Can Auburn finally change the narrative on the offensive line in 2023?
The Tigers' front has struggled for the last few years. But, thanks to a mix of old and new, the chatter on this OL is different.
OL Kameron Stutts (Austin Perryman/Auburn Athletics)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kameron Stutts has seen a lot during his time at Auburn.
Stutts arrived on the Plains as part of a 2018 recruiting class that produced the likes of Roger McCreary, Zakoby McClain, Smoke Monday, Jamien Sherwood, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz. Half of those players are about to enter their third seasons in the NFL. The other half are in Year 2 as professionals.
But Stutts has stayed at Auburn — now on his third head coach and his fourth position coach — for what will be six seasons of college ball. He redshirted in 2018 and decided to use his sixth COVID year of eligibility this past offseason, along with fellow veteran offensive lineman Jalil Irvin.
How long is six seasons of college football? During Stutts’ time, Auburn has started 21 different offensive linemen for at least one game.
Stutts is one of just three of those linemen who are on Auburn’s 2023 roster under Hugh Freeze and his new staff. Additionally, he’s the only one who has started more than two games — Tate Johnson started two before a season-ending injury last fall, while Irvin got a spot-start in the 2021 Birmingham Bowl and Wright started last season against Ole Miss.
And that count of starting linemen during Stutts’ time in Auburn could easily get up to 25, or higher, by the time he’s done playing for the Tigers.
Throughout Stutts’ career on the Plains, there has been one constant about an offensive line that has had to roll through a large number of players due to injury, performance and roster attrition: An overwhelming amount of concerns.
The year before Stutts got to Auburn, the Tigers ran all the way to the SEC Championship Game with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback and conference Player of the Year winner Kerryon Johnson as the star running back.
In 2017, Auburn’s offensive line ranked inside the top 25 nationally in adjusted line yards, inside the top five in power success rate and inside the top 10 in stuff rate — all of which are advanced blocking stats from Football Outsiders.
In the five seasons since then, Auburn has had 15 opportunities to reach those benchmarks again as an offensive line. It has done so just twice: hitting the adjusted line yards mark in 2020 and the power success rate mark in 2022.
More often than not, the Tigers have been inside the bottom half of Power 5 teams in those categories, compounding the overall offensive issues that have plagued the team since their last trip to Atlanta.
But something has felt different this offseason. While the improved feelings of a fresh reset at the program level might play some part in it, the way the offensive line has been talked about has been remarkably much more positive.
“It feels good,” Stutts said last week at SEC Media Days in Nashville. “I mean, we’ve put in a lot of hard work. So for that hard work to be paying off and for everybody to have an opportunity to be successful, it’s exciting.
“But we’re just going to continue to take it week by week and get after it.”