2014 3* C Andrew Marshall (Georgia Tech signee)

[VegasEagle 202]

I will say, that to me, those stumpy guys were the hardest to get around. Leverage is a big deal on the line!

[keesler 5,943]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm in academics. (Vandy PhD.) If you think other SEC schools compete with Vandy in the job market, except in engineering or other specialties, you're being silly. Duke is at a higher level than that. The difference is, major companies come to Vandy and Duke to recruit interns. You can major in history, but do the internship thing (hard for a football player to do), and you'll get a very good start. Please understand, that's not snobbishness on my part. I'm an academic, and I make a hell of a lot less than an Auburn engineer, accountant, you name it. Just explaining the difference.

2. As for his Lawson game, I don't know. I can tell you those things happen. I weighed 165 in high school, played center for Coffee, and stuffed a three-year Alabama starter/NFLer for pretty much an entire game -- until they moved him to another position. It's high school. I'm not saying I was some star, as I obviously wasn't, but you never know what might happen in an actual game.

+1

That's why I'd honestly have to guide my son to Vandy/Duke over my alma matre if they offered to give him a FREE education/room/board and FREE graduate school if he chose to take advantage of it, and Franklin/Cutcliff are good football coaches too. JMHO on the subject - with my 14 yr old meathead son, I won't have to make these type of decisions (he's a good kid, he just doesn't have the "want" to excel in anything constructive this summer.)

[AUEngineer2016 407]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm in academics. (Vandy PhD.) If you think other SEC schools compete with Vandy in the job market, except in engineering or other specialties, you're being silly. Duke is at a higher level than that. The difference is, major companies come to Vandy and Duke to recruit interns. You can major in history, but do the internship thing (hard for a football player to do), and you'll get a very good start. Please understand, that's not snobbishness on my part. I'm an academic, and I make a hell of a lot less than an Auburn engineer, accountant, you name it. Just explaining the difference.

2. As for his Lawson game, I don't know. I can tell you those things happen. I weighed 165 in high school, played center for Coffee, and stuffed a three-year Alabama starter/NFLer for pretty much an entire game -- until they moved him to another position. It's high school. I'm not saying I was some star, as I obviously wasn't, but you never know what might happen in an actual game.

+1

That's why I'd honestly have to guide my son to Vandy/Duke over my alma matre if they offered to give him a FREE education/room/board and FREE graduate school if he chose to take advantage of it, and Franklin/Cutcliff are good football coaches too. JMHO on the subject - with my 14 yr old meathead son, I won't have to make these type of decisions (he's a good kid, he just doesn't have the "want" to excel in anything constructive this summer.)

If the education was free, I would agree with you; however, my point was that the prices that they charge for that education are not worth the advantages FOR UNDERGRAD (caps for importance lol). I completely agree that for grad school, especially for medical school, Duke and Vandy are in the top tier, but in Undergraduate work, most classes are not taught by the big name professors. They are taught by GTAs. I have friends from high school that are going to both of these schools right now, and they all say the same thing- yes, it is great name recognition, but all of their classes are taught by GTAs. And I can't rationalize spending 60K a year + books, travel, food, and recreation for an undergraduate education where you are still being taught by GTAs.

As far as scholarships go, when I graduated High School, I had a 31 ACT (max is 36) and above a 4.0 GPA, along with being an Eagle Scout and playing 2 varsity sports, and I did not get a full ride to AU.

[gman87 405]

If UGA or SC have not offered then why should AU.

No offense, but that logic is ridiculous. I don't know whether they will or "should" offer the kid or not, but if they do it should be because they see something they like, not because he has offers from other big-name schools.

That is the point. At the moment no one is seeing a reason to offer. I am not saying that AU makes decisions on what others schools are doing. My point about not offering while the others have not offered is that you are not in competition for his services at the moment. No one is going to steal him away from you. AU can always offer later is the point. I see all these posts about "offer him now". That reeks of desperation when it is obvious at the moment that AU is not sold him on as an upper D1 recruit.

That's all well and good up until you sour a kid on your school by stringing him out and then the other schools DO offer. Hopefully, the last thing on our coaches minds right now is "how it looks" to offer a kid with few offers. If they want him, offer, if they have other fish to fry, so be it.

[aucanucktiger 1,857]

To pick a nit, unless your QB is 6'4ish or rolling out virtually every play, ideal college centers are 6'0ish mudders. This wonderful student and person seems more suited as guard material for our apparent backfield plans than anything like a pure replacement of Casher.

IMHO.

Since Reese is 6'3", I guess he better be getting ready to move to guard then. Dag nabbit, I hate when that happens.

And the #1 center in the NFL is 6'5 and taller than some tackles on the All Pro team.

Dangit you two!! Quit using facts to back up your arguments. This is a message board for God's sake!! We don't care for facts, rumor and innuendo are much better.

Well looky what I found after posting. Apparently the same stupid concept was presented by Auburn24/7. If ya'll haven't been aware of the center/QB height issue for the last 30 years it's never too late to start reading. The average NFL QB is 6'3" and our QBs are right in line with that (O'Connor 6'2", Frazier 6'2", Wallace 6'2", Marshall 6'2" (accord to 24/7 sports), Durand 6'3" and Johnson 6'5" (accord to ESPN)) so 6'3/6'4" (depending which story you read) Andrew may be golden at Auburn.

http://auburn.247sports.com/Board/42/Andrew-Marshall-is-6-4-Too-tall-for-center-20066907/1#a20067246

[80Tiger 907]

If UGA or SC have not offered then why should AU.

No offense, but that logic is ridiculous. I don't know whether they will or "should" offer the kid or not, but if they do it should be because they see something they like, not because he has offers from other big-name schools.

That is the point. At the moment no one is seeing a reason to offer. I am not saying that AU makes decisions on what others schools are doing. My point about not offering while the others have not offered is that you are not in competition for his services at the moment. No one is going to steal him away from you. AU can always offer later is the point. I see all these posts about "offer him now". That reeks of desperation when it is obvious at the moment that AU is not sold him on as an upper D1 recruit.

That's all well and good up until you sour a kid on your school by stringing him out and then the other schools DO offer. Hopefully, the last thing on our coaches minds right now is "how it looks" to offer a kid with few offers. If they want him, offer, if they have other fish to fry, so be it.

The fact is recruits are prioritized. AU cannot worry about "souring" a potential recruit if they are a lower priority. That is why you see signing day surprises. Guys that were not on the radar until the last day; those borderline upper tier D1 talents. At this point I believe AU may have some other fish to fry. If they do not pan out then they will circle back. And you are right, it is not " how it looks" to offer a kid with few offers, but it does allow us slow play it if we (AU) considers him a "project" or "borderline" player. It takes us out of a position of not having to make a decision if we do not have to.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm in academics. (Vandy PhD.) If you think other SEC schools compete with Vandy in the job market, except in engineering or other specialties, you're being silly. Duke is at a higher level than that. The difference is, major companies come to Vandy and Duke to recruit interns. You can major in history, but do the internship thing (hard for a football player to do), and you'll get a very good start. Please understand, that's not snobbishness on my part. I'm an academic, and I make a hell of a lot less than an Auburn engineer, accountant, you name it. Just explaining the difference.

2. As for his Lawson game, I don't know. I can tell you those things happen. I weighed 165 in high school, played center for Coffee, and stuffed a three-year Alabama starter/NFLer for pretty much an entire game -- until they moved him to another position. It's high school. I'm not saying I was some star, as I obviously wasn't, but you never know what might happen in an actual game.

Coffee :-\ Russellville baby

Russellville had elementary school kids throwing rocks at our bus. Come to think of it, I don't recall ever losing to them.

A couple of people posted that Vandy and Duke have TAs teaching the classes. That happens at every school, but I can promise you, it happens much less at Vandy and Duke than at a state school. Vandy and Duke pride themselves on first-rate undergrad education. I was a TA at Vandy. The full prof ran plenary sessions, and we met in small groups run by TAs once a week.

As for the "value" of those educations compared to tuition, I'm not here to defend it. I can say it would be interesting to know the average income of an alum 15 years out. But the other relevant point is, the cost sticker means nothing until all the financial aid math has worked itself out.

[JFDTiger80 809]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm in academics. (Vandy PhD.) If you think other SEC schools compete with Vandy in the job market, except in engineering or other specialties, you're being silly. Duke is at a higher level than that. The difference is, major companies come to Vandy and Duke to recruit interns. You can major in history, but do the internship thing (hard for a football player to do), and you'll get a very good start. Please understand, that's not snobbishness on my part. I'm an academic, and I make a hell of a lot less than an Auburn engineer, accountant, you name it. Just explaining the difference.

2. As for his Lawson game, I don't know. I can tell you those things happen. I weighed 165 in high school, played center for Coffee, and stuffed a three-year Alabama starter/NFLer for pretty much an entire game -- until they moved him to another position. It's high school. I'm not saying I was some star, as I obviously wasn't, but you never know what might happen in an actual game.

Coffee :-\ Russellville baby

Russellville had elementary school kids throwing rocks at our bus. Come to think of it, I don't recall ever losing to them.

A couple of people posted that Vandy and Duke have TAs teaching the classes. That happens at every school, but I can promise you, it happens much less at Vandy and Duke than at a state school. Vandy and Duke pride themselves on first-rate undergrad education. I was a TA at Vandy. The full prof ran plenary sessions, and we met in small groups run by TAs once a week.

As for the "value" of those educations compared to tuition, I'm not here to defend it. I can say it would be interesting to know the average income of an alum 15 years out. But the other relevant point is, the cost sticker means nothing until all the financial aid math has worked itself out.

Ok, I told myself not to do this but here goes...My youngest daughter had an approx. 4.5 on a 4.0 scale GPA, from a good ATL public HS. She was National Honor Society, cheerleader, nice SAT scores of 1300 for Math and Verbal as well as a perfect written SAT score making her score on the 2400 basis a 2100. She had lots of college choices. She went to UGA on the Hope and was in the Honors school. She graduated with honors with a double major in Finance and Spanish. We were told by several universities to send her to UGA b/c of the Hope and if she wanted grad school after, to then send her to a highly thought of grad school.

Well, she took a job with Siemen's as a Financial Mgmt Trainee out of college making very good money. She has not decided to go to grad school, but if she does, Siemen's will pick up the tab.

Say what you want about Duke and Vandy, but our daughter with her 2 degrees from UGA was competitive with Duke and Vandy undergrad's.

That being said, I do think grad school from a Vandy, Duke, Ivy school, etc. would be something to seriously consider as I think this is where the benefits will be seen more.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'm in academics. (Vandy PhD.) If you think other SEC schools compete with Vandy in the job market, except in engineering or other specialties, you're being silly. Duke is at a higher level than that. The difference is, major companies come to Vandy and Duke to recruit interns. You can major in history, but do the internship thing (hard for a football player to do), and you'll get a very good start. Please understand, that's not snobbishness on my part. I'm an academic, and I make a hell of a lot less than an Auburn engineer, accountant, you name it. Just explaining the difference.

2. As for his Lawson game, I don't know. I can tell you those things happen. I weighed 165 in high school, played center for Coffee, and stuffed a three-year Alabama starter/NFLer for pretty much an entire game -- until they moved him to another position. It's high school. I'm not saying I was some star, as I obviously wasn't, but you never know what might happen in an actual game.

Coffee :-\/> Russellville baby

Russellville had elementary school kids throwing rocks at our bus. Come to think of it, I don't recall ever losing to them. ;)/>

A couple of people posted that Vandy and Duke have TAs teaching the classes. That happens at every school, but I can promise you, it happens much less at Vandy and Duke than at a state school. Vandy and Duke pride themselves on first-rate undergrad education. I was a TA at Vandy. The full prof ran plenary sessions, and we met in small groups run by TAs once a week.

As for the "value" of those educations compared to tuition, I'm not here to defend it. I can say it would be interesting to know the average income of an alum 15 years out. But the other relevant point is, the cost sticker means nothing until all the financial aid math has worked itself out.

I'm going to PM you so I won't hijack this thread

[IronMan70 3,321]

To pick a nit, unless your QB is 6'4ish or rolling out virtually every play, ideal college centers are 6'0ish mudders. This wonderful student and person seems more suited as guard material for our apparent backfield plans than anything like a pure replacement of Casher.

IMHO.

Since Reese is 6'3", I guess he better be getting ready to move to guard then. Dag nabbit, I hate when that happens.

And the #1 center in the NFL is 6'5 and taller than some tackles on the All Pro team.

Yep, the 2 shortest starting QBs in the league, who both happen to be elite QBs, take snaps from tall centers. It's all about the passing lanes.

Seattle:

QB- Wilson, 5'-11", 2 yrs.

OC- Unger, 6'-5", 5 yrs.

New Orleans:

QB- Brees, 6'- 0",13 yrs.

OC- Brian, 6'- 3", 4 yrs.

OC- Elliot, 6'- 5", rookie

[IronMan70 3,321]

The fact is, he does not have any real upper tier offers at the moment. Not downing the kid, but while he may have height and the frame to put on more weight, his speed and footwork could be suspect. There is a reason he does not have the upper tier offers at this time. That could change for sure.I imagine AU will hold off until they have to. If UGA or SC have not offered then why should AU. I would think AU is looking at all options at this time. As others have stated, it does not seem that AU has to have a center in this class.

But, but, but ......... what if UGA or SC don't even need a center ?

[Root 0]

My first post here ever, but hopefully not my last. Okay guys, I love AU, but they just dont reward top students what Vandy & Duke do. AU didnt offer squat to my son in 2001 (out of state) for honors school. Got a full academic ride to Vandy and then a full ride to phd at Duke. Get real -- $$$ values arent the same. By the way, he was a decent OL & only 6'2 in high school -- played rugby at Vandy.

Not sure what this has to do with AU needing a top center, but sometimes we have to look at the reality. A Vandy, Duke, Stanford undergrad degree is usually worth more than an AU degree. Would love for that to change, but that is the reality of now.

[VegasEagle 202]

My first post here ever, but hopefully not my last. Okay guys, I love AU, but they just dont reward top students what Vandy & Duke do. AU didnt offer squat to my son in 2001 (out of state) for honors school. Got a full academic ride to Vandy and then a full ride to phd at Duke. Get real -- $$$ values arent the same. By the way, he was a decent OL & only 6'2 in high school -- played rugby at Vandy.

Not sure what this has to do with AU needing a top center, but sometimes we have to look at the reality. A Vandy, Duke, Stanford undergrad degree is usually worth more than an AU degree. Would love for that to change, but that is the reality of now.

I agree! Nice first post and welcome to a great forum!

[douggwilliams 61]

My first post here ever, but hopefully not my last. Okay guys, I love AU, but they just dont reward top students what Vandy & Duke do. AU didnt offer squat to my son in 2001 (out of state) for honors school. Got a full academic ride to Vandy and then a full ride to phd at Duke. Get real -- $$$ values arent the same. By the way, he was a decent OL & only 6'2 in high school -- played rugby at Vandy.

Not sure what this has to do with AU needing a top center, but sometimes we have to look at the reality. A Vandy, Duke, Stanford undergrad degree is usually worth more than an AU degree. Would love for that to change, but that is the reality of now.

I graduated with (2) guys who had full rides at Vandy, Swanee, and a few others. They both chose AU because it was a full ride, a good school for what they wanted, and it actually paid them while they were there. Auburn rewards top students.

[NoALtiger 3,926]

Unless you have real potential to be an NFL player or grew up as a lifelong AU fan, you'd be an idiot to turn down a full ride to Vandy or Duke. That's as simple as I can put it. JMO.

[VegasEagle 202]

Unless you have real potential to be an NFL player or grew up as a lifelong AU fan, you'd be an idiot to turn down a full ride to Vandy or Duke. That's as simple as I can put it. JMO.

Ditto! But, Auburn is a very good school, and, I believe/hope it even getting better. Lets move on to other issues.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

Auburn is a very good school indeed. And you can do well in lots of places. I have a friend who went to little local Millersville University, then to the London School of Economics. She just turned 30 and runs a NYC office for Reuters. So yeah....

On the cost issue, it doesn't matter if School A is $60,000 and school B is $20,000. What matters is what you have to pay after the financials work out.

[gman87 405]

Unless you have real potential to be an NFL player or grew up as a lifelong AU fan, you'd be an idiot to turn down a full ride to Vandy or Duke. That's as simple as I can put it. JMO.

Do either even have a veterinary school? There are reasons to choose Auburn over other schools.

[AU_Tiger_88 417]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

[NoALtiger 3,926]

Unless you have real potential to be an NFL player or grew up as a lifelong AU fan, you'd be an idiot to turn down a full ride to Vandy or Duke. That's as simple as I can put it. JMO.

Do either even have a veterinary school? There are reasons to choose Auburn over other schools.

No, you are correct on that one as we obviously have an outstanding Vet school. I don't know how many highly recruited football prospects that are worthy of a D1 scholly to a program like AU go in to the Veterinary business after their playing career is over though. Surely to be a small percentage. Remember, I was talking about football players, not necessarily the general student base. Anyways, you have a valid point. Back to Marshall- my early prediction (subject to change of course ) is that we do not sign a true center in this class for a variety of reasons.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

AU is in no hurry to do anything right now regarding the center spot. I was told AU is done with Casher but 23 heard different. No offering Marshall has me thinking AU is still recruiting Casher.

[ellitor 33,668]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

All Marshall can do is keep getting better and bigger. The staff made no promises. They are just reevaluating everything at the center position for the 2014 class.

[ellitor 33,668]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

AU is in no hurry to do anything right now regarding the center spot. I was told AU is done with Casher but 23 heard different. No offering Marshall has me thinking AU is still recruiting Casher.

As you all can see we have conflicting insider info here. This is just my opinion. I will be cool with whatever the coaches decide but if it were me I would stay on Casher because as of now even the Bama recruiting analysts do not even know if Cash is a take for Bama or not.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

AU is in no hurry to do anything right now regarding the center spot. I was told AU is done with Casher but 23 heard different. No offering Marshall has me thinking AU is still recruiting Casher.

As you all can see we have conflicting insider info here. This is just my opinion. I will be cool with whatever the coaches decide but if it were me I would stay on Casher because as of now even the Bama recruiting analysts do not even know if Cash is a take for Bama or not.

I'd also stay on Casher. Kid will be a 3 year starter at AU.

[Dixie1860 27]

so getting back to the topic at hand....E. Any word on what this kid has to do or are we just waiting on Casher?

AU is in no hurry to do anything right now regarding the center spot. I was told AU is done with Casher but 23 heard different. No offering Marshall has me thinking AU is still recruiting Casher.

As you all can see we have conflicting insider info here. This is just my opinion. I will be cool with whatever the coaches decide but if it were me I would stay on Casher because as of now even the Bama recruiting analysts do not even know if Cash is a take for Bama or not.

I'd also stay on Casher. Kid will be a 3 year starter at AU.

What is the early guesstimate on his little brother? Is he a 4*/5* type or maybe just a solid 3*? I know numbers keep it from happening often but if lil' bro is a future stud and it kept us from getting a 3 year difference maker, I could see them taking Casher. JMOTIFWIW