Who will be the new leaders in 2019?

[AUght2win 6,833]

Pretty big void with Chandler and Deshaun graduating. Stidham is gone too, but I don't think he was actually half the leader he tried to make himself sound like in interviews.

Anybody have much insight into the locker room? I know the team loves and respects "Baby Barrack" Derrick. Not sure who the offense will look to.

[oracle79 3,569]

40 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

"Baby Barrack" Derrick.

Pretty sure political references are banned in the football forum.

[AUght2win 6,833]

3 hours ago, oracle79 said:

Pretty sure political references are banned in the football forum.

Bro that is the nickname his teammates gave him. 

[alexava 6,973]

Maybe Eli Stove on offensive, just on seniority. I don’t know his personality. Boobie seems like a leader. Marlon and DB maybe Daniel Thomas on D. 

[WFE12 9,191]

Gotta be Bo. He is pretty mature for his age and has that it factor. I know he's a freshman but he knows what it takes to be the man.

[McLoofus 35,182]

QB, Worm, Schwartz, hopefully Harrell and/or Horton, Kam Martin

Baby Barrack  , Davidson, Smoke, Iggy, Britt, Dinson, Davis, Thomas

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

Brown and Davidson on D with help from others. We have to wait and see who will step up on O.  On O the QB is normally the man and then a  big Ugly but with whoever wins the QB role being a first year starter it is hard to say. For a big Ugly we have a lot o seniors but it usually needs to be a dominant O-Lineman and only Prince fits that but I have never heard anything about him being a vocal leader.   

[doc4aday 1,887]

I see Tega and maybe Driskoll on the OL. Boobie is a good option as well. Derrick and Marlon will take care of the defense no doubt. I cannot wait to see how salty our D is going to be in 2019.  I think that side of the ball could be the best in the SEC or a top 2-3 defense.

[keesler 5,924]

Who were the true "leaders" on this team last season?  'Cause I saw some iffy leadership about half way through the season that lead me to believe the team was lacking in several areas.  IOW, it was an up and down year for the guys and I saw some weakness in enthusiasm, attitude, drive, motivation and ownership a few times with those guys.

Hopefully the 2019 team leaders reveal themselves early and often, because they will be tested with that brutal schedule.

[alexava 6,973]

15 minutes ago, keesler said:

Who were the true "leaders" on this team last season?  'Cause I saw some iffy leadership about half way through the season that lead me to believe the team was lacking in several areas.  IOW, it was an up and down year for the guys and I saw some weakness in enthusiasm, attitude, drive, motivation and ownership a few times with those guys.

Hopefully the 2019 team leaders reveal themselves early and often, because they will be tested with that brutal schedule.

Miss st and Tennessee was rock bottom I think. These were the games that really turned most people off. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

17 minutes ago, keesler said:

Who were the true "leaders" on this team last season?  'Cause I saw some iffy leadership about half way through the season that lead me to believe the team was lacking in several areas.  IOW, it was an up and down year for the guys and I saw some weakness in enthusiasm, attitude, drive, motivation and ownership a few times with those guys.

Hopefully the 2019 team leaders reveal themselves early and often, because they will be tested with that brutal schedule.

I would say that we went into last season with strong leadership, but lacked it in some key areas. I'd also argue that circumstances surrounding the offense combined with injuries on the defense significantly compromised leadership at the positions where we did have it. And, lastly, it's my observation that leadership, particularly on offense, usually comes from the playmakers. 4 of 7 of our top playmakers last year in terms of yards from scrimmage, not including Stidham, were freshmen. 2 of the other 3 are gone, and that's why I think we're going to see those freshmen become the leaders. Shivers and Schwartz, in particular, seem to be natural leaders. Also, no matter who wins the QB job, I think we're going to see a different relationship between him and the rest of the team. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 minutes ago, alexava said:

Miss st and Tennessee was rock bottom I think. These were the games that really turned most people off. 

Yup. The offense refused to stay on the field vs MSU and the defense quit. They only somewhat regrouped after UT, but by then the injuries were really setting in. 

[Tiger 8,820]

On O: Kam Martin? Hastings? Stove? Tega? They've been around the longest

[alexava 6,973]

17 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Yup. The offense refused to stay on the field vs MSU and the defense quit. They only somewhat regrouped after UT, but by then the injuries were really setting in. 

The defense got throttled. They didn’t quit. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, alexava said:

The defense got throttled. They didn’t quit. 

Agree to disagree. I'm super, SUPER comfortable with my position on this. Even if stats and unverified reports out of the locker room didn't support my position- they do- watching the game made it pretty clear. 

 

 

[alexava 6,973]

23 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Agree to disagree. I'm super, SUPER comfortable with my position on this. Even if stats and unverified reports out of the locker room didn't support my position- they do- watching the game made it pretty clear. 

 

 

A defense of a #8 4-1 team don’t quit. When any defense quits the opponent scores more than 23 points. Just use a little logic. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

59 minutes ago, alexava said:

A defense of a #8 4-1 team don’t quit. When any defense quits the opponent scores more than 23 points. Just use a little logic. 

They do when the only reason they won those 4 games is because they've been carrying the offense for 5 weeks.

And no, the 67th best scoring offense in the country isn't necessarily going to score more than 23 points even when a really, really good defense quits. 

Just use a little logic? You still haven't looked at the drive chart I keep posting, have you?

[alexava 6,973]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

They do when the only reason they won those 4 games is because they've been carrying the offense for 5 weeks.

And no, the 67th best scoring offense in the country isn't necessarily going to score more than 23 points even when a really, really good defense quits. 

Just use a little logic? You still haven't looked at the drive chart I keep posting, have you?

The drive chart for Auburn’s offense is irrelevant. We can easily see they didn’t get it done. It’s the opponents drives that went on for huge chunks of yardage , first downs and minutes only to come out with 23 points. (7 should not have counted)  That’s not what quitting looks like. If you see it that way it’s because you want to see it that way. 

[alexava 6,973]

Did they also quit in the fourth quarter against LSU or virtually every third down vs Tennessee? That’s some selective quitting. The fact is the defense was just not as good or dependable as everyone expected. The offense didn’t help at times. I saw players underperform, make mistakes and get frustrated. I didn’t see any player or side of the ball quit. 

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

6 hours ago, keesler said:

Who were the true "leaders" on this team last season?

Deshaun Davis, Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson, and Chandler Cox.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, alexava said:

The drive chart for Auburn’s offense is irrelevant. 

Well, except for being the reason why the defense quit.

By the way, when I say they quit, obviously I don't mean that every player gave up or that any player completely gave up on every play. There was significantly diminished effort from the defense once they realized that the offense wasn't going to be carrying their water. 

Yeah, I'll keep seeing it the way I want to. And you'll keep seeing it the way you want to. Fortunately we won't be having this argument after the coming season because the offense will show up or Gus will be shown the door.

[AUght2win 6,833]

On 2/19/2019 at 8:38 AM, keesler said:

Who were the true "leaders" on this team last season?  'Cause I saw some iffy leadership about half way through the season that lead me to believe the team was lacking in several areas.  IOW, it was an up and down year for the guys and I saw some weakness in enthusiasm, attitude, drive, motivation and ownership a few times with those guys.

Hopefully the 2019 team leaders reveal themselves early and often, because they will be tested with that brutal schedule.

I think DeShaun is the best leader we have had in a while. Offensively, you had the problematic situation that is unique to the sport of football - the automatic expectation of the QB being a team leader. Problem is, JS clearly wasn't all in and clearly isn't anything close to a leader. I think that void hurt the team a LOT. 

To digress a bit, I really do find it strange that teams just appoint a QB automatically to lead. Take Mahomes for the Chiefs, for example. Now, nothing against him. He is a good guy. But he was named a team captain in his FIRST year as a starter in the NFL. How does that work? I think Auburn would have been better served to just be honest about their players' personalities and look elsewhere for leadership. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

Defense will have a good amount of leadership.  

On O, idk?  Time will tell.  Maybe we’ll get an idea in the Spring?

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I think DeShaun is the best leader we have had in a while. Offensively, you had the problematic situation that is unique to the sport of football - the automatic expectation of the QB being a team leader. Problem is, JS clearly wasn't all in and clearly isn't anything close to a leader. I think that void hurt the team a LOT. 

To digress a bit, I really do find it strange that teams just appoint a QB automatically to lead. Take Mahomes for the Chiefs, for example. Now, nothing against him. He is a good guy. But he was named a team captain in his FIRST year as a starter in the NFL. How does that work? I think Auburn would have been better served to just be honest about their players' personalities and look elsewhere for leadership. 

Personally- and I certainly stand to be corrected by those who stayed in and/or close to the game past their junior year in high school- I think the position of quarterback is very singular in sports and by its own nature demands a leader. There are different leadership styles, of course- Cam Newton and Nick Marshall couldn't be any more different personality-wise- but whoever is in that spot isn't going to win if he doesn't have the respect and attention of his teammates. Everything goes through him. Even the play calls. 

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

2 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

Defense will have a good amount of leadership.  

On O, idk?  Time will tell.  Maybe we’ll get an idea in the Spring?

Auburn hasn’t had an identity on offense going into the season for several years now.  I’m not sure how we can expect a leader to emerge until we know what kind of “team” we are on offense.  Hope the trend is broken this year.