This post is full of orange and blood goggles and delusion. Take caution before proceeding.
The path to a 10-2 or 11-1 season. Does it exist for Auburn in 2022? Obviously, that sounds ridiculous. However, in a magical season where things go the way of 2013 or 2017 or maybe even 2010, there is a chance that the stars align for this Auburn team.
The common theme among the magical seasons listed above is usually a dominating/generational talent on one or both sides of the ball. Nick Marshall, Cam Newton, Nick Fairley, and a player like Dee Ford. I think we can also think about players like Derrick Brown, Narlob, and Jeff Holland here too.
I think the 2022 Auburn team has a few players that could fit into this role. Here are a few nominees... Colby Wooden, Derick Hall, Marcus Harris, and Eku Leota on Defense. I don't think it would be shocking if at the end of the year one or two of these players played themselves into a high draft pick. I think because of that core group, in a magical type of season you could see more players emerge as tremendous game-changers... Like Owen Pappoe or maybe somebody in the secondary.
The defense should be the strength of this team in 2022. I wish they still had a player like Zacoby McClain or Roger McCreary. I don't think we have necessarily improved those spots, but we lost Dansby and Thomas following 2003 and proceeded to not lose a game in 2004. Sometimes things just come together.
The obvious area of most concern is on offense. Tank Bigsby is special. We all know that. Is it possible for him to find greatness behind this OL? That is the question. Is there a scenario where he is successful enough in spite of the OL? I think that is where we are at. Nobody should expect him to put a 1600-yard season.. but can he be effective enough in key moments in games to extend drives and get points. I don't think we need a top-5 OL to win games. We just need them to not fvck up when it matters.
At QB and WR, I think this team is sort of middle of the SEC. Is Calzada capable of being Jarrett Stidham good? I think that is not necessarily a high bar. And is this the year that Ze'vian Capers finally lives up to his hype? What if he does? Could he be Duke Williams good? That might be asking a lot but he has the size and athleticism.
Finally, the schedule.
I have been pretty consistently optimistic about the schedule. Auburn plays 8 home games. I think it's possible we are favorites in 6 of them. Typically in years of magical success, other teams aren't winning in Jordan-Hare. Auburn starts the year with a schedule that is about as good as it gets for easing into the season. Two cupcakes and then Penn State. Missouri and LSU follow on back-to-back weeks. Both will be very beatable for a good Auburn team in JHS.
hAUt take ALERT: I think uga is more beatable for Auburn than Ole Miss. This is simply based on weird schedule quirks. We play LSU and at uga, then play at Ole Miss. They have Kentucky, @ Vandy, then us.
I think Arkansas is a fraud. Miss State shouldn't be a team to worry about.
A&M might be the most difficult game in 2022 outside of bama. But we play A&M in JHS. That seems to advantage us. What could be a match-up of two 8-1 teams.
At the end of the day, this Auburn Team needs a magical type of season to get to 10-2 or better. That path is very narrow and unlikely.
However, I think the history of Auburn Football is full of unsuspected successful seasons.
The path to a 10-2 or 11-1 season. Does it exist for Auburn in 2022? Obviously, that sounds ridiculous. However, in a magical season where things go the way of 2013 or 2017 or maybe even 2010, there is a chance that the stars align for this Auburn team.
The common theme among the magical seasons listed above is usually a dominating/generational talent on one or both sides of the ball. Nick Marshall, Cam Newton, Nick Fairley, and a player like Dee Ford. I think we can also think about players like Derrick Brown, Narlob, and Jeff Holland here too.
I think the 2022 Auburn team has a few players that could fit into this role. Here are a few nominees... Colby Wooden, Derick Hall, Marcus Harris, and Eku Leota on Defense. I don't think it would be shocking if at the end of the year one or two of these players played themselves into a high draft pick. I think because of that core group, in a magical type of season you could see more players emerge as tremendous game-changers... Like Owen Pappoe or maybe somebody in the secondary.
The defense should be the strength of this team in 2022. I wish they still had a player like Zacoby McClain or Roger McCreary. I don't think we have necessarily improved those spots, but we lost Dansby and Thomas following 2003 and proceeded to not lose a game in 2004. Sometimes things just come together.
The obvious area of most concern is on offense. Tank Bigsby is special. We all know that. Is it possible for him to find greatness behind this OL? That is the question. Is there a scenario where he is successful enough in spite of the OL? I think that is where we are at. Nobody should expect him to put a 1600-yard season.. but can he be effective enough in key moments in games to extend drives and get points. I don't think we need a top-5 OL to win games. We just need them to not fvck up when it matters.
At QB and WR, I think this team is sort of middle of the SEC. Is Calzada capable of being Jarrett Stidham good? I think that is not necessarily a high bar. And is this the year that Ze'vian Capers finally lives up to his hype? What if he does? Could he be Duke Williams good? That might be asking a lot but he has the size and athleticism.
Finally, the schedule.
I have been pretty consistently optimistic about the schedule. Auburn plays 8 home games. I think it's possible we are favorites in 6 of them. Typically in years of magical success, other teams aren't winning in Jordan-Hare. Auburn starts the year with a schedule that is about as good as it gets for easing into the season. Two cupcakes and then Penn State. Missouri and LSU follow on back-to-back weeks. Both will be very beatable for a good Auburn team in JHS.
hAUt take ALERT: I think uga is more beatable for Auburn than Ole Miss. This is simply based on weird schedule quirks. We play LSU and at uga, then play at Ole Miss. They have Kentucky, @ Vandy, then us.
I think Arkansas is a fraud. Miss State shouldn't be a team to worry about.
A&M might be the most difficult game in 2022 outside of bama. But we play A&M in JHS. That seems to advantage us. What could be a match-up of two 8-1 teams.
At the end of the day, this Auburn Team needs a magical type of season to get to 10-2 or better. That path is very narrow and unlikely.
However, I think the history of Auburn Football is full of unsuspected successful seasons.
Harsin still sucks, but he could win me over if we start off 5-0
