Mailbag: How do Auburn's position groups stack up in the SEC?
This week: A defensive two-deep for football, basketball starting lineup picks, excitement levels, Rob Chubb and more World Cup
AUBURN — Welcome back to the mailbag. Once again, we’ve done it. We’ve made it to the big preseason mile marker known as SEC Media Days.
Truth be told, I feel like this summer has flown by — in a good way. We haven’t had any real dry stretches of stuff to write about or talk about here on The Observer. There’s a good excitement level from the fans about Auburn football for a change, and Auburn basketball did a strong job of capitalizing on that bounce-back NIT run. It also helped that Henry jumped aboard to cover Auburn baseball for us, too.
But SEC Media Days, which will kick off in a few days in Tampa, is always a sign that the offseason is coming to a close and that our big sports here are just around the corner. And, I have to say: It’s been a lot more fun looking ahead to the new era under Alex Golesh than where we’ve usually been this time of the year at The Observer.
We likely won’t have a mailbag next Friday, since I’ll be on the move quite a bit with all the SEC Media Days madness. The good news is that you guys once again came through with a very fun group of football and basketball questions to make this a great edition of an offseason mailbag.
Thanks as always for supporting The Observer. Being back at basketball practice these last couple of weeks has got me excited for covering football fall camp. I’m glad y’all will be here with us for all of it. Let’s go.
In your estimation, how do Auburn’s position groups stack up against the rest of the conference? And which ones have the best chance for improving their standing as the season progresses?
Paul
At quarterback, I would say Auburn easily sits in the top half of the league and has a ceiling inside the top four or so. Byrum Brown had the best yards per attempt and quarterback rating marks last season of any quarterback currently in the SEC — and he was an elite rushing threat. Even if you add a Group of Five tax to his stats, there’s still a lot to like here. Ole Miss and Texas A&M return starters from playoff teams, and Texas has a clear superstar. But I don’t think there’s a ton of separation between Brown and, say, the new LSU quarterback who had good, not great, numbers in the Big 12 and is coming off an injury. The peak version of Brown is truly elite.
The running back room is another one that I think is easily in the top half of the league with potential to get into top-four status. While four of the top five running backs in the SEC are back, Jeremiah Cobb was not far behind at No. 6 last year. If Bryson Washington is back to his best Baylor self, Omar Mabson II continues to develop well and both Nykahi Davenport and Tae Meadows just give you what they showed in the Group of Five last year — there might not be a deeper group in the conference. Top-end talent is higher elsewhere, but this is a room built to do well right away.