The Southern Miss offensive line ranked in the bottom half of the conference last year in terms of tackles for loss allowed but also only allowed 23 total sacks. At the same time, the Golden Eagles were 13th in the C-USA in yards per rush and lose their best offensive lineman from last season.
Left tackle Drake Dorbeck, who was a three-year starter and First-Team All-Conference selection, is now with the Cleveland Browns.
Redshirt junior left guard Arvin Fletcher is probably the team’s best offensive lineman now and the 6-foot-3, 310-pound mauler has received preseason All-Conference honors from Athlon Sports.
Overall, even though Auburn lost a lot of talent on the defensive line from last season, the sheer talent and size of the Tigers should be enough to get consistent pressure on Abraham and stop the run game in its tracks.