What Must Auburn Do Offensively?

Questions along the line as Auburn starts Spring practice

This is the first in our series of posts that will look upon what we think Auburn must do to improve to an SEC Championship caliber team. Lets face it, Auburn can not contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff ( CFP ) without winning our conference.

We start where the biggest disappointment developed as the season progressed. The Auburn offense.  Where the Tigers offense had been an exciting and explosive unit. Last season it was anything but explosive. 

Offensive Line: The loss of Avery Young and Shon Coleman are just the tip of the iceberg. Auburn has recruited very well with some of the country's best linemen in camp this spring. The question here is: Who will step up and take over the starting tackle spots? Below is a list of linemen currently on the roster.
Senior Xavier Dampeer   RS Fr. Kaleb Kim   RS Fr. Ryan Meneely    Senior Alex Kozan

RS Fr. Mike Horton   Soph. Tucker Brown   RS Fr. Bailey Sharp   RS Fr. Tyler Carr

Senior Robert Leff   Jr. Braden Smith   Jr. Austin Golson   Jr. Dion Mix

Senior Jordan Diamond   RS Fr. Marquel Harrell   Jr. Darius James

With new Offensive Line coach Herb Hand, there may be lots of shuffling along the line this season. The exception may be with Golson and Dampeer, which are proven dependable Centers. 

At the Tight End ( TE ) position the Tigers seemed pretty well set until the announcement this past week of Chris Laye leaving the program. This position wasn't utilized a lot last season. After having the likes of Phillip Lutzenkirchen and C. J. Uzomah setting the bar at Auburn at this position,  the Tigers need to find someone who can block, catch the ball when needed and who knows the full playbook.

Gus Malzahn's offense has to have an active TE to reach its full potential. The list of potential starters looks like this: Senior Greg Hall   Soph. Jalen Harris   Fr. Landon Rice 

That's not a lot of folks at the TE position and I would expect Gus to move some kids into that area for depth reasons. My guesses are that Soph. Logan Rice and maybe Jr.Tyler Stovall will get looks here as well.

In our next post we will look at the Wide Outs, the H Backs, the Quarterbacks, and the Running Backs. Until then.

WAR EAGLE!