Two Prime Reasons To Be More ‘Optimistic’ About Auburn Football Heading Into The 2024 Season

There are definitive signs that Auburn football will improve this season.

From watching spring and fall practices, and interviewing players and coaches, here are two prime reasons the Tigers will be a better football team than last season.

1) The newly acquired wide receiver talent will impact games.

It’s no secret that Auburn’s 2023 passing game was awful. No objective Auburn football fan will dispute that but it’s much different now. Is it where it needs to be? No, not quite yet, but it is much improved.

Look for more critical third-down passes to be completed and more chunk-yardage completions. This process begins as a matter of more receiver talent.

Adding Penn State receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith is huge. He comes to the Plains with 53 receptions, 673 yards, and 4 touchdowns from the 2023 campaign ( CFB Stats ). He will provide explosive moments inside Jordan-Hare Stadium and whichever stadium he lines up in to play.

The biggest buzz stems from adding the four freshmen. While that’s undeniable, do not forget about transfers Robert Lewis and Sam Jackson IV . Both of them will be key figures as well. Having their veteran presence for Thorne and the young players is very important while they catch passes and help the receiver room improve. Now onto those first-year college receivers.

Anyone doubting the talent of Bryce Cain , Malcolm Simmons , Perry Thompson , and Cam Coleman will soon see for themselves. The combination of size, speed, length, and overall playmaking ability will be on full display from Game 1 versus Alabama A&M.

Even a simple screen pass from starting quarterback Payton Thorne could end up being a 75-yard touchdown pass to Cain. The first time people see Simmons’ open-field speed, they will be believers. Thompson and Coleman provide the size and playmaking ability to take the football away from defensive backs, as well as outrun them.

Auburn’s passing game won’t be great every game, but there will be far more big-time moments this season that help the Tigers win.

2) The defensive line is deeper and possesses more high-end talent.

Losing defensive tackle Marcus Harris is tough. He was the glue to Auburn’s defensive front. Players like Texas A&M transfer Isaiah Raikes and Kansas transfer Gage Keys help diminish the lost production from Harris. The younger players are also a big reason for optimism.

Auburn defensive ends coach Josh Aldridge loves talking about his young players. It is a group led by sophomore Keldric Faulk but also has Arkansas State transfer Keyron Crawford , as well as freshmen Amaris Williams , Jamonta Waller , and Joe Phillips pushing the upperclassmen for reps.

From last week’s press conference, here’s what Aldridge thinks about Williams as one example.

“He’s already showed me plenty (laughing). Yeah, he’s going to play. He’s going to play for sure. He makes plays that he shouldn’t make sometimes. Like, he’s using bad fundamentals but he’s just such a great athlete, so strong, well, it’s hard to tell him that he’s doing (something) wrong because he’s making the play, you know?

“But that’s part of growing and learning, and he’s got a great attitude. But yeah, he’s showing me a lot in terms of his effort, in terms of his natural ability that he’ll definitely play for us this year.”

You can read the entire article about Auburn’s defensive ends HERE .

Overall, it’s about Auburn’s ability to consistently rotate talented players. That point is a big reason fellow SEC programs like LSU, Alabama, and Georgia usually have good defensive fronts; their depth is generally much better than the majority of other SEC teams.

From Pro Football Focus , Harris’s 2023 snap count is high at 588. For Georgia, defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse , a second-team All-SEC player, enters 2024 after playing 379 snaps. Georgia’s depth allows him to rest more during games and be ready for late-season matchups.

This season, Auburn should have the depth to at least improve its defensive line rotation by not having guys playing 500 or more snaps. That’s going to pay dividends in the win column.

Auburn will be an improved football team this season. The wide receiver and defensive line depth charts are a big part of why that’s the case.