Ranking AU by position: No. 6
AUBURN | The fifth in our series of ranking Auburn football by position continues today with offensive line at No. 6. We’re counting down from 10 to 1 over the next couple of weeks.
WHY NO. 6: The group wasn’t very good at the start of last season but improved over the last few games. The O-line returns all five starters, who are all fifth-year seniors. It’s also the second year under offensive line coach J.B. Grimes.
OVERVIEW: One of the most interesting units to watch this fall. It’s certainly fair to expect improvement for all the reasons mentioned above, but how much? We really won’t have that answer until Auburn lines up against some of the SEC’s best defensive lines later in the season.
Left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho is Auburn’s best offensive lineman. He was actually ranked by PFF as the SEC best pass blocking offensive lineman last season and put in a lot of work this spring to become a better run blocker. If he takes another step forward this fall, Wanogho could be a high NFL Draft pick next spring.
Right tackle Jack Driscoll gives Auburn a talented bookend to Tega and another player that projects as an NFL Draft pick in 2020. The UMass graduate transfer immediately stepped into the starting lineup last season and brings a lot of technical savvy and leadership to the group.
Fifth-year senior Bailey Sharp will likely back up both tackle positions after Austin Troxell was lost for the season due to a knee injury in the spring game. Auburn is pretty thin at the position with sophomore Alec Jackson still developing after moving over from defensive line and junior Prince Michael Sammons not in line for serious playing time.
The best interior player is Marquel Harrell at left guard, who graded out just behind Wanogho as the SEC’s second-best pass blocking offensive lineman last season. He’s also pretty physical at the point of attack when healthy. Senior Mike Horton is solid at right guard and the offensive line really started to improve when senior Kaleb Kim got healthy and returned to the starting lineup in week nine.
The depth is also better inside with sophomore Nick Brahms starting five games at center last season and sophomores Brodarious Hamm and Tashawn Manning along with redshirt freshman Kameron Stutts having a good showing at guard this spring.
Further depth comes from redshirt freshman center Jalil Irvin and Auburn will add three more signees this summer in Kamaar Bell, Keiondre Jones and Justin Osborne.
FINAL NOTE: Depth is certainly an issue, especially at tackle. And 2020 is a huge concern too. But this is about 2019 and this group has a chance to be pretty good if they can stay healthy. Experience and experience playing together are so important in offensive line play and Auburn has an abundance of both.
MORE RANKINGS
9. Quarterbacks
8. Linebackers