Social NFL Mock Draft - #20 Washington Redskins

So I added a little text :)

By guest writer El Matteo:

The Redskins need a coach.  There's no predicting who they draft until we know who their coach is.  They need a DE (Calais Campbell, Phillip Merling) and they need a WR (Doucet, Jackson, Manningham).  For the purposes of this draft, I'ma give 'em Campbell.  He's still raw and he's huge.  That means he's got a lot of upside.  So that's the pick.

Now, to those of you who don't know, today is National Signing Day and Alabama just put giant elephant poopie on pretty much everyone else.  (See Joker's previous post for a visual.)

"You know, we have an opponent in this state that we work every day, 365 days a year, to dominate.  That's our goal.  That's what you get up every day to do, to dominate the people that you have to compete against and play against."  -Nick Saban, introductory press conference, January 4, 2007.

The polls are closed, but the votes haven't all been tallied yet.  However, preliminary polling is telling us that Saban and Alabama have signed the number one class in the country.  (Unless you are ESPN, and we're lucky to be in their Top 10.)   Rivals.com has officially declared Alabama as the Recruiting National Champions (http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=771326), although unlike Auburn, we won't have a parade or order rings to celebrate this. 

I'm not really surprised by that.  Saban and staff were relentless on the recruiting trail and there is nothing in Saban's history that would indicate that Bama fans should expect anything less than that.  He was an incredible recruiter at LSU and when you throw in the tradition, facilities and fan base of Alabama, recruiting success was inevitable. 

That being said, it is a bit of a surprise to see that Saban quote I just cited coming to fruition.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Nick Saban just thoroughly dominated his cross-state opponent.  There is no spin to put on it.  There is no rationalization.  There is nothing, I repeat nothing, that can be said to make the Auburn people feel better.  You just got dominated. (emphasis added. -Ed.)

I've had a difficult time accepting this because it isn't something that I've seen before.  There's no question, over the last 10 years, Auburn has been the superior program.  Not only have they won 6 in a row, but they've competed every year for the SEC championship, consistently maintained a presence in the Top 10, they've put more, higher profile players into the NFL and they've had more program stability.  Other than the number of annoying sidewalk alumni, I'm not sure what other category Alabama may have beaten Auburn in. 

Which is what makes what just happened even more unbelievable.  As long as I have been alive, Auburn and Alabama have split the quality in-state players.  Some go to Auburn, some go to Alabama.  That's just the way it is.  Until this year...

The Birmingham News Super Seniors (Top high school senior football players)

1. WR Julio Jones-Committed to Bama
2. OT Tyler Love-Committed to Bama
3. S Dee Finley-Committed to Florida
4. DE William Green-Committed to Florida
5. OT Antoine McClain-Committed to Clemson
6. LB Jerrell Harris-Committed to Bama
7. ATH Mark Barron-Committed to Bama
8. OT/DT T.J. Barnes-Committed to Ga. Tech
9. ATH Burton Scott-Committed to Bama
10. DE Michael Williams-Committed to Bama
11. DE/DT Undra Billingsley-Committed to Bama
12. LB/DE Courtney Upshaw-Committed to Bama

Disregard the ridiculousness of Burton Scott being rated so low, and it is unbelievable that Auburn did not get a commitment from ONE SINGLE TOP PLAYER IN THE STATE.  Not one.

Furthermore, of the 29 expected Auburn recruits, Alabama didn't seriously or aggressively recruit ONE SINGLE PLAYER.  Not one. 

That just blows my mind.  Two schools, huge rivals, in a great high school football state and measley 3 hours apart, didn't butt heads on the recruiting trail.  (One of the perceived hotly contested battles between AU and UA, namely Jerrell Harris, was merely a figment of our imaginations, because Harris just said that Auburn finished fourth on his list, behind Bama, USC and Clemson.)

If I were an Auburn fan, I'd be really worried.  I'd go back and read that quote from Saban and then I'd look at my coach and I'd probably mess my britches.  The man is as intelligent as any coach in the country, but he is also as tenacious and aggressive as a dog from Bad News Kennels. (I think Vick used "z", not "s". -Ed)  I won't say he's the best there is, but he's without question  one of the best.  Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressell and that's about it.  (Maybe Richt, Rodriquez and Miles belong in there?)   Saban has few peers.   He will continue to  out-work, out-hustle and out-smart his opponents and THAT is why Alabama fans have an insatiable and unwavering confidence and excitement about where this thing is headed. 

Forgive me for the bad pun, but the Tide has turned and I really don't think there's much that can be done to stop it. 

Roll frickin' Tide, man.

(I'd love to hear from some Auburn fans out there.)

Moving on:

I think Joker beat me in his predictions, but I'm a-ok with that.  Nothing can affect my excitement on this day. 

Revisiting my predictions:

Bold Prediction #1:  The ladies of South Beach are too much for Mr. Cody to resist.  And can you really blame him?  Terrence Cody gets a last minute offer and switches to Da U.  (Bama will prove too hard to beat for Alonzo Lawrence, though.)  Right and wrong.  Miami finished with a great class, but they couldn't steal Lawrence or Cody. 

Bold Prediction #2:  William Green and Glenn Harbin both choose the good guys, only to be told we don't have room for them any longer.   Wrong.  Green was never hotly pursued and while Harbin chose Bama, we welcomed him with open arms.  Glad to be wrong on that one. 

Bold Prediction #3:  Julio Jones is very intrigued by Sam Bradford and Oklahoma.  In the end, mama wants to watch him play and Julio comes to Bama as the biggest offensive recruit of the last decade (Non-QB category).  Right!  Finally, I got one right! 

Bold Prediction #4:  Bama will lose Marcel Dareus b/c we don't have room for this brother.  Wrong.  We let them both sign NLI's, so I'm assuming we'll send his brother the JUCO/prep school route.

Bold Prediction #5:  Robert Quinn will choose Bama over AU and UNC. Nick Saban was the first coach to call him and tell him he had a scholarship to Bama whether he could ever strap it up or not.  For those who don't know, Quinn had a brain tumor and his football future was in serious jeopardy.  Now, a full recovery appears likely.  Wrong.  Quinn chose North Carolina.  Considering we signed Harbin and Dareus, I'll get over it. 

Bold Prediction #6:  Jerrell Harris grants me an early Christmas present and comes to the Capstone.  He knows Bama has two starting LB positions wide open and you just can't play for a better defensive coach combo than Saban and Kevin Steele.  A trip to the Bryant Museum and a few clips of Leroy Jordan, Cornelius Bennett, Derrick Thomas, Keith McCants, and Demeco Ryans (and all the other great Bama LBs) makes Jerrell say, "I want me some of that!"  Right!  Jerrell most definitely wants him some of that! 

Bold Prediction #7:  Victor Horn left Alabama and went to Michigan. Max Martin left Alabama and went to Michigan.  Reggie Graham left Birmingham for Michigan State.  Ok, so none of those ever made an All-Star team, and I don't know that any of them ever even played a snap, but they were sort of good once and they left Alabama.  It's Bama's turn now. Maaaaaaaark Ingram (was it Tom Jackson who always yelled that out?) can't resist Nick Saban and the Bama cuties and the warm weather and the wide-open RB depth chart and jumps aboard the Bama Bandwagon.  Besides, the Crimson and White looks so much better than that dadgum green and white of Michigan State. Apparently, Coach Saban won over his grandparents.  No matter how hard you may try, you just can't argue with the grandparents.  Right!  He wanted to be a part of this class and can you really blame him? 

*Some people just can't be argued with.

Bold Prediction #8:  Auburn will close decently b/c they'll get some players that Bama, UGA and Florida no longer have any room for.  Then, when Bama finishes in everyone's Top 3, we'll have to listen to the Aubs tell us how overrated our players are, how underrated their players are (for Christ's sake, they just signed a LONG SNAPPER!), in addition to hearing "One for the (whatever the 7th finger is called) and how awesome Kodi is going to be in the Spread Eagle Offense that offensive genius, Tony "I Taught Jesus The Spread Offense" Franklin is installing.  Calgon, start up the bus...  Wrong.  Auburn closed terribly.  They whiffed on Robert Quinn, Jarmon Fortson, Enrique Davis, Antoine McClain, Dee Finley, Jerrell Harris and lost George Baker to South Florida.  Let me just say, it breaks my heart to be wrong on this one.

So, my predictions weren't great, but I got the two most important ones right, namely Julio and Jerrell.  All things considered, I wouldn't change a thing.

Comments

[AUJclayton]

Kudos on a great recruiting class, but you won't actually dominate Auburn until you can manage to beat us. Everyone knows the great and powerful Nick can recruit, there is no surprise here. The question is can he actually dominate his rival on the field.

Year after year Auburn pulls in mediocre recruiting classes, although I will admit, usually a little better than this. Still, the point remains that, currently, we dominate the rivalry even with our recruiting being consistently middle of the pack.

Once again, complements on a fantastic recruiting class. Lets see if your boy can turn it into some wins against AU and then you can start talking dominance.

[El Matteo]

Thanks for the kind words, but you reiterated my point for me. You truly have dominated the rivalry and this still happened. With AU's success, this shouldn't have been so easy for Saban & Co. I mean, we were 7-6 and lost to ULM.

What are you possibly going to do when we do finally beat you on the field? I mean, it will happen sooner or later and the smart money is on "sooner". Maybe not this year, but it's going to happen. Once this Bama program gets a sniff of success, it's going to be over. It'll be fun to watch.

[AUJclayton]

This happened because of Nick and a collection of other reasons. Bama has certainly not been a picture of success for quite of few years. Players knew immediately when Saban arrived on campus that Bama had finally gotten the puzzle piece they had been missing, a non-retarded coach....who just happens to be both relentless and relentlessly good. I was not trying to disprove your point, merely make sure that the other side of your point was noted as well.

What Saban and company managed to do with this recruiting class is amazing,but not without reason. First, your team has a lot of holes in it and a lot of oppurtunity for early playing time. That will pull in some. Second, you have Nick Saban as a head coach. Third, you have one hell of a history that no matter how many shit seasons you have, will never be forgotten. Match up those factors with Auburns dual-coordinator change, and complete overhaul of our offensive system, and you have the results that you have described. Saban is a proven winner and, again, his recruiting prowess has never been in question.

What happens if your team does not really turn it around next year? Do you think that Saban's recruiting quality will suffer? I think so. But that remains to be seen.

As to your point about how little these two in-state rival schools bumped heads on the recruiting trail, I find that to be a very strange thing as well. Even if AU knew that Bama had a better shot at many of those players, we still should have made an effort.

As for the digression of AU's recruiting from last year to this year,I attribute it to three simple, pre-named points. Auburn's coordinator changes, Auburn's change of offensive scheme, and the arrival of Nick Saban.

What are we going to do when Bama does manage to beat us on the field? Get the hell over it. If you have been an Auburn fan for any length of time, you are fully aware that our recent success is not the historical trend. Beating Bama six years in a row has been f-in awesome, but I am not used to that much success. I hope that the streak continues, but if it doesn't, life will move on.

My prediction for recruiting next year is more of a balance. Both Alabama and Auburn will find themselves somewhere between 12th and 8th best classes in the nation. After AU gets the spread established, the athletes will come.

Let me just take this moment to remind you that Notre Dame had one of the most amazing recruiting classes of last year, and look what happened to them. Don't get too far ahead of yourself, El Matteo.

War Damn Eagle!

[El Matteo]

My prediction for recruiting next year is an in-state blood bath. Tuberville knows he can't get whipped in-state like this again. Next year is another solid year for in-state talent and Auburn is going to have to pull out all the stops. I think Saban and Bama will be as relentless as ever.

I don't like him, but I don't think Tuberville is an idiot. He knows he can't let this happen again. We'll see what he's made of. Is he content to sit back, win his 8-10 games a year, compete for the SEC but probably not win it, and cash his big paycheck or does he have the hunger and competitive drive within him to pick himself and his program up off the ground, dust himself off, and come after Urban and Nick, swinging away and fighting back?

And like you said, Bama's got to improve on the field, although I think another year like this year won't hurt recruiting, as long as you can see the progress and where the program is headed, i.e. young players stepping up, making plays, showing that the future is bright. We do have at least one more year of selling playing time and "the future", and "come in here and help me turn this thing around." After that, we've definitely got to start seeing the results in the W-L column.

Things should be as ruthless and competitive as ever.

If Bama dominates like this again, I think you can officially put a fork in Tuberville's Auburn regime. If Bama dominates like this again AND happens to win the football game, Tommy doesn't even need to pass Go. He just needs to call up Two Men & Truck (which I believe, in Auburn, is called Two Farmhands & A Tractor) and be gone.

But you never know. Tommy T and his Auburn crew may just strike back and make this thing a ball game again. Even I won't count him out. However, I also suspect that Saban smells the blood in the water and I don't doubt for a second that he wants to land a knockout blow.

It will certainly be interesting to watch.

[AUJclayton]

I have the faith in Tubbs. Not only that, but if Auburn can just hang on to both coordinators for more than one year at a time, our recruiting will benefit largely. Auburn is like a revolving door for D coordinators and while I respect all of these guys and wish them well, I sure wish one would hang around for a few years instead of making a career out of Auburn's defensive stats for one or two respective years.

I agree. Next year will be a brawl on the recruiting trail. Tubbs and Co. know they have to step it up and I firmly believe, assuming both of our coordinators stay, that we will hold our own and maybe even shock some people.

I am glad you say that even you would not underestimate Tubbs. He is very much a players coach and parents love him. He is also not scared to pull out all of the stops to get the big recruit or recruits.

Even having referred to Auburn's class this year in a negative light, I would like to point out that I am very pleased with some of the talent we did get. Of course 5 stars Raven Gray, and Jermaine Johnson are huge, but WR Harry Adams is one of the fastest men in the nation, also watch out for a man by the name of Onterrio McCalleb. He is only 5-10/ 154, but watch for him to play a Percy Harvin/Trendon Holliday type role as soon as next year. Eric Smith, and Reggie Hunt(RBs) are no slouches either, of course neither is an Enrique Davis....

Deron Furr....watch out for this kid. He has bigtime written all over him. Marcus Jemison is a similiar hybrid QB/WR/PR/KR sort of athlete, only 3 stars but worthy of note.

And we hardened up our defensive backfield with pick ups like T'sharvan Bell(i know, auburn type name), Neiko Lipscomb, D'antoine Hood, and Drew Cole amongst others.

I am most dissapointed that we lost Baker on signing day and that we didn't recruit better at LB. Other than that, with the talent we already have waiting in the wings from the last 2-3 years of recruiting, we are set up just fine to make a run at the SEC again this year.

It will certainly be interesting to watch.

[AUJclayton]

Cameron Henderson is an absolute beast at DE, could not go without mentioning him. If you haven't seen his rivals video yet ,check it out.

[DaBus03]

Your boy DaBus here. Let me clarify one thing... We don't scare that easily. Recruiting classes on paper don't mean sh!t!

Having said that congrats on recruiting. It looks like you have recruited a stellar class at the UA.
Auburn on the other hand does what it always does...gets exactly what it needs. It is hard to sell a recruit on coming to a school when he may not even play the 4 or 5 years he is there, because we already have 3 to 4 players deep at that position for the next 3 to 4 years. Depth a wonderful thing until you have to recruit. As always we will take that 3 star recruit, and turn him into a NFL stud.

Last time I checked 1 year did not constitute a trend..I will pick a random number....um.....I will say 6... Now that constitutes a trend! War Eagle, and we will see you on the field where it counts come November.

P.S. Joker can't wait for you and El matteo to tear into this comment, and no need to pick every grammer error as I know you like to do some time. We can agree on something......Kate is Hot!!!!!!!! I do enjoy the site..good work.

[DaBus03]

Don't know who wrote it, but I like it!

So, is Auburn's class really that poorly ranked? Maybe you will think so if
you insult yourself by listening to Finebaum and similar things. You know
what they say . Perception is reality. The anti-Auburn media will do its
best to create the perception that Auburn's football program is about to
collapse because Alabama got good high school players. You can buy into
that if you want to, but perception is NOT always reality.

Question - Why did Auburn get beat on so many players this year?

Answer - Auburn faced the perfect storm of recruiting challenges.

First, the defensive coordinator leaves just a few weeks before signing day
when relationships had been solidified. Several players listed that as a
primary reason. Second, the offense coordinator changed in late December
bringing a new system. Again, relationships had been built and at least two
indicated that the change to the spread was important in their change.
Third, the Tuberville toArkansas/Texas A&M non-controversy, which the media
did its best to foster in order to hurt Auburn recruiting. It was used
against Auburn by other coaches. Fourth, the power of what Alabama has to
sell this year. Here's the pitch . Come here and you can play quickly. Our
team has lost 13 games the past two years and has a losing SEC record over
the past five years. Surely, you can beat out some of these guys. We used
to have tradition before you were born and you can be a part of bringing it
back.We are getting great media coverage, so you'll be on television and in
print a lot. Come and be a part of something great, bringing back a
program. Or would you rather go to Auburn or LSU or Georgia or Florida
where they are already loaded with quality depth and you won't get to play
as often or as soon? Now, if somebody can't sell that to players, they need
to quit their jobs. Surely, if you pay somebody $4 million and he loses six
games, including to Louisiana-Monroe, you should expect him to be able to
succeed with that sales pitch. If you couldn't sell that this year, when
would you ever be able to sell it?

So, there were a lot of factors working against Auburn. There is a
di fference in an "excuse" and a "reason." There's still no "excuse" for
losing so many head-to-head considerations with Alabama, and losing several
last minute defections to other schools, but it does give some "reasons"
that contributed.

Question - Does this mean Alabama will start dominating on the field, too?

Answer - It hasn't happened in the last 25 years, so why should it happen
soon?

[El Matteo]

Last I checked, our entire class was alive in 1992 and 1999. What do those years represent? Only our last two SEC titles and one national title. A quick check of the record books shows that Auburn only has one SEC title in that same time span.

Which "tradition" would you rather have?

Like I previously stated, Mr. Bus, you can tout a "perfect storm" and I'll agree with that assessment. The only problem is what exactly that storm may be. I think it's Hurricane Saban bringing in a storm surge and the Tide is a-risin', baby.

Hallelujah...praise be to Allah...I have a dream...God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food...AMEN!

[DaBus03]

It is wonderful that Tide fans are happy, and excited again. The Iron Bowl was getting awfully boring! I hope that Ole mighty .com can bring you guys back from the depths..so at least we will have a challenge again! The Hurricane your speaking of "Saban" is only classified as a F 1, 1 standing for how many times he has not beat us! 1 also depicts the number of years he has beat us in recruiting, but that is OK we normally loss to you guys in recruiting anyway. Which I might add has not stop us from pounding your asses the past 6 years! Good luck to you mister El Matteo, and may you guys beat your Spring Game attendence record this year as well. I hear it is a must win for you guys!

[Gump]

Hey man,

Thanks for the comment. Finally figured out how to find your blog!

Anyway, good work. Added you to the blogroll.

I agree. Auburn is more f**ked than Paris Hilton in night-vision. Roll Tide.