2020 Team Preview: Can Auburn Hang With The Big Boys?

There are few teams which are more regularly mysterious and hard to pin down than Auburn. In years when the Tigers aren’t expected to do much, they surprise by how good they are. In years when Auburn is a preseason SEC favorite with a chance to make the College Football Playoff, the Tigers crumble. Auburn seems to have a knack for making preseason picks look foolish, so in a year when Alabama is the favorite in the SEC West and LSU is the defending champion, can Auburn pull off yet another surprise?

Offseason Changes

The Auburn offensive line is by far the most critical part of the 2020 roster. Auburn lost six seniors from its offensive line group – not just starters, but backups as well. Auburn will have an extremely young and unproven offensive line this coming season. The best player Auburn loses from 2019 is defensive tackle Derrick Brown. He was picked seventh in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. Auburn has bodies on the defensive line, but the loss of Brown is still notable and impactful.

The Tigers Will Succeed If…

They are able to find answers on the offensive line. Auburn has been able to produce solid and sometimes powerful rushing attacks under head coach Gus Malzahn, but this might be the most challenging year for Malzahn in his attempt to create an offense which can establish the run on early downs and set up the downfield pass against opposing defenses. Auburn wants to be able to run and force defenses to stack the tackle box with eight or even nine defenders, and then throw over the top of those defenses for big passing plays. If the offensive line is able to mesh relatively well and exceed expectations, the Auburn offense could become an asset and not a liability.

The Tigers Will Fail If…

Quarterback Bo Nix can’t make the next step in his progression. Nix is the son of former Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix, who guided the team in the 1990s. He had a very uneven 2019 season, clearly a year in which he was learning on the job and trying to build for the future. Malzahn’s best successes at Auburn have come with quarterbacks who have transferred in from other programs. Nick Marshall transferred from Georgia and led Auburn to the national championship game in the 2013 season. Jarrett Stidham transferred from Baylor and led Auburn to the 2017 SEC West championship. Nix is a home-grown product, so Malzahn has work to do if he wants to get the most out of his latest quarterback. It will be a challenge, and if Nix falls short, Auburn won’t have a successful season. It’s that simple.

Prediction

The Tigers don’t look that great on paper, but again, they have a way of being better than expected when no one expects anything of them. It will be very hard to beat Alabama and LSU at the very top of the SEC West, but Auburn could very realistically finish ahead of Texas A&M and still have a decent, though not exceptionally strong, season.

Prediction: 3rd In SEC West