War Eagle, everybody! Two-a-days are done, and classes have started at Auburn. Here we are, just a little more than two weeks from the season opener. Defending ACC Champion Clemson visits, and we still don’t know who the starting quarterback or running back will be. I’m not sure the receiving lineup has been nailed down, either. Ideally, you’d like to have your playing rotation set by this time, and be working on setting up a game plan.
I’m not terribly worried about the defensive line. We’ve seen what happens with line coach Rodney Garner. If guys are straining to meet his standards, they’ll play a lot. If not, they’ll ride the bench. Word is that competition on the line has been fierce, and that Auburn is as deep as it was way back in 1988. I hope that is really true. The 1988 bunch took over games most Saturdays. It was rare to see a lineman blocked for long, and it was a struggle for a quarterback to take even a 5-step drop and release, or for a running back to get back to the line of scrimmage, that year.
Likewise, I think Auburn will be a lot better at linebacker than folks realize. It has been kind of maddening at this position for the last 5 years. I’ve felt like we’ve had all the talent in the world at these spots, and either the scheme put them in bad positions, or plays would just be flat-overrun. Since 2007, Auburn has either struggled to find a 3rd linebacker, or played nickel and asked just 2 guys to fill gaps across the entire field.
I think late in the season last year, Auburn finally started filling gaps correctly, and the Auburn defense limited the run pretty well down the stretch. It is no coincidence that playing time increased exponentially for Tre’ Williams, during this run. Several younger guys have made moves during the spring and fall camp, and they are joined by Illinois transfer T. J. Neal, who was a tackling machine in the Big-10. Between Neal, Williams, Darryl Williams, Deshaun Davis and Montavious Atkinson, I think we’ll find a playing rotation that does well.
The secondary took a big blow when transfer Jamel Dean injured his knee. Dean certainly had a good A-Day, and Auburn was looking to have found a pair of lock-down corners. If you can take away both outside receivers, and then force every play from the inside out, you can make it really hard on an offense. Auburn has a couple of weeks to find Dean’s replacement. I’ve heard conflicting accounts on senior Joshua Holsey, who would certainly be a veteran option to fill the vacated spot. Early in camp, Holsey wowed the new defensive coaches with his knowledge. However, he’s running on 2 repaired knees. Can he stay with the elite receivers he’ll see in this league?
T. J. Davis has been that guy every year that was going to break out at corner, and injuries have sidelined him every year. I’d certainly love for him to have a Zach Clayton-type finish, this year. Other options include moving nickel-back Jonathan “Rudy” Ford back to corner, after he has led the team in tackles the last two seasons. It is also worth noting at the cornerback spot that redshirt freshman Javaris Davis is supposedly the fastest player on the roster, having reputedly clocked a 4.18 40 yard dash time, last spring.
I think Auburn has plenty of options at safety. Formerly young players Stephen Roberts and Nick Ruffin are now juniors. They were thrown into the fire late last season, taking over for the wounded. And they did well! Tray Matthews showed a ton of promise early last season, then struggled for the remainder of the year with a pair of torn labrums. Matthews soldiered on, but missed a lot of time. A torn labrum is a painful, and debilitating thing. If you or I had torn labrums on both sides, likely someone would have to be spoon-feeding us dinner!
I continue to believe that Auburn is in great shape on special teams. Word reaches me this week that kicker Daniel Carlson has been nailing 70-yard field goals in practice. While I surely hope that we don’t have to kick another record-breaking amount of field goals, it is nice to have that in the bank, so to speak! I have a better idea. I would like to see Daniel Carlson break the single-season extra points record, this year…
I think both return and coverage units are fine, too. Marcus Davis, Kerryon Johnson and Rudy Ford were all dangerous at times, last season with the ball in their hands. Coverage was respectable, too, for the most part. This past spring, I enjoyed watching the pre-game warmups, and watching Kevin Phillips and Ian Shannon punt. Both guys delivered some rain-makers! There is going to be a winner that plays here, and a loser that doesn’t. The competition is good. Frankly, though, I’d rather see the punters gathering rust on the sideline, this year. Like in 2010.
From reports this fall, it looks like Auburn is as good, if not better than anyone in the conference in the interior line. Unless junior Braden Smith flames out or is injured, he will be the top guard on NFL draft boards, in a few months. His fellow guard Alex Kozan has finally recovered from a debilitating back injury a couple of years ago, and has similar potential. Senior center Xavier Dampeer has beat back all comers at the center position, and I’m excited about what he’ll bring, this season.
I have more questions, at the tackle spots. Junior Austin Golson was a starting right tackle at Ole Miss as a freshman, before transferring to Auburn. He played center last season, a bit too tall to muscle under some SEC tackles. This past spring, he became Auburn’s left tackle. Folks, in modern football, the left tackle is the most important player in a right-handed quarterback’s world. A leaky left tackle will get a quarterback killed, from his blind side.
One of the constants from the last 8 or so last seasons is that if an Auburn quarterback wanted to take a deep, 7-step drop, the defensive end on the back side still wasn’t getting there. Lee Ziemba took over in mid-2007. Ziemba graduated after the 2010 season, and Auburn fell apart at that position for a couple of years. Enter Greg Robinson. He could do it all. No sacks allowed, and he was a pile-moving bulldozer, in the run game. After that, it was Shon Coleman, who locked down the left side. Golson steps into a position with a high bar set by the last decade’s position-holders.
I’m still not sure about the tight end/H-back positions. The only definitive conclusion I got from A-Day here, was that sophomore Jalen Harris was a lot bigger, and stronger. If we are going to be another running behemoth team like the 2013 team was, Harris is integral to the success of that. We have had head coach Gus Malzhan coaching offense on the Auburn sideline for 6 of the last 7 years. In that time, I have not seen evidence that aside from Phillip Lutzenkirchen that the offense can consistently utilize a tight end in the passing game.
We have assurances from the coaching staff that freshman Landon Rice has great hands. I’m guessing he’ll be trotted out as a decoy, and opposing coaches will pick up on that quickly. I saw on A-Day that both sophomore H-backs, Kamryn Pettway and Chandler Cox are a lot bigger and stronger. And in addition, there was evidence that they were a lot more comfortable in Auburn’s extended blocking schemes. What’s not often pointed out in Auburn film-study is that H-back/tight end blocking is quite difficult, from a schematic point of view. These guys have to run from unfavorable positions, and arrive in exactly the right spot. If the defense does something unconventional with their fronts, the lead-blockers have to read it, still get to the right spot, and hopefully be effective. Sometimes this can be something as simple as blocking the middle linebacker’s view of the play in the backfield. Sometimes, a guy has to move 30 yards on a dead run, and take out an athletic SEC linebacker. Way easier said, than done!
From all indications, Kamryn Pettway is going to be a featured tailback this season, if he stays healthy. If he plays any H-back, I’ll be surprised. Unless it’s of the “injured, time off, somewhat recovered” variety, like Fred Beasley did back in 1996. The burden of the true, every down H-back falls to Chandler Cox. The good news that Cox looked like he was ready, on A-Day. And he’ll likely get a few carries, swing passes and wheel routes, too, this season.
The real mystery this fall camp is the receiving corps. A trip of upperclassmen, Marcus Davis, Tony Stevens and Jason Smith are being pushed by the best incoming class in the country. Other highly touted recruiting classes, like Stanton Truitt are making pushes. Of Auburn’s haul of top receivers last February, the lowest-rated guy, Eli Stove has been making one-handed catches a-plenty in fall camp scrimmages. I do not envy new receivers coach Kodi Burns, who has to try to figure out who plays, and who sits. This is a talented group, make no mistake. Do any of them have chemistry with one Auburn potential starting quarterback, or not?
Running back became a big issue a couple of weeks ago with the dismissal of troubled transfer Jovon Robinson. Frankly, I think Auburn will be fine, here. Success or failure of the offense will hinge upon blocks, and catches. Running the ball, I think that Auburn will be fine with a one-two attack of Pettway and Kerryon Johnson. Auburn also has freshman Malik Miller, who looked dangerous on A-Day. Baylor transfer Kam Martin gives Auburn the home-run speed-sweep guy. Robinson is gone, but a whole ton of talent remains.
And, we are now down to the quarterback race, which apparently has yet to be decided. Propaganda from the coaches has been that every quarterback in the race has distinguished himself at time. As our friend Xotus says frequently in the comments, this is obviously, “damning with faint praise.” My gut feeling is that this is going to be a multi-quarterback season. History says that this rarely works, at Auburn.
At quarterback, according to “insiders” and other unsubstantiated s ources, Sean White remains ahead of the others. Transfer John Franklin III has made progress in his throwing mechanics, and is among the fastest players on the team. Forgotten senior Jeremy Johnson has not given up or transferred, and remains a factor.
As a guy who loves Auburn and its opportunities, I salute all QB candidates. I wish them well, and thank them for their service to Auburn. As to success against this year’s schedule… My guess is that Sean White will start, as a “game-manager” quarterback. This might even be successful, against a Clemson defense that has to replace 8 starter, plus a 9th sidelined by injury in the opener. My guess is that JF-III will be a “wildcat quarterback,” and will probably be handed extended packages if the sub-package proves successful.
I might get a ton of flack for this opinion, but I remain convinced that Jeremy Johnson is the most talented of current Auburn quarterbacks on this team. From an NFL standpoint, he can make every throw, no matter how much arm-strength is required. Also, he can run. I remember a seemingly effortless 70-yard take-off, against a fast LSU defense, last fall.
Early opinions from fall camp had JUCO transfer John Franklin III way behind the other candidates, but I’m not sure that’s true, anymore. Franklin’s accuracy has reportedly increased by leaps and bounds, while turnovers have problems other quarterbacks have had.
The bottom line is that the current coaches have to ultimately pick the quarterback that gives them the best chance to win, week-to-week.
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