Auburn football: 10 players most important to accelerating offense in 2018

2. QB Jarrett Stidham

Stidham had four sub-par games in 2017. Auburn lost all four of them.

First, it was Week 2 against Clemson. We all remember that. It was a disaster as Clemson sacked Stidham on what seemed like every other time he dropped back to pass. He completed 13-of-24 passes for a season-low 79 yards. He finished minus-42 on the ground, thanks to the 11 sacks. Stidham struggled getting rid of the ball and his line struggled giving him ample time.

Another one we’d like to forget came in Baton Rouge. Auburn opened a 20-0 lead and then failed to score in the second half and Malzahn felt the brunt of the displeasure. Stidham connected on just 9-of-26 passes for 165 yards and no touchdowns.

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In Auburn’s final two games of the season, Stidham misfired on half of his 32 throws in the rematch against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and tossed two interceptions against UCF in the Peach Bowl loss.

So why dredge up this bad memories from 2017? Simply to demonstrate how important Stidham is to how this offense runs. Because when it’s running at top level, it’s so much fun to watch.

With Stidham healthy after offseason surgery on his left, non-throwing shoulder, and the lessons learned from these four losses in 2017, expect him to return on a mission and bring the fire he did in wins against No. 1 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama (below).