Auburn football: OL recruit would be game-changing Class of 2023 addition

Auburn football landing top offensive lineman recruits just hasn’t been a development delved in reality recently.

Since 2019, a pair of tackles (Jack Driscoll, Prince Tega Wanogho) in 2020 represents the number of OL taken in the NFL Draft from AU. That number certainly doesn’t figure to increase after the 2022 season, barring something drastically unforeseen.

The Tigers need to make things happen on the field to change that recruiting direction. Top OLs will always be aggressively hunted by the perennial top recruiting schools. Considering the paydays OLs get at the pro level, that makes sense from an NIL standpoint, and whatever was going on behind the scenes before NIL rules were implemented.

2022 will be crucial for Bryan Harsin’s future on the Plains. This cannot be understated. Without at least seven wins by December, it’s possible that there is no Year 3 for his regime. Allen Greene’s contract extension deadline is at the end of January, and Harsin could be a casualty to save face under new president Chris Roberts.

Let’s look at the glass half full for a second, though. Optimistically assuming Harsin surprises pundits across the world of SEC football talking heads and pulls a metaphorical rabbit out of the hat, he could put himself in the position to land those proverbial white whales on the recruiting trail.

If Harsin lands any Class of 2023 recruit that would usually go to another arguably more powerful Power Five program, let’s hope it’s Jamaal Jarrett out of Greensboro, North Carolina.

Jamaal Jarrett would be a game-changing addition for Auburn football’s Class of 2023

At the moment, Georgia has an 80% crystal ball projection to Georgia. This isn’t shocking considering the 2021 National Championship seasons Kirby Smart just had as the first Nick Saban assistant to conquer him in the CFP.

Jarrett also has 20% confidence in staying home and playing for his home-state North Carolina Tar Heels. Clearly, there’s room for Jarrett to change his mind, especially if Georgia is upset by Bo Nix’s Oregon Ducks or Spencer Rattler’s South Carolina Gamecocks the first month of the season.

Auburn football would be the happy medium for that yearning for SEC culture and still feeling at home, which Jarrett recently described the Plains as feeling like. If Harsin’s culture change translates to on-field results, Jarrett would be the sort of game-changing recruit that put the Class of 2023 on the map.