It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. What's up everybody? This is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the lockdown podcast network. And if you haven't heard yet, we started a club and we would love for you to join. It's called the every day or club. And one of the things that you get as a member is an ad free version of the podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already use. Same episodes every day, just no ads. There's also a members only group chat for fans of your team, plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the every day or club link in the show notes. I know I've said it several times, but the edge room for the Auburn Tigers, I still find it fascinating. You are locked on Auburn, your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. I'm Zach Blackerby joined by Montgomery radio legend, the Daryl Daprige basketball has some interesting stuff happening. Some big news yesterday regarding the transfer portal. There's still battles happening for, for key spots on the depth chart for the Auburn Tigers throughout spring. But Daryl, we've talked about this edge room a ton talked about on yesterday's edition of the show. It's so stinking interesting to me going into spring where like, can Jared Smith be that guy? And then we're like, where is Jared Smith? And then it's to Sean Womack to Sean Womack to Sean Womack from a leadership standpoint, from a starting standpoint, they give them to the, they put them in front of the media early, early on in spring practice. And then yesterday at practice, he's like an assistant coach, essentially, he's doing his rep and then he's holding the bag and coaching every single other member of the edge room. And then at the very end of every drill, there's Chris Murray, who was, you know, a pretty solid piece to the past rush a year ago with no number on. It's just a, it's just a very interesting development and a story that is being told that it just kind of has all these twists and turns to it. And the story is exactly what you've talked about the last couple of days, exactly what Alex Golis has talked about the last couple of days. And Chris Murray is an afterthought. And to me, that's the story. I think that's unacceptable. I think that he has not been given the props that a returning starter, well, you say that he really was, but he was the highest ranked on the depth chart that came back with the with three and a half sacks. And he's, he's to me almost being punished for not knowing if he was going to be eligible or not. And I'm just going to tell you straight up, love all the things that Golis said in that press conference is one of the press conference. One of the things I wasn't real thrilled with was the whole notion that Murray has to earn his way back. He told him, Hey man, you've missed a lot of ball while these guys were out here on the field bleeding. Okay, I get that. But again, it's not like he said, I'm going to go into the transfer portal and then decided to come back. He wanted to be out there with the proof being that he applied three times for a waiver. How was it his, he would have, if he was out there working out with him, then Auburn gets in trouble. He did everything he was supposed to do. I get it. You don't want to just hand something to somebody, but I think he deserves a little bit more than benefit of the doubt because he's an Auburn man that has put Auburn has put tape with him playing in an Auburn uniform. Yeah. And the answer he gave for that when he, when Gholish came on this show is one thing. And then what we heard him talk about on Friday was a little bit different. You know, originally the messaging that he said here, I think, I think this show is really the only time he talked about it outside of the Friday presser was, you know, we went through a lot of stuff without you. And so you don't really know most of these guys. These guys don't know you. You got to earn yourself back. Okay. That's, that's one thing. But then on Friday, he did talk about the safety of it, right? Like you're not in football shape. You're in combine shape and there is a difference. You know, you're working out for, you know, to test well and all these things that determine athleticism. It's like, okay, that's, that's another thing. But you also like don't get in football shape in two weeks, right? Like let's say he's clear two weeks ago that all of a sudden like he's able to practice. That's not like he didn't get in football shape just in two weeks. So I do, I do see where you're coming from with that. Let me make it very clear. I'm not criticizing goalish. I'm not being, I'm not trying to, you know, come up against or critique or, or, you know, refute what he's saying. I'm not downplaying Wal-Mack and how impressive of a camp that he's had so far spring that he's had. I just feel like this could be a temporary situation. We keep hearing about Wal-Mack owning the room and doing this and doing that. That's great. And, and, and again, the argument that, well, these guys have been through this and you haven't, there's, there's, there's a faultiness to that argument because he's a returning letterman who has done a lot in an Auburn uniform. This isn't a kid that came in late. It's a freshman or came in late from the portal. He has been here and has played a season of football for Auburn. I love that. Darrell, let me, let me, I'm sorry. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this because this just came to me. And I'm thinking about Staten and Ramil. He was made available to media yesterday after practice. Hasn't been out there. He can't, he can't. He's recovering from an injury that he suffered midseason last year. He talked about that a little bit. Doesn't know what'll be a hundred percent, but expected to be ready for fall camp. I don't feel like it's that different. Like he's not out there because he can't be, now he can be in the room, right? He can get to know the guys and all of that. Sure. But he can't get out there. He can't suffer when it comes to the workouts with those guys because he can't. He's injured and he's recovering, recovering from injury in the same way that Chris Murray can get out there because he wasn't eligible. But I do. This does make me more interested in the process of Staten and Ramil getting ready to, you know, for fall camp because he's not going through spring. Well, well, he can. He's injured. Well, yeah. But Chris Murray couldn't either because he wasn't eligible. He was fighting to get eligible. But I do. Is that a crazy stretch? I mean, I'm just kind of shooting that off the off there. But I don't think it's that different. I think you're absolutely, I think it should be treated exactly the same. I think you're right. It's not a crazy take. I think it's a very logistical take that it should be treated the same based upon they can't be out there to no fault of their own. They didn't put themselves in this position. One had an injury, so he can't be out there. One wasn't eligible, so he couldn't be out there. It's above them. You know, it's out of their hands because of that. Now, we don't know how the the Romeo thing is going to happen. Like once the spring ends and fall camp starts, like we were not. We can't assume they're going to just pencil them in at starting tackle. We think that we think that they are, but he may not. He may say the same thing. Look, I know you were hurt, but let's see what you got in fall camp. Let you let you earn it. But there's also the element of fall camp. Like you're getting ready for Baylor. You are, and that's where do they expedite? I get the whole argument about safety. I get it. You know, the combined shape is different than football shape, but really though, are they doing anything? They're not really playing high level football right now at practice or just put them through Indy. Like if you're worried about that, it's put them through Indy stuff. They played one scrimmage. Most of what they're doing is against air. So what, what, what is he going to risk from a safety standpoint on that or hold them out and team stuff? Like, okay, that makes sense. What you do in spring practice, when you're just practicing in the windows that you guys are seeing is very similar to what they do in combine, you know, drills and drill centric and all that kind of stuff. Scrimmage is different. A day different. I get that. But I just think they should be treated the same. I think they're very like one things like the other in this scenario. Yeah. So there are battles still happening. This is one of them will continue the discussion about edge and defensive end. But I think number two corner is interesting, especially after hearing from Blake Woodby yesterday. I think, I think both tackles are interesting. Maybe for a little bit different reason, RB two, tied in two. All that is next right here unlocked on Auburn. I'm Clea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's Basketball. And this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. UCLA made history by winning its first NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship, dominating South Carolina 79 to 51. The Bruins controlled the game from start to finish with elite defense and balanced scoring, finishing the season 37 and one. Star Center, Lauren Betts was named most outstanding player, leading a team effort that kept a 31 game winning streak. Under head coach Corey Close, UCLA secured a landmark title that has been decades in the making. These moments are earned off the clock. Those long before the lights ever come on, the sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, I'm coming back for more every time. Mazda puts that same drive into every detail. Wins define the moment, putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Auburn your first listen. Every single day, we'll jump into Auburn Basketball Portal News, Kevin Overton coming back in just a moment. But let's dive into some of these, these battles and. You know what we say one thing real quick, that little promo that we've read, you know, it rhymes with fakes, handshakes. Should have put that in there. The fakes, the scrapes, the handshakes. Nice. What have been, what have been, I think, timely and very relevant. I, yeah, I won't push back on that. I thought of that when it popped up and I thought I'd just share with you. You're so witty. You're always on it. I was in a sharing mood. I wanted to spice that up a little bit. So there you go. OK, so position battles that are happening. Edge slash defensive end, I still think is open because we've seen Womack do both. Who's the other one? Is it Jared Smith? Is it Chris Murray? Is it JJ Falk? I'm with you. I think it's Chris Murray. And I think Chris Murray is at edge and I think Womack will start at end. Will you push back on that at all? No. And I think that may remember what I've always said where you can make one decision and instead of making one position stronger, that one decision that you make makes two positions stronger at the same time. That's what happens by moving Womack to end in sliding Murray and to edge. You've now made two positions, I think better. Yeah, I also think it allows you. I think it allows your two deep to make more sense as well because Jared Smith can play both. And I'm not sure JJ Falk can play both. And so JJ Falk could be your backup edge, the Chris Murray and then Jared Smith. Yep. Yeah, backing up backing up Womack. So I like that a lot. I like that's my prediction. There as far as, you know, battles along the interior, I mean, is Dallas Walker and Cody Sickler are going to be your starting interior guys, unless something crazy happens. They really like Darian Smith around there. Also curious to hear if anything happens with, you know, Jordan Crawford's development kind of a quieter spring for him. That I expect. Malik Otrie as well. Yeah. I haven't heard much about those guys, but also those are thankless positions, right? Especially in the system where they want to eat up blocks and then, you know, the linebackers take over behind them. So those guys have the size to do that, but hearing a lot about Darian Smith, like his name keeps popping up over and over. And he was one of the guys made available to media yesterday as well. There was a freshman then in the practice report. It's not Hamion Branch. Yes. Tamion Branch's name kept coming up too, which is pretty interesting for a true freshman to get that much, get his name popped a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I saw Kyle's note on that. I would think Wells would be more likely to play me too. And him, but I would have thought he Mathis, I think has to, like, he'll find us a role as well. Read in my mind, baby. You, that's exactly, I was like, how somebody from LSU that had some reps, I would have thought he would have. But, you know, yeah, the corner position, I think is interesting. Audrey Jordan Jr. is that guy. Sounds like he's blown it away. And then right now it's Ray Sean Pleasant, but I don't think Blake would be going anywhere. And if the light comes on for Arno, if something happens between now and fall and the coaches see something that they like and he puts it together and he could easily slide in there as the other spot too. I would not completely give up on him yet because if he figures it out, he supposedly has the most ceiling. Yeah. Yeah. I, I mean, nothing against would be or pleasant, but yeah, for sure, for sure. And I mean, your question that you asked Gholish on Friday, I think guys like Arno are the ones where like, okay, we might be more likely to move on in a situation or get more another corner if there was a spring portal, but there's not, there's not, you got to coach the guys that we got. And so they're going to be focused on how do we get the most out of Shamar Arno. So I think that's the defensive side. As far as the offense, I do think I can't wait to hear, and this is in limbo until we see how they bring Ramil back and like how quickly and expedited that process needs to be. But with them putting Joe Simmons at left tackle and right tackle, I'm just super interested to see, all right, as soon as Ramil gets here, is he the left tackle or do they, do they kind of switch them to see who's better at which side? I mean, cause we talked about this when they added both of those guys back to back in the portal months ago, like, oh, pretty much all their snaps. Actually, I think all of their snaps each were at left tackle their previous schools, Ramil at Michigan State, Simmons at JMU. They were both the left tackle at their previous school. And so it was like, all right, which one of them is moving? My, my instant reaction was to put Ramil at right tackle. Everyone else said that wasn't the plan. So I am curious to see what happens when fall camp. To me, it makes sense that you put the one that has the most reps at left tackle, which would be Simmons and Ramil, who's still talented enough to be your starting tackle. You start him at right tackle because he hasn't had the snaps. Now that being said, Ramil has had more game snaps at a power for school than Simmons has. So do you, do you weigh that with what you're seeing right now in the here and now? Is it recency bias or is it a body of work when it comes to Simmons and Ramil? I just like the fact that they're interchangeable. It's a nice problem to have. Well, maybe, I mean, we don't know where Mill looks like at right tackle, but yeah, I would assume you're right. I would assume that's true. I would assume that's true. Cobb's obviously RB one, but I do think there's a battle for RB two. And like we, there's no way for us to know what's really happening at RB two. Cause the only thing we hear about is Jeremiah Cobb, Jeremiah Cobb, Jeremiah Cobb with a little bit of all more maps. And, but like how is like, you know, Bryce in Washington and the kind of Davenport, like how are they not a part of the conversation at some point? How is it that Washington's just not a slam dunk number two? I, that's the biggest shock and surprise to me out of spring is that it's just not a given that he shares carries with Cobb. Like, I mean, honest, I will, you know, you know how much I've loved Cobb from day one that he sent foot on campus. When they announced that Washington was transferring to Auburn, I saw a scenario where it was RB one A and RB one B. Like we're watching deepening. You were so excited. I, I like, you know, I saw Washington up close with some eyeball. I love that kid. He, he fired up. And so I'm thinking, okay, Cobb doesn't have to take the pounding that he took. And when he needs a spell, you're not, there's not a drop off. Okay. So again, let's say RB one and RB two. How do you split those carries? I saw a scenario where it was like 55, 45 Cobb, 55% Washington, 45%. It doesn't look that way right now. And that shocks me. Yeah. I don't know if there's an injury issue. I just don't get it because Washington ran the ball hard at Baylor. He was a force. Auburn had trouble tackling him. They couldn't arm tackle him. I don't know why it's not a slam dunk that he's just not only RB two, but pressing, pressing, closing the gap on RB one and to get, to get a lot of carries. Yeah. And then the starters that we saw yesterday at practice when they were, when the quarterbacks were throwing a skill guys against air, your outside guys were Coger and singleton, not surprising. The slot receiver was Chas Nimrod. And then the tight end spot was Jake Johnson. Tight end two yesterday that we saw was Arliss boarding them. Little surprising, not, not John Eccles. So take that for what it's worth. We're probably not talking about Arliss boarding them enough. If I had to be honest with you, like that's probably not happening enough. Well, we just, unfortunately, Auburn's got like tight end PTSD. Right. I mean, it's just, it is other than fair weather. There was such a drop in the last couple of years and it was just, you know, I, I thought Frazier was going to have a bigger year last year than he did. And we know about all the problems. We're not using guys for how long. Using our correctly. And, you know, man, I think a lot of Howard, Howard dropping them. Right. I get it. But Preston Howard dropped balls that he was open and the ball hit him in the chest. I mean, that, that's not a usage thing. No, that was bad. Can't excuse that at all. Yeah. Can't, got open though. He got open by God. He did. I also don't want to sleep and I don't want to sleep because I, I, I got a purposely and purposeful mention. I do love Omar Mappson and I do believe he's going to have a huge role in this offense, especially pushing piles. And when, when, when late in games, when defenses are worn down a little bit, who I can't wait. He's, this should be his freshman year and it's really a sophomore year. So don't sleep on him either. I'm very excited to watch him run. Yep. Well said. Well said. Man, Kevin over tenants back and that is huge for the Tigers. That's next right here. Unlocked on Auburn. Today's show brought to you by our friends at Indeed. Indeed's the best place to hire folks that fit all the things that you're looking for for your latest posting. Darrell, you use Indeed all the time. You hire a lot of talented folks through Indeed. I hired two people in one week and I just got an email this morning where they wanted to follow up and see if how, how the first two weeks or three weeks of those employees, how their, their career was going so far. Was I happy with them? Were they performing the job? Well, that was a really, really detailed follow through. Yeah. A list of those who can get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves. That's at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about it on locked on Auburn. Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply. Today's show also brought to you by our friends at Robinhood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robinhood prediction. Markets, it's not you against the houses. You participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robinhood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Now I can actually take part live in a market powered by people. You're no longer just a spectator play by play. You decide to treat every play with Robinhood now available across the US. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. All right. Final few minutes on today's edition of locked on Auburn. We'll start with the good news. Kevin Overton announced he's coming back and he will be a part of the Auburn basketball team for his second year and then of course his final year of eligibility, which I think this would have happened regardless. But the way he played those last few games of the NIT solidified any doubt. If anyone had any, it kind of pushed all that down away. It was kind of ironic. He checks two boxes. In my opinion, he was the most likely to come back. And he's also, in my opinion, the most important returning even over to hot or Freeman. Or he was the one that I felt like was the most important with the leadership skills, the toughness, Jack of all trades. And then I also felt like for some reason he was the most likely. I just felt like he really was a good fit here. It's a fit. Yeah. For sure. He flourished here. He played well at Texas Tech, but he blossomed at Auburn and he and he blossomed on one of the biggest stages. And so that's a big get. That's a very encouraging. And I think it helps solidify whether you're going to get people in the portal or you want guys to stay. He's a glue guy to attract other people to the program. Yeah, it definitely seems like people like playing with him. Well said. Well said. A few hours before that reports of Philip Jovic entering the portal. Justin Hockenstein reported this that he's asking for like two million or his agent, excuse me, is asking for two million, which is a lot. I don't think that's like crazy unpredictable. I feel like we hinted at that a little bit during some of the barn casts there. But, um, yeah, I mean, if, if, if Auburn doesn't feel like his worth is that then, yeah, look elsewhere. If you pay too many, you're paying for potential. You're paying for upside and you're paying for someone you are going to have to count on to start because he didn't start this year when Murphy was here. When Murphy, you know, didn't play in the tournament. He started. So are you, are you projecting him to be your starting four? If you are, perhaps I think two million with a 12 million dollar roster is too high to pay for a guy that you don't know if he's going to be your starting four or still come off the bench. He's not the known commodity that to hide in over 10. And he wasn't even a starter until somebody quit on the team. So for me, that's a little high. That's a little high. If you, if you had a roster, if you had, if you had an NIL budget like Kentucky, I could see it. You don't, you have to be, you have to be the Pittsburgh pirates of NIL and be very. I don't think we're that easy. I knew you're going to say that. That's why I just teed it up for you. I don't think it'll be that big. I think 12 million is going to be competitive. Um, not with Kentucky or Arkansas, but I mean, I think, I think, yeah, I mean, I think, I think Auburn's going to have enough. Maybe competitive, but you're right. Competitive with the understanding that you nail the evals. And look, I mean, if this staff doesn't think he's worth it, he's probably not because they're going to know more about what he can do and what he got better at or like what he's behind on than others. You know, and so like that, that's the same thing with, you know, Elijah Freeman saying he's coming back and some of the graphics being made about that. And, you know, we'll see what happens with all that. But, you know, does a yo-vitch leaving just from a cap space standpoint, does that help you with keeping Tahad? If you want to keep the HOD, we've kind of heard different things on, you know, it sounds like the staff isn't fully aligned with the evaluation of the HODs. The other kind of be interesting to see how all that unfolds, but Overton is the guy you're building this around. Now, can Overton and Tahad coexist as option one and option two together? I think so. I think better than what Tahad did with Qishon Hall this year. So I think that's, I think that's appealing. Well, you, you're only worth what people are willing to pay for you. I get that. But the problem is there are teams that have higher budgets that can spend $2 million on a guy that's your second guy off the bench. Auburn can't afford to do that. I think he'll get it, won't you? He may get it, but if he, but if, but if he gets it, if he gets 2 million, then Auburn's going to have to turn around and go spend 2 million on somebody who they absolutely know can start though. Right. If there's no, they go, oh, this guy, and remember Auburn's guy five. And I know there's some people that are listeners and viewers of the show that are a little bit concerned that we don't know what level of basketball he played at. I understand he played in B league, but I also know what the Auburn coaching staff said, and they are counting on him to come in and start at the five. And less you go get somebody that's even better than him and spend more money. But a guy that averages 10 boards and six blocks, even if he only gets you eight or nine points can start. And I think Auburn staff's pretty high on him. I'm not saying it. It's their staff that's saying that they went and got him not as a project, but as somebody. So you, you only have a four for Jovich to play. And I don't know if you can pay 2 million dollars to a four that you don't know if can get you double digits. I'm not your point. Yeah. I mean, I think you're going to be able to get somebody better than that in the port, which is what you're saying. Like, I think you're going to be able to get somebody that has more of an impact and it's more, more proven. Let's play more minutes, you know, for an SEC or a big 10 type team. You know why Cardwell was able to start at the five his senior year? Auburn knew they were going to get four or five points a game out of Dylan, but they knew that Broome was starting at the four and was going to give you 18 a night. So you could do that. If you start the Narcissi or Narcissi, I would pronounce his name and you only get eight or nine points from him. You better have a four that can score in double digits. Right. And we don't know if yo, which is that cat yet? We don't. I mean, he wasn't last year, wasn't asked to be, right? Like we all agree he wasn't asked to be that. And I think he can be that, but is he worth a sixth of your payroll? Is he worth a six of it? Yeah. And I don't think he is. I don't think he is. Nope. I agree. No, no, that's what an agent is asking for. And the other thing is just because you jump in the portal, let's say he sits there for a while and there's not a school out there that's willing to pay two million. Then it becomes a little bit different scenario. He comes back to Auburn for a reduced number. You feel like two million. Well, here's my pushback to that though, Darryl. Here's my pushback to that is okay. Like I think Auburn is going to make, you know, finding that four, that replacement, a priority. You're probably going to have to do that pretty early in the window process. And so, okay, let's say you make this a scoring for a priority, you get them and Yoavich is still sitting there. He can't come back then. He can come back if he wants to come off the bench. Right. Life comes at you quick though in that situation. I don't think he would at that point. He'd probably take one five and start somewhere else is my guess. It's my guess. It's kind of, you know, reading in between the lines here. So we'll see. We'll see. I would love Philip. You know, if it should come back, but is he worth a sixth of the roster? And if sway comes back, he's your backup for. I mean, I love sway, but I don't think he's ready to be your starter at the four position. No, but I tell you what though, like if you bring the hot and sway back, you know, like if you bring the hot and sway back and you went to hot at the one over 10 at the two, the way at the three got a scoring for and then Narcissus at five line up, but I do not hate that at all. I see. I like Freeman at the three more than I like sway because of the versatility. Six, six plays like he's six, eight can hit the three can rebound like crazy, can handle the ball. You know, he's more of your prototypical three in this offense than sway is. Like I see sway as a four or a backup for or or a hybrid three, four. That's a nice problem to have if you can convince him. It would be, I think that makes it tougher. I think if you want to keep him, I think that has to be part of the pitch. Yeah, it does. Once again, I mean, we talk about this with football. There's a million reasons why a kid is a portal. Sometimes it's money. Sometimes it's fit. Sometimes it's scheme. Sometimes it's personality. I mean, there's a lot of reasons. I think that I think you're, I think you're real quick. I think your counterpart, it's village vice. I give Brad Lola. He's absolutely right. When his feet grounded saying there's going to be over 3000 guys in the portal, Albert's going to get players to fill out that roster. Don't worry. And there may not be people you think or you may see people leave, but that's okay. Don't panic. You'll, they'll get the roster they want. Well, and also just thinking about this, like you're talking about swaying the backup four, but wouldn't that be Freeman in this scenario? I thought Freeman played more. Yeah. Well, you're right. Cause free. You can do three, four. Type deal. He's a hybrid. Yeah. He's a three or four because sway. Remember Freeman went to the coaching staff and said, start sway. Right. And then Albert was having trouble defending the three and defending the perimeter. They went back to Freeman starting again, right? And moved all of the four. That's what they did. So yeah. So they've got options, which is a good place to be. They're all that. Brachock people check out everything you've got going on. Yeah. Wednesdays and Fridays here with you locked on Auburn and then Sunday nights, eight o'clock on the barncast. Please like the video. Please subscribe. We'll see you next time. This has been locked on Auburn. And introducing the all new Mazda CX-5 featuring more connection. Hey, Google, where's the nearest Pilates class? Safety that has your back. More discovery on the scenic routes. More passion in the details. And more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX-5. More to move every side of you. 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