedule for these players, as cobbled together from various Internet sources:

     > Whitaker – Auburn, UGA, or Miami, Feb. 1.

     > Lattimore – Auburn or South Carolina, Feb. 2.

     > Lemonier – Auburn or Florida State, Feb. 3.

     > Jones – Auburn or Arkansas, Feb. 3.

Depending on how these decisions go, this could make for a very exciting next few days. Of course, even if Auburn doesn’t garner a single new commitment, they’re still bringing in a very solid class that will be the cornerstone of Gene Chizik’s ultimate Auburn legacy. Auburn’s 2010 recruiting class is currently ranked in the top five nationally by Rivals.com, Scout.com, and ESPN.

For the latest recruiting updates, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wareagletales.

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With National Signing Day less than two weeks away (Wednesday, Feb. 3), Auburn’s recruiting efforts are rapidly galloping down the home stretch. At this point, the Auburn class is ranked among the top-five classes in the country by all three major recruiting services (ESPN, Scout, and Rivals.com), and there are still a handful of spots left to fill. Here are a few of the top stories to look for come National Signing Day.

MARCUS LATTIMORE

Marcus Lattimore, the nation’s No. 1 high school football player according to the Sporting News and the No. 1-ranked running back according to Rivals.com and Scout.com, is set to announce his college decision on Feb. 2, the day before National Signing Day. And it could end up being a very good day indeed for the Tigers. According to widespread reports, Lattimore has narrowed his list of potential schools to just two: Auburn and South Carolina.

With previous commitments from running backs Michael Dyer (ESPN No. 1 RB, Little Rock, Ark.) and D.J. Howard (in-state standout from Lincoln High School), the Tigers already have a truly excellent running back class in place. If Lattimore chooses the Tigers, it would represent one of the best running back classes in history, with commitments from the two most heralded running backs in the country.

Lattimore attends Byrnes High School in Duncan, South Carolina, and was named the state’s Mr. Football 2009. According to GoGamecocks.com, Auburn Head Coach Gene Chizik and South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier are both scheduled to make their in-home visits this week.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

With only one defensive tackle currently committed, in Greenville All-State DL Kenneth Carter, the Tigers will likely look to add some heft along the defensive line. Two of the top candidates appear to be four-star athletes Jeffrey Whitaker (Warner Robins, Ga.) and Byran Jones (Junction City, Ark.), who both visited Auburn Jan. 15.

At this point, both Whitaker and Jones appear very interested in the Tigers, but if Auburn is to sign them, they’ll have to fend off last-minute efforts from their home-state schools. According Scout.com, Whitaker was scheduled to visit Georgia this past weekend, while Jones was set to visit Arkansas.

A third candidate to fill the role might be fellow Georgia prospect Mike Thornton (Stone Mountain, Ga.), though he reportedly cancelled a visit he had planned to take to Auburn in January.

With an apparent need for defensive linemen, it will be interesting to see how the Tigers finish. Can they bring in the out-of-state prospects? Or, will they have to look elsewhere to round out the class?

REBUILDING THE ROSTER

Auburn fans know well the depth issues the Tigers faced last year, playing with less than a full allotment of scholarship players. The problem reared its head mightily on both defense and special teams, which were forced to use multiple walk-ons during kickoff coverage.

The coaches have already taken one major step in addressing the problem with the addition of five early enrollees: Cameron Newton, Brandon Mosley, Roszell Gayden, Jessel Curry, and Craig Sanders.

The next big step will be getting a full class of qualified student-athletes committed at specific positions of need, which they appear well on their way to doing. This year’s group already includes an outstanding collection of linebackers and offensive linemen, which are both important positions of need.

Once the smoke clears — and the signatures are in — fans will be able to get a better sense of how the coaches have fared in addressing the depth. How many players did they sign? Did they hold on to all the commits? And, for down the road, will most of them actually qualify?

SIGNING DAY SURPRISE

Last year, Tiger fans were treated to a very pleasant surprise in the unexpected signing of DeAngelo Benton, a highly-rated wide receiver from the state of Louisiana. Will there be any such surprises this year? And if so, who might they be? Another wide receiver? Possibly another linebacker? And what if the coaches don’t get commitments from their top targets? Are there any other prospects out there waiting in the wings?

TEAM RANKINGS

The team rankings created by the various recruiting services are an inexact science to be sure, but they are at least some indication of the quality of athlete that a school is bringing in — and since fans want to know what the class is like now (versus waiting the two to three years it may actually take to see a class’s value on the football field), the rankings are as good a gauge as we’ve got.

And plus, let’s be honest, don’t they just make National Signing Day that much more fun?

To find out where Auburn finishes this year, visit autigers.com, AuburnSports.com, and ESPN. If things fall the right way, they may actually have a shot at the top.

War Eagle, and Happy National Signing Day!

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With Auburn expected to sign a couple of guys from the state of Arkansas this year, we thought we’d take a look at how our future Tigers ended up on the Arkansas all-state teams.

In Arkansas, the all-state teams are named by the Arkansas Activities Association, after players are nominated to the list by their coaches. It appears to be a highly stratified (and to the untrained, non-Arkansan eye, somewhat confusing) list, with several classifications and geographical divisions.

Arkansas Activities Association All-State Football Teams 

In any case, as expected the two Little Rock Christian athletes both were named All-State in their classification.

CLASS 5A SOUTHWEST

RB/LB Michael Dyer, Little Rock Christian
TE/DE Dakota Mosley, Little Rock Christian

Other all-state selections that Auburn fans might recognize included Anterio Sloan, CB, West Helena Central (5A, East), Byran Jones, Junction City (2A), and 2011 quarterback Kiehl Frazier, out of Shiloh Christian High School (4A).

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After looking at Auburn’s all-state players from the state of Alabama last week, we thought we’d take a look at our neighbors to the east to see how our future Tigers fared this year in the state of Georgia.

It turns out that Georgia has two all-state teams, one published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and another compiled by members of the Georgia Sports Writers Association.

Most of the selections are the same, of course, but there were a few minor differences. Demetruce McNeal, for example, was a first-team selection by the AP (Georgia Sports Writers), but he’s listed as honorable mention by the AJC. Interestingly, his brother, DeMarco, was the one to snag his spot on the first-team AJC list.

In any case, here’s a look at the future Tigers appearing on the AJC’s All-State Football Teams:

Class AAAAA

OL: Ed Christian, Lowndes High School

Class AAAA

DB: Jonathan Mincy, Southwest Dekalb (Honorable Mention)

DB: Demetruce McNeal, Banneker High School (Honorable Mention)

Class AA

LB: Jessel Curry, Buford High School (Defensive Player of the Year)

There were a few other players that Auburn fans might recognize, including defensive lineman Michael Thornton (Stephenson) and linebacker Victor Beasley (Adairsville), both first-team AP selections. Defensive lineman Jeffrey Whitaker (Warner Robins) was also named honorable mention by the AP.

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