AU fans are excited for Gus Malzahn’s first season and they showed it by the attendance figure which was over 83,000, the highest attended spring game in the country. Pretty impressive.
Jonathan Wallace and Kiehl Frazier took the snaps at quarterback, and while Khiel was still inconsistent, Wallace showed he’s a pretty capable quarterback. Wallace was 18-of-26 for 191 yards with no TDs and one int, but he moved the offense pretty well. Kiehl is just not there yet. You can see he has talent, but just hadn’t put it together so far. With the arrival of heralded freshman Jeremy Johnson from Carver-Montgomery and JC transfer Nick Marshall, there should be some excellent competition at quarterback. Most of the time, I don’t love freshman quarterbacks starting in the SEC, but Jeremy is one outstanding football player. First of all, he has the size at 6’6″, 215. He threw for 3,183 yards last year with 31 TDs and seven ints. He also ran for 705 and seven TDs. I’ve watched film on him and am highly impressed with his arm strength, his accuracy and his ability to see the field and make the right throw or tuck it and run it. Awesome athlete. Also watched an interview with him after the Army high school all-star game and he’s definitely a leader. Awesome kid. Jeremy could step in and play immediately if he has a good summer. Marshall needs to work on his arm strength and his accuracy. He threw for 17 TDs but 20 ints last year at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
There are quite a few good players on this team and a highly impressive recruiting class coming in. One of the ’13 recruits, junior college running back Cameron Artis-Payne, was a four-star player. And Artis-Payne didn’t disappoint in the spring game,. He ran for 117 yards on 18 carries and had some tough, grind it out runs and some long runs. Artis-Payne could take the starting job away from Tre Mason, though Tre is a good player himself. Corey Grant didn’t play in the spring game, but he’s got incredible speed, almost world class, and he was quite a player at Opelika High School. He should be in the mix. Four-star signee Jonathan Ford will be another guy who plays a role. These freshmen coming in are fantastic. They should be competing for many roles this fall. Another incoming freshman running back is 5.7, three-star Peyton Barber. The coaches are high on him as well.
O line looks pretty solid to me. Reese Dismukes is the leader and anchor at center, and Greg Robinson will be a force at left tackle. There is a lot of talent like Jordan Diamond and Avery Young at tackle. Both were five-star signees in the class of 2012, but were injured last year. They should make a big impact. They’re both massive. Veteran guard Chad Slade will be in the mix for starting time. 2012 four-star Alex Kozan, 2012 four-star Patrick Miller and Shon Coleman, a four star in 2012 who has recovered from leukemia, a pretty amazing story, will also be in the mix. I really like backup center Tunde Fariyika. He’s a good player. He had a fine spring game.
At wide out, Sammie Coates will be a go-to guy. He’s quite an athlete, and at 6’2, 201, a very nice target. Also liked Ricardo Louis a lot. He can be a factor. He got belted with an illegal hit above the shoulders by cornerback Jonathon Mincy which knocked him out of the game. Looked like he suffered a concussion. I’m not sure why Mincy would do that to a teammate. MIncy looks like a really good player, but if he does that in a game, he’ll be ejected, and really, you don’t do that to an opposing player especially when it’s your teammate. Louis looked good. Jaylon Denson did some nice things also. He’s 6’3″, 216, so he’s a big, tall target. Quan Bray is kind of playing the Onterio McCalebb role this year. He’ll catch some passes and make some speed sweep runs. Quan’s a potentially explosive player. Trovon Reed dropped some passes in the game. Just don’t know why he can’t get it done, but it hasn’t gotten any better. There are a couple of talented four-stars coming in in Earnest Robinson of Pinson Valley (6’3″, 200) and Tony Stevens (6’3″, 175). Dominic Walker is 6’2″, 195 and a high three-star. Jason Smith is a four-star athlete at 6’1″, 187. Not sure where Malzahn will put him, but he could make a good wr.
What stood out on the defense to me was the play of the cornerbacks. Mincy played very well and Chris Davis had a very good spring. Joshua Holsey is a good player as is Ryan White. Cornerback looks good. Robenson Therezie and Jermaine Whitehead are highly capable safeties. Demetruce McNeil will play a role. I like him. He plays hard and has talent. There will be some incoming frosh coming in who could make an impact. This freshmen class is fantastic.
Linebacker looks somewhat thin, but there are some very good players in the group. Kris Frost played well in the spring after being hurt all last year. He was a five-star out of high school. He could be special. Cassanova McKinzy is a beast. Justin Garrett is excellent and has had a dominant spring. Incoming junior college lb Kenny Flowers should provide immediate help. He didn’t play in spring game. Also, freshman Cameron Toney will probably be needed. Flowers is 6’2″, 225 and Toney is 6’3″, 225. LaDarius Owens (6’2′, 248) is a good player. The linebacking corps needs to stay healthy, but there are some very good players, just not a lot of them.
Dline looks pretty good but somewhat thin too. Jeffrey Whitaker hasn’t performed up to expectations so far in his career, but he’s 6’4″, 307 and maybe defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson can get through to him and get his motor cranking. Dee Ford and Nosa Eguae are good players at defensive ends and Ken Carter is an undersized (6’4″, 287), but talented defensive tackle. Heralded five-star defensive tackle Montravius Adams (6’3″, 290), five-star d end Carl Lawson (6’2″, 253) and four-star d end Elijah Daniel (6’3″,249) should provide some immediate help. They look physically ready to play college football.
Cody Parkey was erratic kicking the ball in the spring game, but he had a pretty good year last year, so kicking should be OK though incoming freshman Daniel Carson will give him a run if Parkey remains as inconsistent as he was in the spring game. Steven Clark will be back to punt. He wasn’t that great last year, but maybe another year will make a difference. Punt returner looks like it will be Quan Bray. He’s explosive. Auburn didn’t do any live kickoffs, so not sure who’ll be back there.
AU opens at home with Washington State, Arkansas State and Miss. State in the first three, then go to Baton Rouge in week four. Ole Miss and Western Carolina are at home, then the Tigers go to College Station to face A&M. The Tigers are at home vs Florida Atlantic, then go to Arkansas and Tennessee before playing the Dawgs and the Tide at home to finish the season.
@LSU, @A&M and Georgia and Alabama@ home will be tough. There are some tossups with Ole Miss @ home and Arkansas and UT on the road, though I believe AU can beat a rebuilding Tennessee team and Arkansas too. Ole Miss looked pretty good in their spring game, so that’ll be a tough one. Eight wins looks possible though it could be a game better if AU can upset Georgia or any of the other three. Seven, six or five wins is also possible. Just need to get the qb position cemented by Washington State, though that may not happen, and stay as healthy as possible on defense. The freshmen will have to make an immediate impact as well.
