The first-ever early signing period starts on Wednesday, and the Auburn Tigers should have several players ready to make things official.

Coach Gus Malzahn and his staff have been busy on the recruiting trail, as they currently have 20 players committed to join their 2018 class.

How many of those players actually sign during the early signing period remains to be seen, but it’s probably safe to say the Tigers will be in a good spot after everything draws to a close on Friday.

There’s plenty to like about Auburn’s 2018 class. Here are 10 of the most important things to know about where the Tigers stand heading into the early signing period:

1. They’re flying under the radar

Compared to Georgia’s outstanding recruiting class, Alabama’s slow start and the implosion of Tennessee’s once-strong 2018 class, there hasn’t been much buzz around what the Tigers are doing.

However, they keep plugging away. To this point, they’ve landed commitments from 20 players and have the SEC’s No. 3 recruiting class.

If Auburn can keep going with this pace, it should maintain a top-three position when all is said and done.

2. They’re loading up on 4-star players

Last year, the Tigers landed nine 4-star players. This year, they’re already up to 14.

They don’t have any 5-star recruits yet, but they are reeling in plenty of elite talent and will have a lot of skilled athletes to try to mold into impact players next season.

3. It’s about on par with Malzahn’s other classes

Every year since taking over as Auburn’s coach in 2013, Malzahn has put together top-10 recruiting classes, with the low being the No. 10 class in 2013 and the high being the No. 6 class in 2014.

Right now, the Tigers have the No. 9 class nationally, and that looks likely to hold steady through the early signing period.

When trying to compete with Georgia and Alabama, teams the Tigers beat on the field this year, it’s important to keep talent coming into the program, and Malzahn is doing that once again.

4. They still have a shot at two top-50 players

At the moment, Auburn surprisingly only has one top-100 player in the 247Sports rankings — 4-star WR Matthew Hill (No. 98).

However, they’re still very much in the running for a pair of top-50 players — 4-star OLB JJ Peterson (No. 43) and 4-star TE Luke Ford (No. 49). Both players have visited Auburn and will give the Tigers strong consideration.

Landing either of those talented players would be a huge get for Malzahn and would give Auburn’s 2018 class a significant boost.

5. They’re targeting high school players

Last year, the Tigers landed two JUCO players — QB Jarrett Stidham and TE Sal Cannella — and both made an immediate impact.

This year, they have only one JUCO player thus far — 3-star DE Daquan Newkirk. The Tigers could still have some immediate impact players from this class, but they’re more likely to come from the high school ranks.

6. They’re sticking to SEC territory

Of the 20 commits in Auburn’s class, 19 are from Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi.

The lone exception is a punter out of Australia — Arryn Siposs. The Tigers are sticking to SEC states and doing a good job of landing talent out of the talent-rich region. Adding a player or two from other states wouldn’t hurt, but Auburn is doing just fine right now.

7. They’re taking a balanced approach

Of the Tigers’ 20 commits, 11 are offensive players, eight are defenders and one is the aforementioned punter.

They have two 4-star wide receivers in the class, in addition to a 3-star receiver and a 3-star athlete who primarily plays receiver, so that’s clearly an emphasis for the Tigers this year.

8. They have a prototypical Malzahn quarterback

Joey Gatewood is officially listed as a 4-star athlete on the 247Sports rankings page, but he is a dual-threat quarterback.

Gatewood seemingly fits the Auburn system better than even Stidham does, as Malzahn has always found success with quarterbacks who are threats to run.

Stidham isn’t in danger of losing his starting job anytime soon, but it’ll be interesting to see how Gatewood’s Auburn career plays out.

9. Malzahn’s 5-star streak will likely end

The Tigers have landed at least one 5-star recruit every year since 2012 — the year before Malzahn took over the program.

However, of the 14 5-star players currently not committed to a school, none are seemingly considering Auburn very strongly.

It should be noted that not every 5-star player has worked out for Auburn (Roc Thomas and Byron Cowart come to mind), but this appears as if it will be Malzahn’s first Auburn class without a 5-star player.

10. They have some work to do in the trenches

Of Auburn’s 14 4-star commits, only three are linemen, and only one — OG Jalil Irvin — is an offensive lineman.

Star guard Braden Smith is a senior this year, so the Tigers will need to replace him, but we’ll have to wait and see if Irvin can step immediately into a starting role.

Either way, the Tigers should make landing more top offensive-line talent a priority before the 2018 class is finalized.