There were a couple of interesting developments as Auburn kicked off summer camp Wednesday, one potentially positive and the other, well, potentially not so much.
On the latter front, star running back Jovon Robinson was a no-show at the first practice of the summer for the Tigers. “His status for the remainder of preseason camp remains unknown,” 247Sports.com wrote.
Head coach Gus Malzahn is expected to meet with the media later on this evening.
Last season, Robinson’s 639 yards rushing were tops on the team, as was his 5.5 yards per carry. With the departure of leading rusher Peyton Barber, Robinson is expected to shoulder a significant portion of AU’s running-game load.
In more positive news, Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham was in attendance at today’s practice.
Last month, Stidham confirmed rampant speculation via Twitter that he would be transferring from the Bears and continuing his playing career elsewhere. The only restrictions on the quarterback’s transfer is that he’s not permitted to sign with another Big 12 program.
Other than other members of the league, Stidham is free to transfer anywhere he desires, including schools already on BU’s future schedules during his remaining eligibility. Those would include SMU (2016), Rice (2016-2019), Duke (2017/2018) and UT-San Antonio (2017-2018).
If Stidham goes the FBS route for 2016, he would be forced to satisfy NCAA transfer bylaws by sitting out the upcoming season, and would then have three season of eligibility remaining beginning in 2017. There had also speculation that Stidham could take the junior college path for a season and then move back to the FBS for his final three seasons, although that now seems unlikely.
A four-star member of the Bears’ 2015 recruiting class, Stidham was rated as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country and the No. 7 player at any position in the state of Texas.
Last season, Stidham started three games as a true freshman in place of the injured Seth Russell before going down with a broken ankle that ended his own season. He had been penciled in as the Bears’ quarterback of the future when the senior Russell departed after the 2016 season.
