Well...

Tyrik Rollison is transferring, so, there goes the freakin neighborhood... so much for my previous post... guess Newton is the heir apparent.

2010 QB situation

Ok, so it's been a while, but here we go:

Auburn is going to face an interesting situation is trying to find a new starting QB next season - and it'll be quite the opposite of last year's situation. Last year, nobody was really poised to step up in the eyes of most Auburn fans, but Chris Todd did and was fantastic. I think this year, the same things will happen, but not like most people are imagining it.

Auburn just signed Cameron Newton, the top Junior College quarterback in the country. He's a five-star guy that was one of the top QBs in the country coming out of high school. He signed with Florida after the year they won the National Championship with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow. This guy is a supreme talent, there's no doubt about it. And most people think he is the heir apparent to Todd. But in the famed words of Lee Corse, "Not so fast, my friend."

Let's not forget about Tyrik Rollison. Two years ago, this guy was the 2nd highest rated dual-threat QB in the country as well as one of the top-rated passers. And after watching his videos, I think he's a better passer than he is a runner. He's a very mature passer who goes through his checks and nothing is there, he either dumps the ball to a back or takes off running, while still looking for a pass opportunity. His football knowledge seems off the charts, and he is very calm and poised in the pocket. He's got that moxie that is absolutely necessary to be a top-notch QB.

I don't exactly seem the same attributes in Newton. Granted, he's big and displays excellent leadership qualities, but he's not nearly as refined a passer as Rollison. Newton can run, and might even be a little better runner than Rollison, but I think it's only because of his size and willingness to lower his should - much like Tebow was (think that's maybe why Florida recruited him so hard out of high school?).

I just feel like Gus Mahzahn is more prone to go with the better passer, and according to the videos I've watched, that appears to be Rollison. Now, Newton might be a little more mature and "ready" to take over an SEC offense, but that remains to be seen - especially given that Rollison redshirted last season and studies under Todd and the coaching staff all year. So who knows...

If I were going to make a prediction as of right now, I'd say Newton is the opening day QB, with Rollison seeing significant playing time, and I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see Neil Caudle start the season as the backup. But I think Rollison is the future of Auburn Football and may even take over the job before the year is done. And the following year, I think Rollison wins it over Newton and everyone else in the mix.

Recruiting...

Auburn is lining up one of the best recruiting classes in the country and it looks like it will get even better before it's all over. According to Rivals.com, Auburn has the fourth-best class, with Florida sitting pretty at No. 1.

Yesterday, Auburn pulled a shocker when it landed four-star offensive guard Eric Mack, who is widely regarded as one of the strongest high school seniors in the country. He adds to the No. 1 offensive line class in the country that is headlined by Shon Coleman, one of the top 25 high school seniors in the country and the top player out of Mississippi. Coleman, with a 6'7" frame, will play tackle, and will likely be book-ended by Roszell Gayden, another 6'7" guy who comes from junior college. Coleman is a five-star guy and Gayden is four-star.

Outside of the offensive line, Auburn pulled the top JUCO player in the country to the Plains in Five-star quarterback Cameron Newton. He is 6'6" and is simply a winner. He backed up Tim Tebow for a year at Florida during Tebow's Heisman season. Newton is joined by five-star running back Michael Dyer, who is the top player out of Arkansas and the 2nd highest rated running back in the country. And HERE'S the best part: the top-rated running back, Marcus Lattimore, who is also the No. 10 ranked player in the country overall, is very likely going to sign with Auburn the day before signing day. He has narrowed his list to Auburn and South Carolina. He is from Carolina,so it would be considered a coup if Auburn were able to sign him, but from what I'm hearing from my sources, he's about 85 percent solid to Auburn and will likely visit the Plains this weekend. He would give Auburn a back that is similar to Ben Tate is physicality and ability to carry a team on his shoulders and carry the load. Also, I think people need not forget about Dontae Aycock, who redshirted last year. I think he'll be a bigger factor in the offense this year than people think. Auburn backed off Lache Seastrunk, who is also a five-star running back, or he would have already committed. Be the coaches had their reasons. Basically, Seastrunk would be somewhat of a project but has all the raw talent in the world, whereas Dyer and Lattimore are ready right now, and are sure things.

Auburn also has a commitment from Louisiana's top player, athlete Trovon Reed. He will be a receiver and headlines the top wide receiver class in the country this far. Jeremy Richardson and Antonio Goodwin will join him next year and all three are four-star guys who can really bring it.

So basically, what you are hearing is that Auburn stands to have the top quarterback class, running back class, offensive line class AND wide receiver class in the nation when all is said and done. How's THAT for a successful recruiting year. And we haven't even talked about the defense yet.

Trovon Reed to Auburn

Just letting you all know, Trovon Reed just committed to Auburn. He is the No. 37 high school player in the country according to Rivals.com, and the No. 5 wide receiver... And just to point out, I'm the second to report this :)  --  (Rivals beat me to it)

Reed is the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Lousianna. He joins Shon Coleman (Mississippi) and Michael Dyer (Arkansas) as the third player to commit to Auburn that sits atop his state's prep rankings. Three Mr. Football's in one class is pretty special. And the Tigers could also land South Carolina's Mr. Football, Marcus Lattimore. But we'll see.

I think Reed's commitment will be HUGE is swaying Lache Seastrunk to Auburn, if he's not already sold. 

CJ Spiller deserves the Heisman

And here's just one explanation of why, (all you really have to do is watch even ONE Clemson game - he's absolutely amazing and is easily the most dynamic player in college football. Remember Reggie Bush? Spiller is just as fast but with better vision and a little tougher), per a member of Rivals.com:

Copied from a rivals post

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Teddy Heffner on Talk Radio in Columbia makes a good point in reference to all-purpose yards in that a crappy team that gets scored on all the time with a guy who returns 5 kicks a game can get 100 all purpose yds at 20yds a return. It is a good point but it has resulted in many, like Teddy, dismissing much of CJ's production because of the term "all-purpose" that goes with his yardage and the scenario above that they associate with it.

In order to relieve CJ of the all-purpose "bias", what I have done below is take all of Spiller’s kick returns and subtract 20yds from each one. In other words, if he had a return for 50yds, I subtracted 20 and only counted 30yds in his stats. Call the first 20 return yards "junk yards" because they are common for returners, so let's not count them. For example, the player returning 5 kicks at 20 yards a pop who gets credit for 100 all purpose yards would actually get credit for 0 yards in my revised numbers for Spiller below. Fair enough?

Spiller has 15 kick returns. If we take away 20yds per return that results in 300 yds that will be removed from his total yardage below. For comparison sake, I added the stats for the other 2 front runners in the Heisman race without altering Ingram and Tebow's stats in any way. Here they are.

------- Touches -- Total Yds -- TDs--- Yds Per Touch -- Touches Per TD --

Spiller-- 177 ------ 1,494* ---- 12 ------- 8.4 ------------ 14.7 ---

Ingram--- 199 ------ 1,364 ----- 11 ------- 6.8 ------------ 18.0 ---

Tebow---- 328 ------ 2,109 ----- 20 ------- 6.4 ------------ 16.4 ---

*Note ? 300 kick return yards of CJ's 1,794 total yds were removed per my explanation above.

What jumps out at you? Here's my list...

1. First of all it is the yards per touch. He is producing approximately 30% more yards per touch than Tebow and Ingram, even when you don’t count those 300 return yards. If I had included those return yards he would have averaged 10.1 yds per touch.

2. Look at the number of touches that result in a TD for each player. CJ scores a touchdown every 14.7 times he touches the ball. It takes Ingram 18 touches to get a touch down and Tebow 16.4 touches to get one. That said, which player's hands would you want the ball in when you need a score?

3. Keep in mind Tebow’s stats include passing yards & passing TDs which significantly skew things when comparing a QB to any other skill position. A good QB's total yards and TDs typically triple those of a running back or receiver. That makes Spiller’s numbers in comparison to a Heisman QB even more impressive. CJ still smokes him in TDs produced per touch and yds gained per touch even though I removed 300 of CJ's kick return yards.

4. CJ Spiller has been hurt since game one. As a result, he has played very sparingly against teams that we blew out. He had only 5 carries against Middle Tenn St., 9 carries against Wake Forest & 5 carries against Coastal Carolina. What that means is that his stats are not padded in games we played weaker opponents. His stats above were compiled almost entirely against our best opponents in what amounts to about 6 games, not 9.

5. Building on #4... CJ’s best games have come against our greatest competition. For example, of the 3 opponents Clemson played currently ranked in the top 12 (Georgia Tech, TCU & Miami), CJ Spiller averaged 177 yds from scrimmage per game with an average of 264 all-purpose yards per game and 4 TDs. Here are his Yds From Scrimmage/All Purpose Yds/ TDs for each: GT: 156/256/1, TCU: 191/227/1, Miami: 185/310/2. Find another player in the country that has numbers even remotely close to that CONSISTENTLY against top 10 competition.

Given the above stats, I think it becomes even more clear who the best player in college football is. Who would you pay the most to see play? Who makes you hold your breath the most, EVERY TIME he touches the ball? Who steps up for his team the most in the games that matter the most? Whose hands do you most want the ball in if you have one play left in the game and need a score? That is who should win the Heisman trophy.