Auburn football recruiting: The one 5-star recruit Tigers can’t afford to lose in 2021
By John Buhler
Ga’Quincy McKinstry is at the top of the Auburn football recruiting board.
Auburn football needs to start picking up the pace when it comes to 2021 class recruitment.
The Auburn Tigers are widely seen as one of the 15 best college football programs in the country. Though they haven’t made it to the College Football Playoff yet, Auburn has played for a national championship twice in the last 10 years. In short, Auburn is never all that far away from contending for a national title down on The Plains.
Despite there being 31 players with a five-star rating on the 247Sports Composite for 2021, Auburn has yet to procure a commitment from one of these blue-chip prospects. It is why landing the commitment of cornerback Ga’Quincy McKinstry is so crucial. If he were to side with the Tigers, that could signify a huge change coming in the state of Alabama football.
McKinstry is 5-foot-11.5 and 172 pounds. The Pinson Valley standout is the No. 1 player from Alabama, the No. 2 cornerback in his class and the No. 22 player in the nation. McKinstry is drawing interest from Auburn, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Clemson Tigers, the Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers of the 27 offers he has received.
As of now, Auburn feels like the co-leader for his commitment along with Alabama, with Clemson coming in at a nearby third. His primary recruiter to Auburn is defensive line coach Rodney Garner. He has been the primary recruiter on several five-stars before including Derrick Brown, Montravius Adams and safety Reshad Jones at his previous post with Georgia. Garner can recruit.
Ga’Quincy McKinstry would be quite the get for Auburn football recruitment.
Having Garner as his primary recruiter tells you how important it is for Gus Malzahn to land McKinstry on his football team. Garner seals the deal when it comes to blue-chip, five-star defensive prospects. This is the type of player McKinstry can be for Auburn. By landing his commitment, it might mean Alabama is starting to lose it in the recruiting race.
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One would think a five-star defensive back recruit from Alabama would go play for Nick Saban at Tuscaloosa. That is his position group and he’s put together a legendary coaching career by getting the most out of his secondary players, among other things. Malzahn may be more of an offensive-minded coach, but he’s put his best recruiter possible on McKinstry. He’s that important to Auburn.
The Tigers have fierce competition for McKinstry’s recruitment out-of-state as well. Saban’s protege Kirby Smart is a heck of a recruiter and also specializes in coaching up defensive backs. We know that nobody loves recruiting more than Ed Orgeron at LSU. Let’s also not overlook the recruiting success Dabo Swinney’s Clemson program has had in the Yellowhammer State of later.
Procuring McKinstry’s commitment would be a complete and utter tone-setter for the Auburn program. He will be coached up by playing for one of the best defensive coordinators in college football in Kevin Steele. While he specializes more in coaching up linebackers, he would absolutely welcome a shutdown corner in the back-end of his defense.
Auburn could have a scary defense if it lands a player like McKinstry in its 2021 recruiting class.
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