I thought Barrett Trotter looked better overall. He didn’t protect the ball as well as Clint Moseley did, but he threw a nice deep ball to DeAngelo Benton on the opening play from scrimmage that was dropped, then a 24 yarder to Phillip Lutzenkirchen and a 19-yarder to Lutz for a td on the opening drive. He looks like the better quarterback to me. He’s got a strong arm. He fumbled twice on exchanges, but those were really the only mistakes he made. He made a nice deep throw to Quindarius Carr that Carr dropped. Pretty impressed with Trotter. Moseley made a couple of nice eight to 10 yard throws to Emory Blake, but didn’t show an ability to throw it downfield that well. He made a couple of nice throws over the middle though. Logan Paul played a lot, but he’s a non factor. Kiehl Frazier comes in this summer, but he’s not going to win the job. He has too much to learn. Trotter looks like the man. He’s got a strong arm, he can run some and I think he makes good decisions. Seems to have a high football IQ.
Didn’t see much of Michael Dyer or Onterio McCalebb, but they’ll be fine. Dyer had a nice 11 yard run at the beginning of the game and McCalebb had some decent runs. If McCalebb can get on the edge, as we all know, he can break it. Dyer should have a huge year. I think Ladarious Phillips is going to be a player at fullback. He’s 6’0″ 291 pounds and he’s an athlete. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, and he can run. He can be a weapon. I was impressed with Anthony Morgan, too. He’s got explosiveness and great speed. Think he could help next year with depth. Quan Bray (5’11”, 178) and Tre Mason (5’10”, 190) are two four star freshmen who are coming in, so there is some more help on the way. I think Phillips and Dyer can really give Auburn some power running between the tackles. And Dyer has the speed to break it of course. McCalebb with blocking, we know can be a game breaker.
Wide receiver looks OK. Emory Blake should be good. Didn’t see a lot of action on Saturday, but he’s a good player; we know that. Trovon Reed is the guy everybody has been talking about for the last two years. Stan White described him in the spring game as having “Percy Harvin speed.” Now that would be exciting. He made a couple of receptions, but I didn’t get to see him do a lot in the open field. I know the coaching staff and fans are excited about him. Could be another of those game breakers Tigers need. We know what Lutz can do. Should have a big year. I would use him a lot this year. The guy is so dependable catching the ball and always gets in the end zone. He could be an All American this year. The coaches have been waiting for Carr to step up. He had a nice spring last year, but has trouble catching the ball sometimes. If he can work on his hands, he could be an explosive player. He has the great speed, but he has trouble securing the ball. Same on punts. He needs to work out a lot with the quarterbacks this spring and summer. Benton is another guy who needs to step up and catch the ball. He could be a playmaker. Another guy who has been talked about that needs to step up is Travante Stallworth. He and Benton were considered stellar a couple of years ago and there was an article in the paper about their immense ability. So it’s time they get it together and start making plays. Didn’t see really anybody else who stood out at tight end besides Lutz. Cameron Groce played some and he was serviceable. There are two tight ends coming in with this frosh class: Brandon Fulse (6’4″, 247, four star) and C.J. Uzomah (6’5″, 230, three star).
The line looked pretty good really. Reese Dismukes looks like he’ll be a player. Has a good mean streak in him and is perfect with snaps. Blake Burgess will battle with him for the starting spot at center, but I think it’s Dismuke’s job to lose. A.J. Greene and Brandon Mosley look like they’ll man the tackle spots. Chad Slade should be one of the guards. Eric Mack may be the other. John Sullen, Ed Christian and the highly acclaimed Christian Westerman should battle for jobs. Westerman was the commit to Texas who decommitted and came to Auburn instead. He was rated a five star by Scout and ESPN and a high four star by Rivals. Should be an impact player early. He’s at 300 pounds now and 6’4″. Could be the next Lee Ziemba. Depth could be a factor on the line.
Dline has some players. Jeffrey Whitaker (dt), Kenneth Carter (dt) Craig Sanders (de), Corey Lemonier (de) and Joel Bonomolo (de) are all very good players. And Nosa Eguae (de) is coming back and he’s an excellent player. Defensive end looks pretty good. Defensive tackle may have depth issues. Angelo Blackman, a 6’5″, 290 high three star incoming frosh, should help , and Gabe Wright, a 6’3″, 273 (he’s probably bigger by now) was a big time recruit, a high four star, and I think the coaches are excited about him. Need to also stay healthy on the defensive line.
Linebacker has some solid players, too, just not a lot. I thought Eltoro Freeman had a good scrimmage on Saturday. I know Auburn fans are waiting for him to step up and become the dominating player they thought he would be. He looked like he might be heading in that direction on Saturday. Jake Holland looks like he’s ready to take over in the middle and Darren Bates and Jonathan Evans could be the outside guys though LaDarius Owens is going to make a push for a starting job. He’s going to be a very good player. Jessell Curry, a sophomore, and Jawara White, a redshirt freshman, could be excellent linebackers as well. Five star freshman Kris Frost is coming in. He’s listed as an athlete, so he could be a linebacker or in the secondary. He’s 6’3″, 210. There are three other three star linebackers coming in, so there will be decent depth at this position.
Secondary will be led by T’Sharvin Bell. He’s a leader and a playmaker as he showed in the Alabama game last year with that big sack on Greg McElroy and then his pick six against South Carolina in SEC Champ game. Looks like an All-American to me. I was very impressed with Jonathan Mincy on Saturday. He looks like he can be a big hitter and make plays in the secondary at corner. Chris Davis will be be a player at corner.Neiko Thorpe will be back and should have a good year and Demetruce McNeal is a guy who I was impressed with at safety last year. Jonathan Rose could be a stellar player. The freshman looked like he had a nose for the football at corner. Should be a key player next year and the future is unlimited for this high four star recruit. Guys like four star signee Enrique Florence (everybody wanted him), Anthony Swain (high three star), Robinson Theaezie (four star) and Jermaine Whitehead (four star) will need to come in and help right away.
Chandler Brooks connected on three field goals in the first half, one for 47 yards with the wind at his back, but then struggled in the second half against the wind. Wind was a factor. Stan White kept saying that Cody Parkey, who was slightly injured and didn’t play, is the guy the coaches want to kick for them. He has been behind Wes Byrom for two years and White says he’ll be the guy as he was highly touted coming out of high school. Steven Clark did a good job punting overall. Had a couple that weren’t very good, but boomed a couple; one for 68 yards with the wind at his back.
McCalebb looks good returning kicks. He’s solid though you don’t want him to get hurt doing that. Reed looks like he could be a big time returner on punts and kickoffs. The coaches are really counting on this guy this year. He has good hands returning punts and could be a game breaker. He has the tools to be outstanding. Carr could be in the mix if he can catch the ball better. He has the break away speed.
The Schedule:
Pretty brutal. Utah State at home, Ms. State at home, @ Clemson and versus Florida Atlantic. Come out of there with four wins and things could get interesting. Then @ South Carolina, @ Arkansas, vs. Florida and @ LSU. The final four are Ole Miss @ home, @ Georgia, vs. Samford and the Iron Bowl, Saturday, Nov.26, at Jordan Hare.
I think this team has more talent than people think and if Trotter–whom I think should be the starter–can be as good as I think he can be, the Tigers could surprise some people. It’s all about staying healthy. If Auburn can have some luck with injuries they can be very competitive this season. There’s not one game they can’t win depending on how Trotter plays, how effective the wrs are, and how the line performs and stays healthy. There are some new quarterbacks in this league and they’ll be making the adjustment at Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas, Brantley has not proven anything at Florida and Jefferson is erratic at LSU. Ole Miss will have a new qb, Georgia will have a good player in Aaron Murray and Alabama will have a new quarterback. I’d say nine wins–that’s including a bowl win– would be a successful season and they can build up the depth for a run in ’12. But you never know. If Trotter plays well–and I’m not Gus Malzahn so it could be Moseley–and the other offensive players do their part, the line comes together and the defense stays healthy, there are athletes to compete with anybody in the SEC. These coaches are great developers of talent, so they could make it very interesting this year. Some incoming freshmen will have to play and play well. You can’t count this team out. There is good talent and there is great coaching. Just not a lot of depth. If the Tigers stay healthy though, they could have a very good season. The schedule is tough, but nobody Auburn is pretty even with the other teams they’ll be facing and a lot of these players know how to win. Should be a fun and interesting season.
(To me, Barrett looks like the man.)