#20 Auburn Tigers Season Preview

Auburn Running Back Michael Dyer had an outstanding freshman year.  Now Dyer will anchor this Auburn Tigers offense.

Offensive Outlook: Auburn lost a lot of quality starters who contributed for the team at different times.  Auburn lost quarterback Cam Newton who went #1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Newton may have been the teams biggest loss, but he was not the teams only loss.  Now the million dollar question in Auburn is who replaces Newton?  Right now Barrett Trotter, Clint Mosley, and freshman Kiehl Frazier are battling to be Newton’s successor in Auburn.  Right now Trotter and Mosley are the frontrunners, but there is a very realistic possibility that Frazier will start in 2012 because he was a 5 star recruit out of high school.  Right now if I had to go out on a limb I would say that Trotter would start with Frazier being redshirted before starting in 2012 depending on how Auburn does this season.

Auburn also lost running back Mario Fanin, wide receivers Terrell Zachert and Darvin Adams.  It will be hard to replace these playmakers.  Right now the running game is a non issue with Michael Dyer returning along with Onterio McCalebb being an effective as a #2 back.  Besides the running game the only playmaker who stands out at this point is junior tight end Phillip Lutzenkurchen.

Auburn’s offensive line should be their biggest concern on offense.  Auburn had 6 offensive lineman start.  The only offensive lineman returning are AJ Greene and Brandon Mosley who rotated snaps at right tackle.  Left Tackle Lee Ziemba, Left Guard Byron Isom, Center Ryan Pugh, and Right Guard Mike Berry are all gone giving Auburn some major holes on the offensive line.  Greene and Mosley should be able to be bookend tackles this year.

Defensive Outlook: Auburn lost Nick Fairley and two senior defensive tackles in Mike Blanc and Zach Clayton.  Besides free safety Neiko Thorpe every starter on this defense has 11 underclassmen with 4 sophomores on the defensive line along with a sophomore at middle linebacker.  Auburn also has 2 sophomores on the secondary.  The good news is none of their defensive players who are underclassmen have first round NFL talent at this point so there is a very good chance 10 of their 11 defensive starters will return in 2012.

T Sarvan Bell replaced Walter McFadden at cornerback when McFadden left when Bell became a sophomore a year ago.  Now Chris Davis who enters his holds that same responsibility at cornerback replacing cornerback Donald Washington at cornerback.

Projected Record 6-6: Auburn has a brutal schedule and a team in rebuilding mode after losing tons of players coming off a National Title.  I just do not see them winning enough games in a tough SEC Division.  The Tigers have road contests against South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU, and Georgia in November when the Bulldogs offense should start to click with Bulldog quarterback Aaron Murray entering his sophomore redshirt season. You obviously cannot forget a home game against Alabama where the Tide will look for revenge seeking after blowing a 24-0 lead before losing to Auburn 28 to 27 in Tuscaloosa.  Now the Alabama Crimson Tide are the SEC favorites.  Ole Miss put up 31 points against Auburn so playing Ole Miss could be a potential trap game considering the fact that Ole Miss has a 2 offensive tackles and a running back that are NFL prospects in 2012.

Auburn will contend again, but they will not contend in the SEC West until 2012.  Auburn will be back in 2012 though when 5 star recruit quarterback Kiehl Frazier and 5 star recruit left tackle Christian Westerman earn starting roles on Auburn’s offense.  Reese Dismukes can start at left guard with sophomore center Blake Burgess becoming the offensive lines leader.  Right guard John Sullen is a junior this year and is likely to return for his senior season.  Dyer will be in his junior year and McCalebb will be a senior if he returns making the running game deadly.  Auburn tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen could go in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft if he returns for his senior year at Auburn.

Auburn will likely have 10 of their 11 starters returning on defense next season with their free safety as the only senior on the roster leaving which is an unfair advantage that Auburn has heading into 2012.  All of Auburn’s defensive lineman are currently sophomores plus there middle linebacker is a sophomore so that supports my point of Auburn having an unfair advantage.  7 of the 11 Auburn starters on defense are sophomores so this defense is going to get more experienced even if one of the 3 underclassmen decides to leave Auburn to head for the NFL.

With a more experienced defense along with the fact that the highly touted offensive recruits will start in 2012 makes Auburn a team to watch in the future.  For now, the Tigers will enter a rebuilding phase in the SEC after winning the National Championship last season.