Analyst worried about major potential Auburn football absence

Fly War Eagle has waited to address the Jarquez Hunter situation — which reportedly resulted in several suspensions though it’s unclear who was involved — but with Auburn football beat reporter Justin Hokanson addressing it in On3’s Roundtable, it’s now impossible to ignore the potentially program-shifting consequences.

Hokanson opened the possibility of Hunter missing games due to an explicit video of Hunter and others who have not been identified, harrowingly implying that “a lot” could change about the team’s 2023 season if that’s the case.

“So if he were to not be available for a game or multiple games or whatever, if Auburn rolls in there and we’re not sure about him, it changes a lot,” Hokanson said. “I mean Damari Alston’s a sophomore with just a couple of carries as a true freshman. Brian Battie coming from South Florida is a talented kid, but he’s small. He’s an elusive speed back, (170 pounds), maybe.”

Jarquez Hunter’s Auburn football status won’t be known for several months

Hokanson provided a timeline for when can start to guess what Hunter’s status is, implying that the Auburn football brain trust won’t be acknowledging it until it has to.

“So, we’re kind of just waiting and seeing right now,” Hokanson prefaced before saying, “You know, we’re just sort of waiting to see if he’s cleared. Let’s get to Aug. 1 and see what the status is, if he’s practicing. If we get to that point and we start fall camp, and he’s not out there, then I think we start going, ‘Okay, fall camp starting and he’s not available?’ Now, we have to start considering is he going to be there for Game 1 or Game 2.”

Many details surrounding the video are thus far unclear and won’t be speculated on. The program appears to be in no rush to reveal anything about it, though. That much is clear.