BY JAKE GONZALEZ
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
Football, as much as any sport, is a complete team game. All 11 guys have to work as a cohesive unit to execute the game plan and win the game. More often than not, a few guys out of the 22 that step on the field can make the difference.
As Bryan Harsin heads into his second season on the plains, there are more question marks than ever before: The quarterback battle, the entire wide receiver core and offensive line, the schemes that will be used on both sides of the ball following the departures of both coordinators and whatever actually occurred in the offseason involving him and the board of trustees and vice versa.
With all of that happening, this is truly a make-or-break season for Harsin, and these are the five players that will be at the heart of the Tigers’ success or failure in 2022.
ZACH CALZADA OR T.J. FINLEY OR WHOEVER ELSE LINES UP UNDER CENTER
This is probably the most obvious take on this entire list, but it doesn’t make it any less important. If Auburn is going to have success, it needs to see better production out of Finley or Calzada.
I believe that Calzada will be the one that starts at quarterback when Auburn takes the field against Mercer on Sept. 3. In reality, whoever lines up behind Nick Brahms and next to Tank Bigsby needs to be prepared to utilize the few weapons that surround him. That includes their legs, and Calzada is much better in that department than Finely.
Last season with Texas A&M, Calzada completed 56% of his passes for a little over 2,100 yards and 17 touchdowns. That was with one of the worst offensive lines in the SEC last season. The Tigers’ line may not be much of an improvement over the Aggies last season but with a little bit more time Calzada can perform better.
OWEN PAPPOE
Coming into the 2022 season, Auburn has lost two of its three starters out of the linebacker room. The only returning starter is Owen Pappoe. The former five-star was ranked No. 25 in the nation coming out of high school and the best outside linebacker in the class.
Since arriving on campus, Pappoe has been a day-one starter. If not for injury last season, he very well could have been day-two draft pick alongside Roger McCreary. Pappoe being healthy this year will be a massive boost for a very young linebacker room.
With new linebacker coach Christian Robinson, Pappoe’s veteran presence will be a wonderful addition to the young group. If he is able to stay healthy, Pappoe can be the leader and presence in the middle of the field that former Auburn players, K.J. Britt and Deshaun Davis were and more.
DERRICK HALL
Hall is on this list for what he brings along the edge of the defensive line but also for what he brings in terms of leadership in the locker room. It is no secret that Hall was Harsin’s biggest supporter this past off-season and took a leadership position among the Tigers.
That might be the most important thing that Hall can bring to this roster. True leadership. For the last couple of seasons under Malzahn, the Tigers never truly had a good leader on the team. If Hall can succeed as a leader, this team’s potential can be infinitely higher than anyone expects.
As edge rusher last season, Hall provided the Tigers with nine sacks and 54 total tackles. Thirteen of those tackles were for a loss. Hall had a season-high three sacks in the Iron Bowl last year.
TANK BIGSBY
The next player that will make this list is none other than Tank Bigsby himself. Everyone knows what Tank can do when given the time and the space. We’ve all seen it. Get him the ball and more often than not he is going to pick up positive yards. Even if there is no lane for him to run through.
If Bigsby can get back some of his freshman performance and new offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau can utilize him to his full potential, this Auburn offense gets exponentially better. At the end of the day just give Bigsby the ball and he will do good things.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE — YES. THE WHOLE UNIT.
In the last years of the Malzahn era, Auburn failed to be able to recruit any offensive lineman directly out of high school. Most of the current members of the offensive line were from the class of 2017 or transferred in. The only exception to the list is junior Keiondre Jones who signed in the class of 2019 out of Callaway.
The makeup of the line this year should be the same as last season with Austin Troxell at right tackle, Jones at right guard, Nick Brahms at center, Brandon Council at left guard and Killian Zierer at left tackle. This is a group with a ton of experience. Three of the five are super seniors, and all five played together last season.
Experience isn’t always a recipe for success, though. For the past couple of seasons, we have seen this same group struggle and struggle at protecting the quarterback and creating running lanes for the running back group. If this Auburn team is to succeed in 2022, the entire offensive line has to improve.