5 biggest questions facing Auburn Football in 2019

Finally, it’s game week! The long wait is over fellow Auburn fans. If you’re anything like me, you can hardly contain your excitement.

After all, the anticipation of waiting over seven months to see your favorite team actually play a legitimate game is almost too much to bear. I can assure you, our guys are tired of hitting one another this offseason, so now it’s time to pin back our ears and hit another team in the mouth, or bill considering Auburn’s first opponent are ducks.

In the south, football season is basically an entire calendar year when you consider recruiting, spring training, fall camp, the season, bowl games and then we do it all over again.

Despite our fascination with recruiting and the exaggerated hot takes we form upon watching A-Day, nothing quite compares to the crème de la crème that is the start of another college football season.

We plan everything that goes on in our lives around fall Saturdays because there’s nothing quite like soaking up the game day atmosphere that comes along with attending a college football game. And some fans prefer to enjoy the games from the comfort of their own homes as long as their recliner reclines and their gigantic tv powers on.

With that said, upon completing fall camp, Auburn Football has quickly become one of the most intriguing teams in all of the country.

The Tigers are now entrenched in game prep as Saturday, August 31 draws closer and closer when No. 16 Auburn meets No. 11 Oregon in Arlington, TX at AT&T Stadium in the Advocare Classic that kicks off at 6:30 pm/c on ABC.

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, entering his 7th season with the program, has the most talented roster of his tenure despite the hot seat talk that he’s grown all too accustomed to. Malzahn said it comes with the territory, but after taking over play-calling duties prior to Auburn’s 63-14 Music City Bowl beatdown of Purdue, one can’t help but think that the Arkansas native has a chip on his shoulder and coaches with something to prove this year.

Considering the intrigue and storylines that follow our Tigers into 2019, I decided to sit down and put pen to paper and provide you with the 5 biggest questions facing Auburn Football this season.

Will Gus rediscover the offensive play-calling prowess that led to Auburn hiring him?

As previously mentioned, Malzahn has taken back offensive play-calling duties after a few years of turbulence at that spot. He is in sole possession of the keys to an offense he hopes can liken to a Ferrari by the end of the season.

Make no bones about it, when Gus is at the wheel, this offense can be lethal. He was once considered an offensive genius but many believe those are the days of the past and defensive coordinators across the country have caught up to his tendencies.

However, with Malzahn back at the controls as play-caller, Auburn’s offense looked like a freaking juggernaut in the bludgeoning of Purdue when the Tigers scored more points in a bowl game than any SEC team, ever. Honestly, Auburn could have put up 100 that day if they wanted to.

This offense was created by Malzahn and it was the very reason he was hired at Auburn so it only makes sense that he has taken back over the reins as play-caller.

One big aspect of Gus’ offensive philosophy are screen passes. Fans have been very adamant about the impact the screen plays have had the last couple of years. Malzahn is very creative in the way he uses plays like these, and it will be interesting to see how he incorporates players like Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove, Matthew Hill, and the plethora of running backs into the screen game. Auburn has the horses to have a productive screen game, but how Gus mixes and matches the players and play-calls will ultimately decide its success.

Now that true freshman Bo Nix has officially won the quarterback job, it will be interesting to see how the game plan is installed. Bo is obviously the most polished passer on the depth chart, but he can also use his legs to extend plays and run the zone-read.

Expecting this offense to be fully efficient and smooth the first game of the season is a tall task, so I’d expect Auburn to lean on its defense early while Nix gets his feet wet. Then again, Gus could come out guns a’blazing with his freshman prodigy, but that’s a whole lot less likely to happen.

The interesting thing to me will be how much trust Gus issues to Nix. It took him 2 years to trust Jarrett Stidham enough to give him the ability to audible at the line of scrimmage and I don’t think the same responsibility will be placed upon the shoulders of the freshman this year. I believe we will get a 2013 Nick Marshall-esque offensive system where it is fast-paced, calls come from the sideline and if an adjustment is needed, the QB will look to the sideline to receive the call. It is fast, efficient, and simplifies things for a true freshman quarterback to learn on the fly.

Josh Pate of “The Late Kick” on YouTube asked Malzahn a question at SEC Media Days about the role that the intermediate passing game will play this season. Without giving a direct answer, Gus highlighted the fact that the offense has always been about running the ball to try and set up the deep pass. The kind of deflection by Gus has me thinking that not much will be made out of the 7-15 yard routes that fans have longed Auburn to implement in order to add variation to the offense. As of right now, it will be something to look for come August 31.

Who steps up at wide receiver?

This seems like an even more crucial question now that Auburn has suffered a big injury to this position group at the beginning of camp. Anthony Schwartz had surgery on his hand, but could potentially be back for the opener, especially if we’re to take anything from his cryptic tweets. According to Malzahn, it will be a game-time decision, but Auburn would obviously love to have the sophomore speedster back sooner rather than later.

Sophomore Seth Williams seems like the obvious answer here as he looks to be the guy thrusted into the Darius Slayton/Duke Williams/Sammie Coates role of being the go-to guy. He’s got the size at 6-foot-3, 224-pounds, the athleticism and the ability to put together an All-SEC campaign out on the edge.

Replacing star Ryan Davis won’t be easy to do, but there are a few names to look out for.

Will Hastings and Eli Stove didn’t play very much at all last season. In fact, Hastings missed all of 2018 after re-injuring his surgically repaired ACL and Stove only played in four games in order to take advantage of the new redshirt rule as he recovered from ACL surgery. However, by all intents and purposes, despite a little soreness, it appears that both of these guys are back into the swing of things in the Auburn offense and are as close to 100% as they’ve been in a long, long time on the Plains.

If there’s one thing Auburn has this year, it’s speed. The previously mentioned Schwartz will be a valuable commodity, but another under-the-radar guy who is quicker than he is fast is redshirt freshman Matthew Hill. This guy showed just how explosive he is during Auburn’s spring game when he totaled 128 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.

Finally, probably the two guys I’m most excited to watch this season is Sal Cannella and Marquis McClain. It seems these guys have been at Auburn for a long, long time. Cannella is a guy with NFL size that I believe needs to be a huge red-zone threat for the Tigers. McClain, who is a great athlete with the body of a linebacker, is a guy whose name always appears to be making waves early in camp and then tapers off towards the start of the season and results in us not seeing him out there as much. I certainly hope McClain gets his shot, because this guy has a chance to be a really good receiver in the SEC if he can show a model of consistency. With only 2 years of eligibility left on the Plains, time is running out to see if No. 17 can make his presence felt.

Can young linebacking corps step up?

This unit is going to be fascinating to watch this season. There are so many young guys that have extreme talent and getting them all on the field together may prove crucial to the outcome of the season.

This Auburn defense is set up to be legit, but the only big question mark is the fact that Auburn lost all 3 senior starting linebackers from a season ago. Veteran leader Deshaun Davis is now suiting up for the Cincinnati Bengals, so Auburn must find a way to replace him. Then again, his replacement has been groomed for a couple seasons and now it’s time for junior K.J. Britt to take front and center as the “quarterback” of this tenacious Tiger defense.

Britt, who attended Oxford High School (AL), which happens to be a common opponent for my old high school, so I’ve had the privilege of watching a few of his games in the prep ranks. He is a fast, instinctive and powerful football player who has all the tools to become the leader of this defense. Becoming a vocal leader and being able to bring the same kind of passion as Davis would not only help this defense, but it would essentially elevate the rest of this position group up another notch.

Freshman phenom Owen Pappoe, who was rated a five-star and the No. 1 outside linebacker in the country for the 2019 class, is a generational type talent. Not only is he built like a Ford truck, he has the speed to drop back in pass coverage combined with a unique sense of knowing where the play is going before the snap of the ball. He is a plug-and-play type of player who Auburn will count on immediately to produce. If he can catch on quickly and find his footing, Auburn may have found the perfect counterpart to play alongside Britt.

Two other guys to keep an eye on are Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten. These guys are both strong candidates to be an impact this season in linebackers coach Travis Williams’ deep rotation. Recently, Wooten has been backing up Britt at inside ‘backer while McClain has battled Pappoe on the outside. Wooten and McClain are valuable commodities to the defense and whether they start or come off the bench, both will play a meaningful role in the success of the Tigers in 2019.

Can running backs sort themselves out?

The running back room at Auburn is as fascinating as it has been in a while when considering all the playmakers at its disposal. There is a mix of experience, depth, talent, and potential that we haven’t seen in quite some time on the Plains. Jatarvious “Boobee” Whitlow is your starter, but what about behind him?

Senior Kam Martin is a guy that has been around a long time and knows what is expected from this coaching staff. He isn’t the biggest guy, but he possesses a mix of speed and agility that can fit this offense very nicely. For a defense to try and tackle Whitlow several times then have Martin come in the game, it’s just hard to try to bring down someone with that kind of speed after being dealt punishment from the other guy in the backfield.

Despite Martin’s experience, Shaun Shivers might become Auburn’s main change-of-pace ‘back considering his track star speed. His freshman year produced plenty of exciting runs and once he gets into the open field, goodbye. Another note on the sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, FL is that he would often stay after practice this camp in order to work on catching passes out of the backfield which will only add to his talented arsenal of playmaking abilities.

6-foot-4, 215-pound redshirt freshman Harold Joiner seems to have cemented his place among the deep running back room. The former four-star was tabbed by the 247Sports composite as the 5th best high school running back in the country when he signed with the Tigers in 2018. Insiders suggest that Joiner will be Auburn’s wildcat quarterback this season, but also indicated that he could be involved in the passing game as a receiving option out of the backfield.

The wildcard of the bunch is incoming freshman D.J. Williams, a four-star running back in the 2019 class whose profile blew up late in the recruiting process before he ultimately chose Auburn over Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Michigan and Miami among others.

Another incoming four-star freshman running back is Top 100 recruit Mark-Antony Richards, but he recently went under the knife and had surgery on his leg so he might be destined for a redshirt year. However, with the new redshirt rule, which allows a player to participate in any four games of the season and still retain a year of eligibility as long as he doesn’t eclipse the four game mark, could mean that Richards could make his debut at some point in 2019 if his rehabilitation is a success and doctors clear him for full contact.

How new Auburn running backs coach Cadillac Williams intends on using his freshmen ‘backs will be a fascinating detail to watch. D.J. Williams is said to be an under-the-radar future star, while Richards has been likened to Kerryon Johnson for his style and how he fits into the Malzahn offense. With Auburn’s overall depth at the position, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Tigers eventually redshirt both guys, especially Richards, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if D.J. Williams becomes a fixture in the 2019 Auburn backfield.

Will the offensive line hold up for the course of the season?

Auburn’s offensive line was a major concern entering 2018 and the end result was marred by inconsistency and shaky play before the Tigers seemed to finally discover their identity in its bowl game route of Purdue.

The Auburn big-uglies were a model of inconsistency in 2018, but improvement was evident as the season evolved, especially late in the year. Fortunately for the Tigers, insiders have indicated that the offensive line’s improvement continued to carry over into spring practice and fall camp.

All five starters from 2018 return to form the most experienced offensive line in the SEC in 2019, combining to start a total of 104 games. Another point of emphasis is that all five starters are not only seniors, but fifth-year seniors. The overall success of this offense will very much depend on the production and sustainability of the men in the trenches.

Prince Tega Wanogho looks to anchor the left side of the line and protect the quarterback’s blindside. A good season at left tackle could very well raise his draft stock and leap him into the first round of the NFL Draft. He, along with left guard Marquell Harrell look to lead a rejuvenated rushing attack as the offense brings along a freshman quarterback.

Prince Tega Wanogho returns to Auburn as one of the best pass-blockers at the FBS level. pic.twitter.com/cNNj5Sthrn

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 3, 2019

UMass transfer Jack Driscoll had a good first season at Auburn last year but will look to improve during the offseason and build upon his draft stock. According to Pro Football Focus, while Driscoll was an above average pass-blocker in 2018, his run-blocking will be a focus he looks to improve upon in 2019.

Jack Driscoll was one of the best pass-blocking offensive tackles a season ago. pic.twitter.com/tQj9CEJ5U1

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 5, 2019

Kaleb Kim seems to be the key piece in this puzzle. When he returned to the starting lineup in the latter part of last season, the offensive line as a whole looked a lot better and seemed to be more cohesive and fluid. Not to mention, an entire offseason together should help the progress of the group and big things are definitely expected from the group after an outstanding spring and fall camp.

The biggest uncertainty facing the offensive line this season isn’t so much the starters, who make up one of the top offensive line units in the SEC behind Georgia and Alabama. No, what likely makes Coach Malzahn nervous is the overall depth behind the starters on the offensive line, which consists of a group full of inexperience and youth, so it’s imperative that the Tigers remain healthy along its front five.

These are the 5 biggest questions facing Auburn Football going into the 2019 season. This team has a ton of talent and should expect to compete for the SEC West crown. A tough schedule is ahead, no doubt, but if the Tigers are able to provide quality answers for these five questions, the sky is the limit for the 2019 Auburn Tigers.