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Auburn Football: Tigers Expected to Have One of the SEC’s Least Experienced Offenses in 2015

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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The 2015 Auburn football team is expected to have one of the least experienced offenses in the SEC in 2015, according to Phil Steele’s preliminary experience chart.

The pre-season college football magazine guru’s chart was first published January 2, and does not include underclassmen who had yet to declare for the NFL Draft. Therefore, the numbers may change by January 15 – the last day to declare early for the 2015 NFL Draft.

Also, given the state of college football in recent years, there are likely to be some additional player defections for various reasons.

Nov 1, 2014; Oxford, MS, USA; Auburn Tigers offensive lineman Avery Young (56) celebrates at the conclusion of the game against the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Auburn defeated Ole Miss 35-31. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

However, as it stands now, the Tigers will have just four starters returning on offense in 2015. That puts Auburn in a three-way tie with Mississippi State and Alabama for the fewest in the SEC. Tennessee is expected to return ten starters next season, making them the most experienced offense in the league. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss welcome back nine starters next year, followed by LSU and Arkansas (8), Kentucky and Texas A&M (7), Georgia (6) and South Carolina (5).

According to Steele’s chart, the Tigers are the only team in the Southeastern Conference not to return either a starting quarterback or running back. Auburn must replace two-year starting signal-caller Nick Marshall and Cameron Artis-Payne – the SEC’s leading rusher this season- in 2015. All 14 teams expect to return at least one receiver, and all but Mississippi State and Alabama return at least three offensive linemen.

According to the university’s official stats, Auburn wide receiver D’haquille Williams started seven games, and offensive linemen Shon Coleman and Avery Young stared all 13. Patrick Miller started five games this season and was considered by Steele among the returning starters as well. Receivers Melvin Ray and Ricardo Louis, who started seven and five games this year, respectively, just missed the cut.

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Other key returners include quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who started the 2014 season opener, lineman Alex Kozan, who was a starter in 2013 before a back injury sidelined him this summer, and running back Roc Thomas, who lined up in the backfield at the beginning of two games in 2014. Offensive lineman Braden Smith earned his first career start in the Outback Bowl and Devonte Danzey earned a few starts in the middle of the season, rounding out the 2014 Tigers that served as offensive starters at least once.

Despite a lack of starts compared with the rest of the league, the Tigers should be just fine on offense in 2015. Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn has led his teams to a 34.3 points per game scoring average since 2011, which ranks 12th in the country among all offensive play-callers over that time span.

In addition to Malzahn, Auburn should benefit from a handful of newcomers like junior college running back Jovon Robinson, considered the nation’s top JUCO player in this year’s class, and Kerryon Johnson, who is currently the highest rated committed high school prospect in the 2015 Auburn recruiting class.

Next: NFL Coaching Rumors: Malzahn Contacted By 49ers?

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