Auburn football: Media’s snub, oversight or miscalculation of defensive line
By Rob Maxwell
Everywhere you look these days, the Auburn football defensive line is being recognized.
First it was Phil Steele in his annual College Football Preview, placing the Auburn defensive line as the fifth-best in the country.
A Bleacher Report ranking had Auburn’s defensive line ranked third nationally.
Then SEC Network analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said he believes Auburn has the best front seven and best overall roster in the SEC.
On Tuesday, defensive lineman Derrick Brown was named to the Outland Trophy watch list (for the best interior lineman on either side of the ball). Brown also was named to the Nagurski Trophy watch list, along with defensive end Marlon Davidson. That award is given to the nation’s top defensive player.
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But when the SEC released its preseason All-SEC team voted on by the media last week at SEC Media Days, guess how many players on that Auburn defensive line were voted to the first-team?
Zero.
Guess how many players returning from a defense that ranked 14th nationally in total defense and 12th in scoring defense were voted to the first-team All-SEC defense?
The answer still is zero.
That’s just silly, isn’t it? That should be bulletin board material for defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell, every defensive coach at Auburn and every Auburn defensive player.
Yes, Brown, linebacker Deshaun Davis and defensive back Jamel Dean were voted to the second team and Davidson, Dontavius Russell and Javaris Davis made the third team. That’s all good. But it’s not first team.
But don’t fret, there’s something good to be taken from all this. The preseason voting doesn’t matter. At all.
The SEC is loaded on defense. That Auburn had no one selected to the first team is not a dig at the players who did make it. Alabama’s Raekwon Davis and the Mississippi State duo of Montez Sweat and Jeffrey Simmons definitely are worthy of first-team consideration. Everyone on the first team is.
But the team that counts is the one voted on at the end of the season. Brown, Davidson, Davis, Dean, Russell, Nick Coe, T.D. Moultry, Big Kat Bryant and others will get their opportunities to impress.
Last season, Auburn didn’t have a player voted to the preseason first-team defense. Cornerback Carlton Davis and defensive end Jeffrey Holland were first-teamers when the season ended.
Phil Steele had high praise for the Auburn defensive front in his preseason magazine:
"The interior tandem of Dontavius Russell and Derrick Brown is among the tops in the country, and DE Marlon Davidson will play on Sundays."
But not even Steele felt strong enough to place an Auburn defender on his first team. Instead, Brown was relegated to fourth-team, Davidson third and Russell didn’t make the cut.
Is all this disrespect? That’s unlikely.
Is it an oversight by the SEC media members?
Very likely.