Unpacking Auburn football's 2024 recruiting class — and how good it can be

AUBURN — As five-star receiver Perry Thompson reached out his hand Wednesday, Auburn football fans around the country watching his livestream on Instagram held their collective breath.

The feeling on Thompson, who had been verbally committed to coach Hugh Freeze since July, was that he would stick with the Tigers. That didn't alleviate any stress, though, as the Foley product fooled onlookers by first grabbing an Alabama hat resting on the table in front of him before he tossed it to the side and unzipped his jacket to reveal an Auburn jersey.

Thompson remaining in Auburn's 2024 class was a huge win for the Tigers, who signed 17 other scholarship freshmen during the first day of the early signing period. There are still some targets left on the board − four-star OL Coen Echols and five-star WR Ryan Williams − but Auburn has already accomplished what Freeze sought out to do: land a top-10 class.

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Auburn football's 2024 recruiting class: An emphasis on WRs

Thompson was far from the only receiver to put pen to paper with the Tigers, as fellow five-star recruit Cam Coleman along with four-star prospects Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons joined him. Coleman, out of Central-Phenix City, is tabbed as the No. 1 player in the state. Thompson is No. 4, Simmons is No. 15 and Cain is No. 16.

"It's no secret, we needed to get some difference-makers at the receiver position," Freeze said Wednesday. "... Now, they’re going to have to get thrown into the deep end of the pool and swim pretty fast, but I think they have that ability. It changes our offense if we have guys like that on the outside and in the slot that can make plays. I’ve seen them do it.

"I’m reminded when we started rebuilding Ole Miss, that first full class – just like this first full class – we talked a guy by the name of Laquan Treadwell in coming with us. It changed the way we called games. I feel like the same about Cam and Perry and Malcolm and Bryce. You combine (four-star QB signee Walker White) with those, (and) I think we did pretty good at the skill positions."

Tigers battle against potential flips

Perhaps the most impressive part of Auburn's performance on early National Signing Day was that the Tigers held on to verbal commitments. Three-star defensive lineman Dimitry Nichols and three-star tight end Martavious Collins are the only two players in the class who have not signed, and Collins is not expected to end up at Auburn.

And it's not like Nichols went out and signed somewhere else.

"You've got to fight," Freeze said of retaining his pledges. "You've got to hold on, and you've got stay up all night and play video games and do stuff that’s out of my comfort zone. There was some late-night pushes. We held on some and won one and lost one. ... You’ve got to try to hold onto your good ones and all of yours, and then try to win a few battles at the end on some kids who are undecided."

The Tigers were able to flip four-star defensive lineman Amaris Williams from Florida, but failed to convince five-star safety KJ Bolden to ditch Florida State in favor of them. Bolden did decommit from the Seminoles, but he opted for Georgia instead of Auburn.

"People in this conference are good at what they do," Freeze said. "I don’t always like what is done, but you’ve just got to have plans, and you’ve got to fight for it."

An emphasis on Alabama

After only signing six players from Alabama in 2023, Freeze made it a point to secure commitments of recruits from the state. Ten of the incoming freshman are from the Yellowhammer State, including three of the top four in Coleman, Thompson and four-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick.

"We want to win this state," Freeze said. "I don't know if we won the state this year or not. I don't know how that's determined, but we certainly would like to in the future (by) winning our share if not more than our share in this state."

The Tigers landed nine of Alabama's top 25 recruits. The Crimson Tide pulled in six.

A final ruling

Auburn currently has the No. 7 haul in the Class of 2024, and that's with the possibility of upward movement; Echols has yet to announce where he'll sign, and the Tigers are in the mix.

Five-star receiver Ryan Williams exists, too. He's currently committed to Alabama, but plans to take visits over the next couple of months and sign with a program in February.

With wins at the skill positions and from within the state, it's fair to call Auburn's first day of the early signing period a success, and it can get even better before the window closes Friday.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football recruiting class 2024: Evaulauting what the Tigers got