#STAYWOLK: Surprise cornerback news on Auburn's horizon?
Here's an inside look at things happening in and around Auburn from new AuburnSports.com reporter Benjamin Wolk:
• Could some great, surprise recruiting news be on the horizon for Auburn? That's the direction it's trending on Wednesday. Oscar Smith (Va.) defensive back Cam'Ron Kelly announced via Twitter last night he will use Wednesday, his mother's birthday, to announce his commitment. Auburn is the team to beat, as the Tigers have been since he visited for the cookout at the end of the summer. That's not to say Auburn isn't fending off competitors here. Clemson and Penn State have also been after Kelly since he de-committed from Virginia Tech in July. But, from what I've been told, Auburn was the primary reason for Kelly's de-commitment in July, and the Tigers remain in the driver's seat leading up to the Wednesday decision.
• LIsted as an athlete and safety by some services, Auburn actually views Kelly as a cornerback. If he commits Wednesday, that would give the Tigers Jaylin Simpson, Zion Puckett and Kelly as cornerback commits in this class. A source told AuburnSports.com's Jeffrey Lee post-Puckett commitment that the Tigers would likely take 1-2 more cornerbacks in the 2019 class. Kelly is one of those. That creates a bit of a waiting game for guys such as Nehemiah Pritchett and Kenny Logan. It helps explain the wait on Pritchett's decision. If Auburn were to take one of Pritchett and Logan, the expected preference would be Pritchett who has the full support of several coaches on the Tigers' defensive staff.
• Every time I've posted an insider at AuburnSports.com so far, some witty poster has commented with a quip about Auburn playing five offensive guards on the line. For starters, tackle Justin Osborne is already in the 2019 class. Smart money suggests the Tigers will add another, but those names are likely to form over the course of the next few months. J.B. Grimes is still rekindling relationships and it'll be a cycle-long effort. The Tigers are already starting to set the stage for 2020, though. Rivals.com's Chad Simmons wrote at length about 2020 tackle Tate Ratledge who is more interested in Auburn than oftentimes publicly suggested. An out-of-pipeline 2020 prospect to keep an eye on: Chris Mayo. I caught up with Mayo last week, and he said he wants to treat every offer neutrally so early in his process, but he thinks Auburn is "a different, special place."
• At assistant coach media day, the AuburnSports.com crew split up among the position coaches. I was responsible for cornerbacks coach Marcus Woodson and linebackers coach Travis Williams — two rising stars in the profession, in my opinion. This isn't ground-breaking news, but I made sure to get both of their recruiting areas just to relay exactly what recruits they assigned. Woodson has Memphis (Tennessee), all of Mississippi, Tuscaloosa (Ala.) area going into Mississippi and secondary on any out-of-territory cornerbacks. Williams — who said he just "goes where the players are" — is assigned Jacksonville (Fla.), Gwinnett County (Ga.), Covington (Ga.), Athens (Ga.), Augusta (Ga.) and part of the Carolinas. Those are two of Auburn's best recruiters, and as a results, you're going to see a lot of guys commit to Auburn from those areas.
• The last three insiders have all had some form of update on running backs. I'll try not to overload you with running back intel, but at the same time, it may be the position fans are most curious about updates. Speaking with a source last week, paraphrasing some, here's what I found out about Auburn's running back search. The Tigers are, in fact, putting most of their eggs in the Noah Cain basket. He's been their No. 1 running back target from start to finish, and that isn't changing. With that said, Auburn isn't likely to get any firm answers it really wants from Cain and his family until October. The Tigers are aware this can put them in a tricky spot if they miss on Cain. But, according to the source, Auburn is keeping the stoves warm on a running back committed to another school, though that name or school was not specifically revealed to me. That falls in line with my reporting on Nebraska commit Ronald Thompkins the last few weeks. There are other committed running backs that could qualify, but there is clearly a relationship there between Thompkins, the Auburn staff and several commits.