A-Day Recap: Grading the Auburn Offense

It’s always hard to get much out of Auburn’s A-Day, whether it be due to the game being the first team taking on the second team for the most part (early on at least), the vanilla play-calling, or neither the quarterbacks nor the special teams being live.

That said, when it comes to the Tiger offense, there were still some things that stood out and — despite the above limitations — enough action to formulate an overall grade.

But first, let’s look at the skill positions.

Quarterbacks

Jeremy Johnson displayed both some of his issues from last season and also a few of the reasons why his struggles must be so maddening to Gus Malzahn and Rhett Lashlee.

On his first series against the second-team White defense, Johnson decided late to check down from the deep ball and had to rush the dump pass, throwing it wide and incomplete.

Next time out, there’d be a mishandled exchange with the running back, resulting in a wasted play, and then a third-and-goal miscommunication with Marcus Davis. Lashlee coaching Johnson up immediately after the misfire seemed to indicate that it was Johnson who was incorrect.

He’d also scramble and buy himself plenty of time to at least throw the ball away only to take a sack.

This same quarterback would also fire a strike over the middle of the field for a third down conversation — the first (and only) of the entire game for Auburn, this coming in the third quarter — and then fire another to Roc Thomas in the end zone for a score.

In addition, in the fourth quarter, Johnson unloaded a perfectly placed missile down the field to Darius Slayton, only for the redshirt freshman to fail to reel it in. Still, it was a flawlessly thrown ball.

Sean White had the most success throwing the ball down the field — a 50-yard rope down the seam to Marcus Davis, a 20-yarder to C.J. Tolbert who wheeled out of the backfield, and to Tolbert again for 22 yards along the sideline with a wonderfully thrown touch-pass.

But he also had the most major mistakes.

Two plays after the deep ball to Davis, White took his eyes off of the snap and fumbled. Instead of simply falling on the ball, he attempted to pick it up, compounding the error and costing Auburn a red zone possession.

Two plays after the pretty 20-yard pass to Tolbert, he took a costly sack at the hands of Carl Lawson — but, to be fair, Lawson does that to people.

The most disappointing mistake by White came late in the first half, when he floated a pass into double coverage. It had no chance and was a gift interception 99 percent of the time, but T.J. Davis dropped it. It was similar to a pick he threw against Memphis — the kind that can’t happen.

White did show better speed than I anticipated, both during a scramble and when he went out impressively attempting to throw a block.

Due to quarterbacks not being live, John Franklin III was obviously limited by not being able to utilize his most valuable weapons — his speed, elusiveness, and extending of plays.

Malzahn started Franklin with easy passes — a quick sideline throw and a wide receiver screen on his first series — both of which appeared to be delivered on time and on target.

In the second quarter, on third-and-goal, Franklin fired a dart to Marcus Davis at the front of the end zone, but it was tightly contested. It may have been a little high but was catchable.

He showed good arm strength on all of his underneath passes.

He also checked down from a deep pattern, dumping the ball off to his running back instead of forcing it downfield.

Late in the half, Franklin, under pressure from the first-team defense, slid in the pocket just enough to get a ball off down the field intended for a pretty well- (but single-) covered Marcus Davis. Davis would make a great adjustment to catch it and trot into the end zone for a 40-yard score. That’s the kind of shot you want to take.

Franklin didn’t show the placement on the deep ball that Johnson did, or the down-field accuracy and touch that White did, but he protected the football and made the most of his opportunities considering the circumstances.

Running Backs

• Jovon Robinson showed great vision, which is nothing new, and seemed a bit quicker than last season. His 55-yard run off of a read-option with Franklin would be far from the only time that occurs should Franklin win the starting job.
• Roc Thomas was split out at receiver a good bit, but he showed his speed and quickness out of the backfield when given the opportunity. If he can just stay healthy and hold onto the ball, he can live up to his hype yet.
• Chandler Cox looked much faster than I was expecting, even after seeing him last season, and that was on full display on his 71-yard scamper. This kid is an athlete.
• Kamryn Pettway went full beast-mode more than once, delivering blows that defensive backs simply don’t want to absorb, and tallying a 40-yard rumble.
• Cox and Pettway will play large roles this season.

Wide Receivers

• Auburn’s receivers are still very much a question mark — other than Marcus Davis that is. Davis is absolutely the Tigers’ most trusted weapon in the receiver corps, even at just 5-foot-9.
• Tony Stevens looks the part, but there were no stand-out plays made to make note of at A-Day — just a couple of near-misses.
• Jason Smith continues to be utilized mostly in the short game.
• Ryan Davis showed tremendous speed on a called-back 81-yard touchdown sprint. You have to believe the Tigers will find a way to get him the ball in space often, one way or another.

Grade

It’s difficult, with it being the first-team versus the second-team and with the third- and fourth-strings getting involved, to really evaluate where things stand.

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However, when an offense is 1-for-22 on third down, it’s hard to give the unit a passing grade.

That said, there was enough hope on the field for me — especially since I truly believe in the potential of Auburn’s defensive line for 2016 — to score the Auburn offense with a C, despite the numbers and first viewing of the game saying otherwise.

There are weapons on this offense.

They just need a quarterback to take hold of the job and not let it go.

And lead them into battle.