Grade Report: 2017 Class

Auburn finished with Rivals.com's No. 14 recruiting class in 2017, the lowest ranking since Gus Malzahn took over in 2013.

The ranking, however, can be misleading.

Looking at Auburn's biggest needs for the 2017 class, and seeing which players filled those needs, the class is fairly impressive. No, Auburn didn't sign another top-10 class, but it came closer than most think.

Rivals' No. 14 ranking is not an accurate representation of the Tigers' class. The recruiting network doesn't include Jarrett Stidham in Auburn's class ranking. Rivals views Stidham as a transfer, not a junior college transfer, a transfer, and therefore doesn't consider him a recruit that it can rank.

Auburn received zero points from Rivals for signing its No. 1 overall target. Had Rivals credited Auburn with signing Stidham, the class would be tied at No. 12 with Penn State, at least according to mathematics performed by AuburnSports.com's Bryan Matthews.

The Tigers' 2017 recruiting class isn't the flashiest or the most star-studded group to sign with Auburn. But gosh darnit, overall, it's a pretty good group.

How good?

Here's how I grade the class when breaking it down by positions:

QB Class: A+

It would have been difficult for the Tigers to sign a better duo than it did with junior college transfer Jarrett Stidham and dual-threat Malik Willis.

Stidham was a must-have for Malzahn; Willis was a bonus, and a very good bonus at that.