Blogle here. A guy from Canada randomly reached out to me on Twitter and said he was an Auburn fan. He only became an Auburn fan after the Kick Six. He lives in Toronto, he likes the Blue Jays, he plays tennis, but he loves Auburn. And after you read this, he probably knows more about Auburn than most of you.
1. Payton Thorne’s Second Year with Auburn
As always, all eyes are on the Quarterback. Auburn returns their starting signal caller from last season, Payton Thorne who returns for his second season as full-time starter for the Tigers. Thorne began his career in the Big 10 at Michigan State, having a very productive year in 2021 which saw him throw for over 3000 yards through the air and topping it off with 27 touchdowns. The Spartans would finish that season with an 11-1 record.
Although he benefitted form an outfit of talented weapons on an offense that boasted a plethora of future NFL talent, Thorne showed leadership, toughness, accuracy and arm strength, many traits that teams covet in their starting quarterback.
As has already been mentioned, it is of course true that he had many explosive weapons at his disposal during his time at Michigan State. Keon Coleman was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 NFL Draft after a prolific career at both Michigan State and Florida State, Jaydon Reed became a second round NFL Draft choice and plays in Green Bay for the Packers, and running back Kenneth Walker was drafted by Seattle in 2022 after winning both the Doak Walker and Walter Camp awards in College.
In his first year on the plains in the SEC, Thorne at times showed some growing pains, displaying some rust and a lack of cohesion while Quarterbacking a Tigers offense that was very inconsistent in 2023.
Thorne ended up throwing for just under 1800 yards last season, as him and Robby Ashford (who has since transferred to fellow SEC foe South Carolina) both saw playing time for the Tigers. It does need to be mentioned that Auburn as a team and program were rebuilding (and continue to rebuild) their image and culture on and off the field in 2023.
The Tigers brought in ex Ole Miss and Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze be lead their squad, who boasts an impressive recruiting and offensive résumé in the South. Freeze was dismissed from Ole Miss after getting himself into some hot water with off the field transgressions, and brings his SEC experience to Auburn after finishing with a 35-15 record after four seasons as Head Coach at Liberty.
Freeze brought Philip Montgomery along with him as offensive coordinator to help him teach and mold the RPO offense that he’s most known for, as he coached some very prolific offenses while with the Rebels. Montgomery experienced great success at Baylor, as many of the Quarterbacks he coached there would graduate to play in the NFL, including Bryce Petty and RG3. Although experienced coaches, and Montgomery chose to recruit Thorne in the transfer portal to lead Freeze’s RPO offense in 2023.
Auburn struggled to gather an identity on offense last season, lacking cohesiveness, organization, and explosiveness for much of the season, mainly struggling when travelling away from Jordan-Hare. Thorne won’t subscribe to any of the built-in reasons to excuse his lackluster 2023 season however, and looks to put last season behind and starting anew in 2024.
2. Auburn’s Young Receivers
After dismissing Montgomery in the offseason, Freeze set his efforts towards injecting young talent into Auburn’s offense, and was wildly successful with this endeavor. Although they haven’t touched the field yet in college, it is safe to say this is one of, if not the best offensive recruiting class in Auburn ‘s history.
Freeze was hoping to boast the “Freeze 5”, but in this case the “Freeze 4” will have to do, as Auburn’s 2024 recruiting class finished 10th nationally according to 247 Sports. The class included headliner Cam Coleman from Phenix City, Perry Thompson, Malcolm Simmons, and shifty Bryce Cain.
All Auburn’s receiver commits in the 2024 class are in-state prospects, and Auburn did a marvelous job in remaining diligent in flipping Perry Thompson on Big Cat Weekend from the Crimson Tide. All these commits shared prolific High School careers as they look to continue that success for the orange in blue in an exceedingly difficult SEC.
Although young and inexperienced, these 4 freshman look to see some considerable early playing time in 2024. Beginning the season against Alabama A&M, the youngsters are focused and locked in, planning to hit the ground running and lead Auburn to a quick start in 2024. Luckily Auburn also returns a few veterans in their receiver room in both the underrated Caleb Burton, and Camden Brown who has yet to reach his potential. Burton was unable to crack the starting lineup in Columbus, however earned 4-star status before committing to the Buckeyes. He transferred to Auburn after the 2022 season and caught 16 balls last season, but did not manage to reach to end zone.
Camden Brown boasts similar promise to Burton but has been unable to fully tap into his immense potential. He was a 3-star recruit in the class of 2022, committing to Auburn out of Florida. Brown caught 9 passes for Auburn in 2022, and followed that up with 10 catches in 2023. Unfortunately he was also unable to reach the end zone.
Although the production of Auburn’s “veteran” receivers looks meek, they’ll also be awarded the chance to prove their worth in the leadership department, taking the youngsters under their wings and teaching them the finer points of route running, releases off the line of scrimmage, and life surviving in the gauntlet that is the SEC.
Fans are clamoring to see Auburn’s new-look offense and witnessing first hand how these newcomers adjust to life in the SEC. Catching passes from Payton Thorne in Freeze’s RPO system, these young guns look to have an immediate impact in 2024 and help Auburn boast a much more balanced and potent passing attack.
3. New-Look Defense
Along with the offense, the defensive side of the ball will also have a new coordinator in 2024, as Auburn moved on from Ron Roberts in the offseason (now coaching at Florida) and brought in DJ Durkin. Durkin brings his talents to the Plains from fellow SEC school Texas A&M, as he served as their defensive coordinator in 2023.
Durkin also boasts an impressive résumé, as he served on the staff of wildly successful coaches such as Jim Harbaugh at both Stanford and Michigan, Urban Meyer at Bowling Green and Florida, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, and finally Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, among others.
Durkin finally cut his teeth as a Head Coach in college football at Maryland in 2015, leading the Terrapins to a 10-15 record before being dismissed in 2018.
In 2024 on the Plains, Durkin will have plenty of talented players at his disposal. Being an experienced linebackers coach by trade, we’ll start there.
Durkin inherits an experienced linebacking corps that includes returning starters Eugene Asante (who amassed 86 tackles and 5 sacks in 2023), Austin Keys (30 tackles and 2 sacks last season), and Jalen McLeod rushing off the edge, Durkin looks to implement a scheme to showcase the talents of these defenders and slow down some of the best offenses in the SEC.
Keldrick Faulk also returns on the edge opposite McLeod to help bolster an Auburn pass rush that hopes to improve on their 2023 effort and stifle the many talented quarterbacks on Auburn’s schedule this season, including Jackson Arnold at newcomer to the SEC Oklahoma, Jalen Milroe at Alabama, and Connor Weigman at Texas A&M.
Although Auburn lost some key members of their secondary to the NFL, with DJ James, Nehemiah Pritchett and Jaylin Simpson turning to the Pros, the Tigers return talented second year player Kayin Lee, transfers Antonio Kite and Jerrin Thompson, and do-it-all slot corner Keionte Scott.
Thompson transfers in from the University of Texas with nearly 50 college games under his belt, and Scott returns as a mainstay in Auburn’s secondary as a Swiss army knife, with the ability to return punts as well.
Like Auburn’s more veteran receivers, both Thompson and Scott look to mentor the young and ultra talented additional members of the secondary, as their experience both on and off the field should have fans feeling excited for the outfit roaming the sidelines inside Jordan Hare this fall.
Last but certainly not least, we’ll focus on the defensive line. Fans, coaches, analysts, and even players know many football games are won and lost up front. I know that sounds like a cliché, but in many cases it’s true.
Auburn admittedly has some inexperience up front along their D-line, however Isaiah Raikes and Philip Blidi look to surprise on defense this season while clogging up holes in the running game and providing a pass rush presence from the interior. Raikes began his career at USC before briefly transferring to A&M until finding a more permanent home on the Plains. Standing at 6-1and weighing in at 323 pounds, he provides adequate size for the position to hold up against the rugged SEC offensive lines that Auburn will face this fall.
Blidi is a bit taller than Raikes (standing at 6-3), but concedes some pounds in the weight department, so Auburn and DJ Durkin hope he can use his taller but lighter stature to beat opposing offensive linemen with his quickness. Amaris Williams, Malik Blockton, and Jamonta Waller round out Auburn’s top 10 recruiting class as immensely talented freshmen that should push for playing time this fall and give Auburn a much needed boost to their defensive line rotation that they’ll need in the physical SEC.
In all, the early Fall brings a time for hope. Every fan of every team across the Nation has waited patiently for the long offseason to come and go. Closely following the news coming out of Spring camp, scrutinizing their school’s recruiting efforts over the summer, and glimpsing the snippets released from Fall camps, it’s almost time for toe to meet rubber and mark the kickoff of the 2024 College Football season. The analysts have made their picks, the preseason rankings are out, and the 12-team College Football Playoff era is upon us, but enough talk, only one thing matters now: War Eagle.
