Mailbag 212: Who could be Auburn's hidden gems?

This week: The Baylor game, Deuce Knight, Auburn football nicknames, basketball's schedule changes and bucket list stadiums

(Omar Mabson/Instagram)

AUBURN — The first time I wrote out the introduction to this mailbag, Substack warned me I had too many words to send it in a normal email. While I do this sometimes for Film Rooms because I want to keep all the actual video content in there, I try not to make it a habit with other pieces.

With that being said, we’re jumping straight into the mailbag this week. Thanks as always for your questions, your answers, your support and your subscriptions.

My question to you this week was to name the sports stadium/arena/venue that you most want to visit for the very first time. Let’s (quite literally) go.

Who do you think will be the hidden gem for our most recent recruiting classes? Both sports.

Venue: Albertsons Stadium. I know I might catch a lot of flak given the current hatred of certain people associated with that school, but seeing the turf in person would be a dream come true.

Michigan’s Finest Barner

When I first sat down to answer this question, I quickly realized I was either going to have to limit myself greatly — or separate the potential choices into categories. I picked the latter option, because I think it makes for a much more interesting read.

For both Auburn football and Auburn men’s basketball, I’ve separated each of their 2025 classes into two different groups: traditional signees and experienced transfers. I’m going to pick one potential hidden gem in each of the four groups. These are players I think could greatly outplay their recruiting ranking while on the Plains.

Football Signee: RB Omar Mabson

I’m not afraid to say that I have some bias with this one. I’ve covered almost all of Mabson’s home games — and a few of his road ones — at Auburn High over the last two seasons while helping out my friends at the Opelika-Auburn News. On top of that, my youngest brother is the linebackers coach at AHS. Not trying to hide anything here.

But Mabson’s film will blow you away. He is one of the most talented running backs I’ve ever seen at the high school level. He ran for 1,283 yards and 16 touchdowns with an average of 7.7 yards per carry as a sophomore. As a junior last year, he ran for 1,515 yards and 29 touchdowns with an average of 8.2 yards per carry. It’s important to note that Mabson played at the highest and toughest classification of football in Alabama. He also didn’t play in most of the second halves of games last season, because AHS was usually cruising. His numbers could have been bigger.

Mabson decided to reclassify and go to college a year early, picking the hometown school over the likes of Alabama, North Carolina and several others as a 3-star recruit. He’ll likely redshirt in 2025 as a young non-early enrollee, and it might be a while before we see him take carries for the Tigers. But Mabson is a complete, all-around back who has been advanced beyond his years for a while now. He’s got the maturity, the skill set and the work ethic to turn into something special over time.

Football Transfer: CB Rayshawn Pleasant