With Auburn football landing a commitment on Friday afternoon, here’s a special Saturday morning newsletter. Because of that — and the long holiday weekend coming up — the next thing you’ll get from the Observer will be a new podcast episode on Tuesday morning.

Be safe and have fun this weekend, everybody. Now, let’s get to Auburn’s big recruiting news:

Jeremiah Cobb @JeremiahCobb13

I’m officially committing to Auburn University, WDE! @CoachCaddy24 @TrovonReed @ZacEtheridge4 @CoachHarsin @kirkjuice32 @Hayesfawcett3 #BuiltByCatholic #BeTheStandard #WDE #WarEagle

5:00 PM ∙ Jul 1, 2022

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If you’re going to be a running back in major college football, you’re most likely going to have to put up incredible stats in high school. But every once in a while, a recruit will come along whose numbers go above and beyond that already lofty mark.

Jeremiah Cobb is one of those recruits.

Last Friday, Cobb announced his commitment to Auburn over Clemson and Tennessee. Cobb, a 5-foot-11 prospect from Montgomery Catholic, is a consensus 4-star and a top-10 running back nationally among the three major recruiting services in the class of 2023. He’s also a top-20 overall recruit in the state of Alabama, which is putting out a historic amount of talent in this current recruiting cycle.

Cobb’s recruitment was a tag team effort between two aces of Auburn’s staff — running backs coach Cadillac Williams and secondary coach Zac Etheridge, a South Alabama native who has been hard at work in the region. Playing at a school just 50 miles away from Auburn, Cobb was a high priority for a program still trying to hit its stride on the recruiting trail under Bryan Harsin.

And if you want to know why Cobb was Auburn’s top target at running back, all it takes is one look at his stats. Here are the numbers from his sophomore and junior seasons at Montgomery Catholic, per 247Sports:

Junior Season (2021)

• 195 rushing attempts

• 2,163 yards

• 30 rushing touchdowns

• 11.09 yards per carry

• 24 receptions

• 561 yards

• 8 receiving touchdowns

• 23.38 yards per reception

Sophomore Season (2020)

• 231 rushing attempts

• 2,013 rushing yards

• 18 rushing touchdowns

• 8.71 yards per carry

• 10 receptions

• 191 receiving yards

• 2 receiving touchdowns

• 19.10 yards per reception

As a junior, Cobb averaged more than a first down per carry and more than twice that every time he caught the ball. He scored a touchdown on 15.4% of his rushing attempts and 33% of his receptions. Put those together, and Cobb averaged 12.44 yards per touch and scored a touchdown nearly every fifth time he had the ball in his hands.