There were a few surprises along the way, but National Signing Day 2014 was mostly business as usual for Gus Malzahn and the Auburn Tigers.
Auburn officially signed its fourth Top-10 recruiting class in the last five years Wednesday. According to 247Sports.com's Composite Team Rankings, which combines several of the nation's the top recruiting services into one, Malzahn and his staff had the No. 6 class in college football this season.
"We have guys who can help us immediately, and we have depth," Malzahn said. "I'm very excited about this class. It's been a good day."
Auburn had 16 verbal commitments prior to National Signing Day, and each one of them stayed true to the Tigers by sending in their National Letters of Intent to The Plains Wednesday morning.
The Tigers signed two 5-star players for the Class of 2014, and both were from the state of Alabama.
Oxford native Racean "Roc" Thomas, the No. 4 running back and No. 23 overall player in the country, officially signed with Auburn just before 9 a.m., making some Auburn fans sweat for a couple of hours. Thomas joined current Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson as Mr. Football for the state of Alabama, giving the Tigers back-to-back winners for the first time since 2000 and 2001.
"This humbles me a lot," Thomas told reporters Wednesday at a special ceremony at Oxford High School. "It's an honor. It shows that all my hard work is paying off."
Auburn's second 5-star recruit was Tre' Williams, who was rated as the No. 1 inside linebacker in the country by several outlets. Williams, who hails from Vigor High School in Mobile, was recruited by and No. 1 rated recruiter and assistant coach Dameyune Craig.
As for Signing Day surprises, highly touted offensive guard Braden Smith and defensive end Andrew Williams committed and signed with the Tigers in nationally televised announcements Wednesday.
Smith, a 4-star lineman chose Auburn over Texas A&M and TCU in a ceremony at his high school in Olathe, Kan.
"The reason I chose Auburn was because of the opportunity when Greg Robinson left for the NFL," Smith said. "I could get that opportunity to play early, and the style of offense they run is similar to the one we run here. I also liked all of the coaches there. They're top-of-the-line people."
Williams, the 4-star defensive end from McDonough, Ga., picked Auburn over Clemson and Georgia in a ceremony broadcast on ESPN3.com Wednesday afternoon.
"Auburn was the best decision for me to help grow as a man," Williams said. Auburn missed out on several targets on National Signing Day, but none were bigger than local 5-star outside linebacker Rashaan Evans.
For the second year in a row, the top recruit from Auburn High School decided to turn down the hometown Tigers in favor of the rival Crimson Tide.
"This decision was probably the hardest I've ever made in my life," Evans said. "There really was no bad decision and ultimately the reason I picked Alabama was because I felt like, not only could they help me pursue my football career, but also aspects outside education."
But Auburn was still able to secure a highly ranked recruiting class without Evans.
The Tigers finished with 23 signees -- 18 who officially sent their Letters of Intent in Wednesday, five who are already on campus after enrolling in school early. Auburn's class comes from only five different states, the lowest number of states since the Class of 2002.
Thirteen of Auburn's signees are on the defensive side of the football, with six signing to play on an Auburn defensive line that already has younger talent on campus.
On offense, Auburn secured a signee in every position on the field except for offensive tackle, a position of great depth for the future. In addition to Thomas, Auburn signed 4-star pro-style quarterback Sean White, who was named MVP of the Under Armour All-American Game.
"I'm proud of our staff," Malzahn said on the class. "They worked really hard developing relationships and they really worked hard to bring the right type of guys to Auburn: hard-nosed, high character, very talented young men."
Here are Auburn's 18 signees from National Signing Day:
- Racean "Roc" Thomas (5-star RB from Oxford)
- Tre' Williams (5-star ILB from Mobile)
- Kalvarez Bessent (4-star CB from Kingsland, Ga.)
- DaVonte Lambert (4-star DE from Georgia Military College)
- Stephen Roberts (4-star CB from Opelika)
- Nick Ruffin (4-star CB from Atlanta, Ga.)
- Dontavius Russell (4-star DT from Carrollton, Ga.)
- Braden Smith (4-star G from Olathe, Kan.)
- Justin Thornton (4-star DE from Mobile)
- Sean White (4-star QB from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla)
- Andrew Williams (4-star DE from McDonough, Ga.)
- Markell Boston (3-star S from Newnan, Ga.)
- Myron Burton (3-star ATH from Suwanee, Ga.)
- De'Shaun Davis (3-star ILB from Mobile)
- Raashed Kennion (3-star DE from Jacksonville, Fla.)
- Devaroe Lawrence (3-star DT from Georgia Military College)
- Jakell Mitchell (3-star TE from Opelika)
- Kamryn Pettway (3-star RB from Prattville)
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