For an outstanding Auburn defensive line recruit whom they made an offer to this week, FSU is not too late.
This is why the Seminoles should still consider this Auburn DL commit.
This week, Florida State offered a scholarship to Malik Autry, a four-star defensive lineman from Opelika, Alabama, who is among the best in the nation.
Autry has committed to the in-state Auburn Tigers since February of last year and has been a national recruit for a considerable amount of time.
Even with FSU’s rather belated offer, Autry is still allowing the ‘Noles to present their case.
“I just got off the phone with the d-line coach [Odell Haggins] about 20 minutes ago,” Autry stated. “If not in the spring, when I’m kind of booked up, then this summer, is when I hope to attempt to visit. Without a doubt, I’ll give it a look at some point. Trying to determine the next course of action.”
On their Thursday night phone talk, Haggins was all over his game.
He said, “He loves my tape,” referring to Haggins. “He says he thinks I might play in the NFL. All he wanted was for this connection to begin. They understand that they have a lot of work ahead of them and that he was running late, but they are determined to press through and try to win.”
Trips to UCF this weekend, Auburn the following weekend (March 23), Florida the following week (March 30), and then Texas (April 13) and Oregon (April 27) are all on Autry’s spring visit calendar. A spring trip to Tallahassee might be crammed in between those trips to Eugene and Austin by him.
“Florida State, if I was to go in the spring, it would probably be around that April 20 — somewhere around there,” Autry stated.
He now has scheduled two official visits: one to USC (June 7-9) and one to Florida (June 14-16).
Even with all the pressure from other programs, Autry is still committed to the Tigers.
“My allegiance is to Auburn. “Auburn will always be Auburn,” the man declared. “With everything going on, I’m still planning to make a number of visits throughout this offseason. I think I’m a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to the recruiting process, so I didn’t really get to visit as many colleges as I would have liked to before making my commitment. I’m simply checking things out right now to make sure I’m choosing the best course of action. Most of the colleges I genuinely have a chance of pursuing can find me recruiting open.”
This offseason, the 320-pound, 6-foot-5.5 player’s recruitment ranking has skyrocketed. As of early November 2023, Autry was ranked as the No. 318 prospect in the country. However, he has risen all the way to No. 34 overall in the most recent 247Sports rankings update. Additionally, he is the nation’s fourth-best defensive lineman.
He ended with 56 tackles (9 TFL), 7 QBH, 3.5 sacks, and a PBU in his junior year.
It’s a good thing, in my opinion, that FSU is growing their D-line roster. Granted that Autry is still giving the Seminoles a shot, it’s not the end of the world, even though I believe the ‘Noles need to have entered the fray with an offer to him much sooner.
To actually stand a chance of competing for Autry in the future, FSU must arrange for him to visit in the spring. Since he doesn’t have a scheduled visit with another program that weekend, I believe the objective should be to get him in for their spring game on April 20.
I will update you if that trip—or any future journey to Tallahassee—becomes confirmed.
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