Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
Auburn is going to need offensive linemen in the 2020 recruiting class and the Tigers have already landed commitments from seven players along the line.
But none are as highly-rated as 6-foot-6, 300-pound Broderick Jones, who was at the Georgia-Auburn game on Saturday.
The Lithonia, Ga., standout who’s ranked as the fourth-best offensive tackle nationally and is under consideration for a five-star ranking, is committed to the Bulldogs. He has been since April.
However, Jones was one of many high-end prospects at the game on Saturday, maybe to watch Georgia on the road, but also to experience the game-day environment at Auburn and inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers are definitely making a run at him.
Another elite offensive lineman that is on Auburn’s radar is four-star Chris Morris, the top-rated guard in the 2020 class out of Memphis (Ark.) West Memphis. He has been committed to Texas A&M for about a month, but there were rumors he was expected at the Auburn game as well but he confirmed Monday that he didn’t make it there this past weekend.
Auburn needs to reload on the offensive line. Can the Tigers flip Jones and/or Morris in this class or are both locked up to SEC rivals?
FIRST TAKE: Jeffrey Lee, AUSports.com
“I don’t see Auburn being in a position right now to steal any offensive linemen from anyone especially Georgia with Jones or Morris from Texas A&M. Auburn has seven offensive linemen committed, but would certainly make room for either Morris or Jones, but I just don’t see them to be in a position to steal an offensive lineman from Texas A&M in the West and especially Georgia in the East.
“I don’t think the class number is keeping Auburn from pushing hard. They’re both elite offensive linemen and something Auburn is in very big need of in this class. Convincing these kids to change their mind might be the most difficult part considering the problems Auburn is having on offense. Even though they’re losing their entire offensive line, it’s still going to be tough for Auburn.”
SECOND TAKE: Mike Farrell, Rivals.com
“Jones is going to end up at Georgia. Auburn had a good opportunity to show him a good environment and it would’ve been nice for them to win that game. That could’ve given them a better chance to flip him, but Jones has been committed to Georgia for so long and I just don’t see him flipping after being at Auburn this weekend.
“Morris is unpredictable and hard to read sometimes. He will take visits to other schools, but his commitment to Texas A&M is pretty fresh and that was almost always the leader for him, so he’s going to see other schools but still end up in the Texas A&M class. I don’t see either of these guys flipping.”
