College Football Countdown: 5 Things That Must Go Right for Auburn in 2016
Better Quarterback Play
No real surprise here as Auburn fans have heard this all offseason, but the Tigers have to find someone who can run Malzahn’s offense the way it was meant to be ran.
I don’t care who comes out of this quarterback competition, but it has to be someone who is a threat to run and pass. That would lead you to believe that John Franklin III is the man for the job, but it’s hard to tell from spring practices whether he overwhelmed the coaching staff or not as they still haven’t declared him the starter.
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Franklin is a transfer from East Mississippi Community College where he wasn’t even the starter last season, but he showed great athleticism throwing for 733 yards and rushing for 451. Junior college transfers have worked out great in the past for Auburn – see Cam Newton and Nick Marshall – so hopefully they’ll strike gold again with Franklin.
It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where White or Johnson is the one to turn things around at quarterback, but they both do have experience in Malzahn’s offense so maybe something clicks for one of them this fall and they can turn this ship around.
Whomever is behind center on September 3, they have to be more consistent than what we saw at quarterback last college football season. I still believe that when Malzahn has the right quarterback in place, he can command one of the best offenses in the country. But as we’ve seen the past two years, he has to have the right quarterback in order for his offense to work.
Next: Defensive Line Has to Get to the Quarterback