A Recap of the 2008 Auburn Signing Class

Well, another Signing Day has come and past. This year, it was a little different since we didn't get that "Signing Day Surprise" that Tommy Tuberville has been notorious for providing in each of his first nine signing classes at Auburn. Guys like Devin Aromashadu, Stanley McClover, Carlton Thomas, Karlos Dansby and Demarco McNeil have all come via this route.

To sum it up, comparatively speaking, we got taken to the woodshed by Alabama. Everyone we went head-to-head with them for either went to another school or signed up for four years of verbal abuse and (hopefully) a little more mediocrity from Nick Saban. I have to tip my hat to them, though. They did sign a hell of a class, much deserving of the No. 1 national ranking and praise being stowed upon them. For the first time, Saban delivered something besides hype since he's been sitting atop the altar at the C(r)apstone.

This class that we signed, though, is one that has a lot of bright spots. We brought in a ton of defensive backs, a ton of wide receivers and a ton of defensive linemen. These are three areas we had been focusing upon to build depth, and I think we will have contributors (based on the merit of them making their grades and/or returning to us after their stops at prep school and junior colleges) in all 28 signatures landed today.

Have I mentioned the speed acquired today? With the exception of Borat (AKA Derek Winter), we have speedsters in all of the wide receivers. Phillip Pierre-Louis is going to be a playmaker sooner rather than later. He's the steal of the class, in my opinion.

So what does this mean? Do we get taken to the woodshed every year because we can't compete with Saban and his gang? I don't think so. This could just be hopeful thinking, but they caught Auburn in the midst of a perfect storm. They also had a lot more to offer in terms of numbers and playing time. We ran into a perfect storm there as well.

This wasn't the greatest signing day, to tell you the truth, most of it was pretty awful for things beyond the scholarships being awarded today. We'll move on.

War Eagle, and I guess the sun comes up tomorrow.