Folks around the Auburn football program are “optimistic” about their chances of flipping 4-star Miami DB commit Zaquan Patterson according to 247Sports’s Christian Clemente — who conceded there’s “still work to be done.” According to Clemente, the coaching staff is selling Patterson on the idea that he could’ve been the man to stop Georgia tight end Brock Bowers in Week 5. Bowers had one of his finest collegiate outings in UGA’s 27-20 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 30 and convinced some with the outing that he is Heisman material.
“I still think there’s some work to be done,” Clemente prefaced before saying, “There are folks at Auburn that feel optimistic about their chances to try and land Zaquan Patterson. The message with him was, ‘we’re a couple of playmakers away,’ and that was really the message with all the recruits there. They’re telling Zaquan Patterson, Brock Bowers has this crazy game at tight end, if we have you there at safety playing that star role, we’re putting you on Brock Bowers.”
Selling a recruit by touting the performance of an opposing player is an interesting strategy for sure, but the right kind of player will see an offensive star thrive like Bowers did against the Tigers and want to take on that challenge head-on.
Auburn football target believes he can be an answer for secondary
Credit Patterson for claiming he’d do what he can to prevent another massive tight end performance like what Bowers did against the Auburn football defense following the razor-thin defeat.
“I cover tight ends all the time, so I feel like I’d be able to help them in that sense,” Patterson said (h/t Rivals). “I can play anywhere on defense, so just anywhere they need me, for real.”
Patterson certainly sounds like someone who is already partial, to a degree, to the Plains.
“I don’t know what it was, I was just a little more hype this game,” Patterson said. “I feel like it’s because it was Georgia, but they played a hell of a game. I can’t even be mad they lost, they did everything they had to do.”