Auburn has a lot to replace and a lot of people are picking the Tigers to struggle this year, but I think they’ll be better than expected. Cam’s with Carolina, Nick F. joins forces with Suh in Detroit. Wow, what players they were in a special season for the national champions. But it’s 2011 and there’s a new group in. Gene Chizik’s slogan last year was “good to great.” It’ll be interesting to see what he says this year. He was on ESPN’s First Take a couple of days ago talking about his new book, All In: What it Takes To Be the Best. I’m looking forward to reading it. Last year was a combination of great players and great coaches and that Auburn family spirit that carried the Tigers to the pinnacle of college football.
Now it’s time to look at 2011. The Russell Wilson sweepstakes are over and that’s a good thing. Now the coaching staff can concentrate on Barrett Trotter, Clint Moseley and incoming freshman Kiehl Frazier to see who can win the starting quarterback job. Right now, like Alabama, it’s still up for grabs. I thought Trotter and Moseley both did some good things in the Spring game and Frazier is a five star recruit by Scout and a high four star by Rivals. So they’ll battle it out in August. I like both Trotter and Moseley. Think either one could be a better Chris Todd because both are pretty mobile. Frazier is an athlete, now. I wish, like Alabama, I could give you a definitive answer, but I trust Gus Malzahn to make the right call and I think he’s still processing on this one. All three are capable. Trotter probably has a better arm than Moseley, but Moseley looks like a real leader to me and has a pretty solid arm as well. Looks like Moseley may throw the short/intermediate passes a little better and Trotter throws a better deep ball. Not sure about Frazier. Should make for some excellent competition next month.

Michael Dyer and his 1,093 yards return. Onterio McCalebb returns from an 810 yard season with nine tds. Both are outstanding. Auburn is waiting to hear if Mike Blakely, a transfer from Florida, can play this year. Should be a ruling from the NCAA soon. He would help. Anthony Morgan looked pretty good in the spring as a capable backup. Quan Bray and Tre Mason are two freshmen who can help. Not a lot of size in this group and injuries could be a factor, so they need to stay healthy.

Wide receivers lost the dependable, outstanding Darvin Adams and the stellar T Zac, but has the touchdown maker Phillip Lutzenkirchen (15 catches, 185 yards and five tds) returning. Also, the reliable and pretty stellar Emory Blake (33-554, 8 tds) returns. AU is expecting big things from Trovon Reed. He is an explosive player and gives the Tigers, along with McCalebb, a guy who can go the distance any time he touches the ball. Quindarius Carr returns for his senior season. He looked incredible in the spring game in 2010, so I think there is a lot of potential there.Needs something good to happen to get some confidence. Other guys like DeAngelo Benton and Travante Stallworth need to step up this year. Both are juniors and there has been a lot expected of them, so this is there time to prove themselves.

Oline will be pretty new. Ryan Pugh, Lee Ziemba, Mike Berry and Byron Isom are gone. This Reese Dismukes (6’3, 290) looks like he’s going to be a really fine center. According to a friend of mine he dominated in high school All-Star games and looked pretty good in the spring game. He could be better than Pugh and Pugh started his freshman year albeit as a tackle. But this guy has a lot of talent. Blake Burgess (6’2″, 273) will challenge Dismukes for the starting spot. Brandon Mosley (6’6″, 305) returns at one tackle and he’s solid. John Sullen (6’6″, 336) could man the other tackle spot. Guard is kind of up for grabs. Christian Westerman (6’5″, 285), Thomas O’Reilly (6″3″, 326) and Gregory Robinson (6’5″, 305) are young guys they are high on, particularly Westerman. He decommited from Texas to come to Auburn and he was a five star by Scout and the highest four star you can have in Rivals. ESPN had him as a five star, too. So the line is probably going to take a little while to come together, but there is some good young talent there. Need to figure out the starters and develop depth.

Defensive line has some good players. Nosa Eguae (6’2″, 258) is a beast at defensive end. He’s a potential dominant player much like a Fairley. I don’t know if he can be that good, but I think he’ll be harassing a lot of quarterbacks this fall. Guys like Corey Lemonier (6’4″, 229 dend) and Jeffrey Whitaker (6’3″, 310 dt) will play major roles this year. Both Lemonier and Whitaker were part of that stellar recruiting class in 2010 that brought in Michael Dyer among others. Craig Sanders (6’4″, 257) is a stellar guy at defensive end.

Linebacker looks promising. Daren Bates will be back, and although I like him better at safety, he’s a pretty competent lb. Jonathan Evans also returns. It’s time for Eltoro Freeman to step up. The talent is there. He needs to be a dominant player for the Tigers. Jake Holland should be a great player. Other guys like LaDarius Owens, Jawara White and the freshmen have to step up. Kris Frost is a five star athlete/linebacker so we’ll see what AU does with him. Other frosh lbs are Chris Landrum (6’3″, 235) and Justin Garrett (6’2″, 200) both three star players.

Secondary will be led by T’Sharvin Bell. This guy is a leader and a winner. Makes huge plays for the defense. Had game changing plays last year against Alabama and South Carolina (SEC champ game). Could be an All-American before he’s through. Other guys like Neiko Thorpe (a lot of experience) and Chris Davis should be excellent players in the secondary. Incoming four star frosh Jonathan Rose from Leeds will be an excellent player. Some other incoming freshmen like four star Enrique Florence, four star Jermaine Whitehead three star Anthony Swain and four star Robenson Therezie, will probably be expected to play this year. Little thin in the d backfield as far as experience goes so the freshmen will have to play a role. The arrest of Mike McNeil was a bad thing in a lot of ways. He’s looking at some pretty significant jail time.

Cody Parkey has a good shot to be the kicker and Steven Clark the punter. McCalebb will probably return kickoffs and I’m not sure about punt returner. I think Trovon Reed has a good shot at that spot.

Schedule is tough, no doubt. But that’s the way it is in this conference. Some years you’re going to have a difficult road schedule and this is a year for the Tiges. Open with Utah State at home (11 a.m. ESPN or ESPN2), then State at home (11:21 a.m. SEC Network) then go to Clemson (11 a.m., ABC). Florida Atlantic at home, @South Carolina, @ Arkansas, vs. Florida, @LSU, vs. Ole Miss, @Georgia, vs, Samford, then at home against Alabama (Nov. 26).

Chizik said on First Take that he’s more excited to coach this team than he ever has been to coach a team. This team looks young, hungry and many of them have tasted a lot of success from last year and want to continue it this year. Some may say it’s going to be a tough year. I think it can be better than expected. This team will be highly motivated. There are a lot of young guys who want to prove some people wrong. Depth will be an issue, but everybody struggles with depth. Michael Dyer can hopefully stay healthy. He’s very important. Will this team challenge for an SEC title? It’ll be hard, but this team should be very competitive. I see seven, eight and possibly even nine wins if things really go well and the team stays pretty healthy.

Michael Dyer (pictured above) will try to make more runs like this legendary one against Oregon in the BCS title game last year