Auburn Recruiting 2012: Which Recruits Are the Tigers Zeroing in on Before NSD?

With just a few days left before National Signing Day, this is the time when a lot of prominent head coaches and their assistants are racking up tons of frequent-flier miles, as they travel around the country, making the rounds, trying to convince as many uncommitted recruits as they can to hop on board with their schools.

Auburn’s Gene Chizik and his coaching crew have been bouncing from zip code to zip code over the past few days, trying to reach as many potential targets as they can, so they can give one last recruiting pitch to some key prospects.

At this point, Auburn only has 15 commitments for the 2012 class, a far cry from the loaded Top 10 classes that the Tigers pulled in over the last two years.

Chizik and his staff know that they still have some more work to do, so they’ve gone out and hit the recruiting trail hard this week.

Already looking ahead to the future, Chizik was in Huntsville, Alabama today to talk with a few potential junior targets—LB Cameron Toney and OL Grant Hill.

But before that, Chizik was out in California to meet with All-American defensive end prospect Arik Armstead, who paid a visit to Auburn a few weeks ago. The 4-star lineman is one of the top recruits still left on the market, but the question is, did Chizik do enough to convince the California native to leave Pac-12 country and make the 2,500 mile trek down to Auburn?

We’ll find out on National Signing Day.

Chizik also had a recent in-home visit with one of the top junior college recruits in the country, WR Cordarelle Patterson, who played for Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

The 4-star receiver has caught the eye of a number of different SEC schools, and he lists Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee as some of his final favorites.

This week, Auburn also sent assistant coaches to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to meet with 4-star offensive tackle recruit Avery Young.

Young lists Auburn as one of his finalists, a list that also includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Miami, and many feel that his decision could come down to either Auburn or Georgia.

The Tigers will also be hosting two recruits this weekend—versatile athlete Beniquez Brown (Florence HS, Alabama) and under-the-radar receiver Darrin Peterson (Etowa School, Alabama).

Brown is a 4-star prospect who could end up playing either running back or safety in college, but some suspect he could be leaning toward Mississippi State, so it will be important for the Auburn coaches to have one last talk with him before signing day.

Peterson is an intriguing prospect without the notoriety that some of Auburn’s other top commitments have, but if Auburn offers him a scholarship over the weekend, he could end up being one of the diamonds in the rough of the 2012 class.

All in all, it should be interesting to see how Auburn fares on National Signing Day, as Chizik and his staff are hoping that all of their recent hard work pays off in the end.