Malzahn’s first recruiting class earns top grade from SI

Photo credit: TODD VAN ERNST/AUBURN UNIVERSITY

AUBURN — Gus Malzahn’s first recruiting class as Auburn’s head coach earned a top grade from Sports Illustrated’s Zac Ellis. Ellis gave Malzahn an ‘A’ for the 23 players he signed in a class ranked as a borderline top 10 group by the four major recruiting sites.

“Auburn inked perhaps the most impressive group of defensive linemen in the country — headlined by five-star defensive end Carl Lawson — after finishing 11th in the league in sacks (22) in 2012,” Ellis wrote. “Malzahn also brought in two talented quarterbacks, Jeremy Johnson and Nick Marshall, and a duo of four-star receivers, Earnest Robinson and Tony Stevens, to improve last season’s sluggish passing attack.”

Of all the new coaches ranked by SI, only Kentucky’s Mark Stoops earned as high a mark from Ellis.

The Advertiser had a position-by-position grading of the 2013 Tigers recruiting class, which can be found here.