Auburn Tigers: Post-spring stock report

With spring football in the rear view mirror, it’s time to fully embrace the Head Ball Coach’s “talkin’ season.”

The transfer portal carousel is still spinning, so rosters aren’t totally finalized just yet, but we at least have a sense of foundation for each SEC program. So let’s take a stock report for every team in the conference, examining their offense, defense and overall outlook heading into the 2022 season. 

Today we look at the Auburn Tigers. 

OFFENSE — STOCK DOWN

We don’t need to rehash all the offseason drama surrounding Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin this offense, but suffice to say, if the former Boise State head coach plans to survive a simmering hot seat he must fix the Tigers’ flaccid attack. 

Auburn had a mostly punchless offense in 2021, especially against Power 5 schools. Only Vanderbilt was worse in the SEC versus  true FBS competition, with the Tigers ranking 13th in both yards per play (5.1) and total yards (366 per game). The offensive line really struggled and AU’s passing attack cratered after Bo Nix went down with an injury. 

It’s not surprising that Harsin moved on from veteran SEC coordinator Mike Bobo. But the problem is the offense didn’t look markedly better — or different at all schematically — this spring. 

The Tigers remain unsettled at quarterback, where T.J. Finley, Robby Ashford and Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada will all continue to compete for the job in fall camp. Auburn lacks playmaking talent on the perimeter, so it plans to continue to build upon last season’s heavy tight-end, run-game oriented offense. 

“Our approach moving forward is to really set the foundation with the run game,” new offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said earlier this spring. 

“I think we have got some really talented backs and we’ll start from there. Then we’ll kind of grow, see where it goes from there, but that’s going to be the foundation where we start.”

In theory, Kiesau’s plan makes sense as tailbacks Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter are Auburn’s best two players and the tight end room is deep, too. 

But that was also the case last year, and Auburn’s run game struggled overall as defenses regularly committed extra defenders to a stacked box, unafraid of AU’s passing attack. 

While Bigsby (1,099 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Hunter (593 yards, three scores) were able to grind their way to yards, the efficiency wasn’t really there. Against SEC opponents, Auburn’s run game averaged just 3.52 yards per carry. 

Considering the unknowns at quarterback and receiver, and although the offensive line returns depth, quality is in question, there’s not a ton to be optimistic about regarding Auburn’s offense heading into the 2022 season. 

DEFENSE – STOCK HOLDING

On the surface, this may seem strange since the Tigers were bleeding defensive linemen to the transfer portal all offseason, but Auburn’s 1st-team defense should still be fairly sound next season. 

Depth is a noted concern, but Derick Hall is a dude at pass rusher, and the potential 2023 1st Round pick is surrounded by solid pieces like interior linemen Colby Wooden, Jayson Jones, an Oregon transfer, Marcus Harris and end Eku Leota. The Tigers desperately need promising underclassmen Jeffrey M’ba, Marquis Burks, Zykeivous Walker and edge Dylan Brooks to give them something snap-wise this fall. 

Auburn’s pass rush ranked in the middle of the pack in the SEC last season (36 total) but it did harass eventual Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young for seven sacks in the Iron Bowl, and there’s a strong case to be made that the Tigers’ pass rush will be better in 2022 — especially if guys like Wooden and Leota continue to develop.

Owen Pappoe is a former five-star recruit who has struggled to stay healthy with the Tigers, but he returned to school to improve his draft position and the time is now for Pappoe to live up to his prep potential. The Tigers could explore the transfer portal for some additional instant-impact linebacker help, as Wesley Steiner, Desmond Tisdol and Cam Riley have some major shoes to fill with the team’s two leading tacklers from 2021 exhausting their eligibility. Auburn’s secondary also must replace two key pieces off last season’s roster (corner Roger McCreary and safety Smoke Monday), but there’s well-recruited depth there, and the unit looked solid throughout the spring. 

Nehemiah Pritchett looks like a potential breakout candidate at corner, while Jaylin Simpson, Oregon transfer D.J. James and top-JUCO Keionte Scott are talented players. Safeties Zion Puckett, if he can stay healthy, and Donovan Kaufman are a good duo, too. The Tigers only ranked 12th in the SEC in pass defense in 2021 and picked off just nine passes (second-worst in the SEC). If the rush is even a tick better, Auburn’s secondary should exceed last season’s play as well. 

2022 OVERALL OUTLOOK — STOCK DOWN

Not even a gallon of milk could help cleanse Auburn’s spicy offense. Harsin outlasted a ridiculous coup attempt by angry boosters, but he still enters the fall in a particularly precarious situation. 

He’s fully-aware that X-percentage (name your own number) don’t want him on The Plains much longer, so he enters Year 2 with must-win expectations without the requisite support or alignment. Oh, and Auburn’s overall roster is worse than it was last season. 

The Tigers are dealing with changes to both coordinators, a quarterback competition and a transfer portal that hasn’t been overly kind. The schedule, while somewhat manageable to start the season (five straight home games), includes six consensus preseason Top 25 teams (Penn State, Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama). 

Harsin could use some good fortune after an ugly smear campaign was ignited to get him fired, but only time will tell if he can win enough in 2022 to survive more predicable tumult coming his way later this fall.