1st and Ten – How Good Can He Be?
– On January 3rd, 2005, the Auburn Tigers had three first
round draft picks in their backfield. But, when the New Orleans night
turned into a grim January 4th, 2005 morning, the questions
of how the Tigers would make it without Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and
Carnell Williams began. It took until about mid-season when one man
decided that it was his time, his team and his ball, and that has made
Kenny Irons one of the most dangerous ball carriers in the nation. Once
Irons got cranked up and rolling, the Tigers became the hottest team in
the country. Irons seems to run angry – he runs with such power and
explosion. He might be able to run past defenders in the secondary, but
when he turns the corner and gets his shoulders square to the line of
scrimmage, he’s getting ready to punish someone. Hopefully, for Tiger
fans, that someone would be wearing a different color jersey. Nearly
1,300 yards later, Irons wrecked havoc on the SEC, and he’s back to do
the same for 2006. Unfortunately for Irons, he’s lost a couple of key
components, well, some big components, actually, in Marcus McNeill and
Troy Reddick, on his offensive line. With both tackles graduating,
Irons will have to run more between the tackles on power isolations and
inside zone runs, but he became more of a complete runner throughout
last season and running in the A/B gaps shouldn’t worry him or the
Tigers.
2nd and Seven – If your safeties are
bigger than your linebackers… - It’s not a question that most teams
are faced with, well, unless you’re an Auburn Tiger defensive coach,
player or fan. However, the Tigers have flourished with speed, in lieu
of size, at the linebacker position over the past few years, and this
year’s group will be similar to those of the past. Will Herring, last
year’s starting safety will move up to a linebacker spot, and in so
doing, he becomes the biggest potential starting linebacker.
Regardless, when speed met size in the Capital One Bowl last season, it
was Wisconsin’s size and strength that won out in a big way. These
linebackers aren’t going to have the luxury of playing behind a nose
tackle like TJ Jackson or a defensive end like Stanley McClover, so it
might be a little tougher to succeed without those two star defensive
linemen. Consequently, if there’s a significant amount of pressure on
any one unit this season, helloooo, linebackers.
3rd and Three – Consistent Cox –
The breakout of Kenny Irons by midseason seemed to mask the play of
Brandon Cox, the soon-to-be junior quarterback, who took over for Jason
Campbell, a first round NFL draft pick. Cox had nearly a 2 to 1 TD to
interception ratio and had some key moments, including the throw to
Devin Aromashodu against Georgia that put the Tigers in position to make
the game winning field goal. Shoot, he threw only three interceptions
in the last nine games of the regular season. However, in the Capital
One Bowl, Cox did not play well, finishing 15 of 33 and one pick. As
Cox was harassed into such a poor day, the Tiger offense never found its
end of year groove. With Irons getting 25 to 30 carries a week, Cox
must keep defenses from loading the box. When he does, Al Borges’ Tiger
offense could and will be lethal.
4th and One – Where There’s a Gunn,
there’s smoke, wait, oh, something like that – The loss of Stanley
McClover, a tremendous speed pass rusher, would typically signal rough
times for Auburn, but that’s far from the truth. Marquies Gunn and
Quentin Groves have plenty of experience rushing the edge, and do it
with the same speed and tenacity that McClover brought to the party.
SEC quarterbacks need to be on the lookout for the two linebacker sized
(man, what is it about linebackers with this team) players at defensive
end. Oh yeah, where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire. Just wait until you
see these two guys smoke off the edge.