Hugh Freeze's Auburn football offense won't cut it in SEC if it resembles Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebraska, and Iowa

It's unclear how explosive Hugh Freeze's Auburn football offense will have to look like to have a chance to compete in the SEC. Given DJ Durkin's positive effect on the Tigers' defense, it may not take a 2019 LSU-level effort from Payton Thorne and his new and improved WR room to win eight or nine games.

But we know the baseline Auburn cannot come close to: the bottom of the barrel offenses in the Big Ten like Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebraska, and Iowa.

"Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebraska and Iowa," USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer prefaced before saying, "Those four schools are dues-paying members of the Plod-It-Out fraternity. A passing game that emulates a low-octane Big Ten school won’t cut it in today’s SEC."

Last season, Thorne was operating at low levels offensively with an underperforming WR room that saw mass turnover. He, like the school he came from, Michigan State, were part of/were among the least awe-inspiring offensive attacks in the "Power 2."

Things should change for both Thorne and the Spartans this season.

Auburn football WR room too good for Payton Thorne not to improve

Thorne doesn't need to morph into an NFL quarterback overnight. All he needs to do is find enough leverage behind an offensive line Toppmeyer deemed "average" to get the ball to his loaded arsenal of skill-position threats.

The Freeze Four are all big-play threats in the air and after the catch, while KeAndre Lambert-Smith is a proven YAC nightmare for opposing defenses. Of note: Lambert-Smith was cooking Big Ten defenses at Penn State.

Let's not forget about the dynamic RB room of Jarquez Hunter, Damari Alston, and Jeremiah Cobb, either. When Thorne doesn't have to call his own number, he'll have some elite options to call instead.

The skill position threats around Thorne make it nearly impossible for him not to improve in 2024.