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One recruit doesn't make or break a program. It's an adage we hear time and again when it comes to recruiting and it's certainly a valid point. In football, championships are won by teams, not individuals, despite the increasingly popular contention that Auburn's 2010 BCS Championship was a one-man effort.
That said, football is also a game of inches, a game where one play can change everything. We saw that point illustrated in grand fashion last weekend when despite a near-perfect performance by LSU, a single, spectacular play late in the game from Alabama's T.J. Yeldon may have saved the Crimson Tide's season.
Plays like that often lead to a number of questions. Things like "What if Yeldon hadn't signed with Alabama?"
While it may seem like a pointless hypothetical question, that version of reality came very close to happening. Less than a year ago, Yeldon, fresh off a spectacular senior season at Daphne that would earn him Mr. Football honors, was committed to play for Auburn. The five-star running back was the gem of a recruiting class that promised to be Gene Chizik's best yet at Auburn.
In the end, Yeldon had a change of heart, announcing in mid-December that he had decided to commit to Alabama instead. Yeldon enrolled at UA in January and has been a star from the moment his feet touched the ground in Tuscaloosa.
In the meantime, Auburn has struggled to one of its worst offensive outputs in program history, due in large part to the Tigers' inability to establish the ground game. The Tigers currently own the 82nd ranked rushing offense in the nation.
Would a big, physical, athletic running back like T.J. Yeldon have changed things for this year's Auburn team? Looking at the difference he has made in Tuscaloosa, it's hard to argue otherwise. With 725 yards on the season, Yeldon is currently the Tide's leading rusher and showed in Baton Rouge he may also have the makings of a go-to player in tough situations. Auburn could sure use that kind of yardage and that kind of leadership on its current squad.
Yeldon isn't the only recent case of a high-profile player "flipping" his commitment from the Tigers to the Tide. Nick Saban and his staff pulled off similar feats twice in the Class of 2011.
Brent Calloway starred at running back but has lined up at linebacker and H-back since arriving at Alabama.
In the case of Brent Calloway, Alabama had landed an early commitment from the five-star athlete from Russellville only to see him flip his commitment to Auburn during the U.S. Army All-American Game in January, just a month before National Signing Day. Auburn had hopes of bringing Calloway in as an elite power back and continuing to establish the kind of downhill running game they had been building towards with Michael Dyer. Eventually, Calloway flipped back to Alabama just before Signing Day and has lined up at a number of different positions, including linebacker and H-back.
Auburn nearly pulled off another major recruiting coups when Maryland offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio announced on Signing Day that he would sign with the Tigers, despite his brother being on the roster at Alabama. The massive left tackle ultimately signed with the Crimson Tide, however, after holding off on signing his National Letter of Intent and consulting with his parents for several days about the decision.
Heading into this season, Calloway and Kouandjio would be either sophomores or redshirt freshmen had they ultimately landed at Auburn and given the youth we've already seen on the field this year on the Plains, it's unquestionable that both would at least be in the mix for serious playing time right now.
Calloway with his mix of size, speed and physicality could help the Tigers at numerous spots, whether at linebacker (where the Tigers are in desperate need of some raw physical ability), at tight end (where Philip Lutzenkirchen's season was ended due to injury) or, perhaps most likely, at running back.
As for Kouandjio, there's no debating that Auburn's offensive line could use some help this year, particularly at the offensive tackle spots where experience and depth have been serious concerns since the pre-season. Despite facing off against arguably the best defensive line in the nation in Baton Rouge, Kouandjio held his own and did not allow a sack in the Tide's comeback win against LSU.
Would Auburn have flipped poll positions with Alabama if the Crimson Tide had not flipped these three elite recruits? Certainly not. The gap between these two programs is a lot wider than three players. But in a game that can hinge on just a few plays, it's worth considering what just a few more playmakers could have done to change the fortunes of Auburn's 2012 team.
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