AUBURN | Auburn still has a lot of work to do until the season-opener against Oregon Aug. 31. Here’s five of the most important goals for the defense to accomplish over the next six and a half months.
1. BE MORE CONSISTENT
Auburn’s defense was fairly good last season, finishing fourth in the SEC in scoring and eighth in yards allowed. But it should have been better considering the talent, depth and experience defensive coordinator Kevin Steele was able to put on the field last fall. There was the fourth quarter collapse against LSU, the 349 rushing yards allowed at Mississippi State, the 328 passing yards given up to Tennessee and the 213 yards and three touchdown third-quarter blitz Alabama put up in the Iron Bowl. Great defenses, ones that compete for championships, don’t suffer complete collapses like that, especially with that frequency.
2. DEVELOP DEPTH AT LINEBACKER
From a personnel standpoint, this is really the only position on defense that lacks a lot of experience and depth. Auburn must replace its top three linebackers from last season with 73 career starts between them. Fortunately, juniors K.J. Britt and Chandler Wooten have played in 44 games over the past two seasons including two starts for Wooten. They project as the two starters with sophomore Zakoby McClain, who played in 13 games as a true freshman, ready to push for serious playing time. The fourth linebacker should come from a group that includes true freshman Owen Pappoe, who enrolled in January, and redshirt freshmen Michael Harris and Josh Marsh, although you can't rule out any of the group making making a push for a starting position.
3. REPLACE DEAN AT CORNERBACK
Jamel Dean stepped in for Carlton Davis as Auburn’s top cornerback last season, but who will step in for Dean this fall? The candidates are probably limited to junior Noah Igbinoghene, who made the switch from receiver before last season and started nine games, and senior Javaris Davis, who has started 24 career games at cornerback and nickel. Auburn doesn’t have a lot of proven depth at cornerback with sophomores Christian Tutt and Roger McCreary the only other returners that played a significant role last season. Tutt is probably a favorite to win one of the starting cornerback jobs if Davis remains at nickel.
4. FIND AN EDGE RUSHER
Nick Coe performed well at Buck last season, leading Auburn and finishing ninth in the SEC with 7.0 sacks. He was also eighth in the league with 13.5 tackles-for-loss. While Coe is an athletic and lengthy defensive end, he’s not an explosive edge rusher like Auburn has had in the recent past with Jeff Holland, Carl Lawson and Dee Ford. And with the sophisticated passing attacks the Tigers face in the SEC, it’s important to have someone who can get to the quarterback and apply pressure quickly. Auburn has several candidates to fill that role including junior T.D. Moultry, sophomore Richard Jibunor and perhaps one of the true freshmen that enrolled in January — Derick Hall or Colby Wooden.
5. IMPROVE COVERAGE AT NICKEL AND DIME
The SEC seems to be loaded with NFL receivers every season and those big, physical wideouts, or the quick and fast ones, can be a nightmare to cover when they’re moved into the slot. Auburn had its share of breakdowns when opposing offenses went into three- or four-wide sets and needs to upgrade its coverage acumen at the nickel and dime positions. Having Davis back plus another year of experience for Tutt and McCreary should be a boost. Auburn signed four defensive backs in the 2019 class including two — Cam’Ron Kelly and Zion Puckett — that enrolled in January, and the group should provide an injection of talent and perhaps some immediate help.
