Scrimmage Observations

[Hank2020 3,199]

15 hours ago, Mikey said:

AU wins nine or ten games and I'll happily pin the National Coach of the Year award on Harsin. Do you truly think nine wins is realistic? I'm thinking 4-8, 5-7 if we get a few lucky bounces. One of us is way off base. I hope that one is me and you are correct but I simply don't see it.

If 9-10 wins gets him coach of the year (in your expressed opinion) how many wins gets him retained (in your opinion also of course). Probably neither of us have any real impacts to this, just opinions. Surely National Coach of Year record is not your normal “expected” record.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Hank2020

[McLoofus 35,182]

40 minutes ago, GunsmithAU said:

with better O talent than this year

Don't think I can agree with this at this stage.

We lost Nix, Hudson, Worm, Robertson and Hamm. Of that group, only Nix, Hudson and Hamm were meaningful contributors. 

Hamm will be hard to replace. He was pretty good. He wasn't great, but he was good.

There's nothing that tells me we can't do better than Nix. I'm not assuming either way. He was average. We only have to do better than average. A guy who can consistently hit open receivers downfield will be more valuable than Nix was. We may or may not have that.

Hudson... lol. He won an ass kicking contest because he was the only one with two legs. I am highly confident that any of 3 or 4 guys who either weren't on the roster or barely played last year can replicate and exceed his production. 

Furthermore, we're adding players and, more importantly, the guys returning are now in their second spring under Harsin. They're more experienced and, specifically, more experienced in this system. 

I don't think we'll be good, but it's entirely possible this offense will be quite a bit better than last year's. 

[Didba 5,256]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

It was such a breath of fresh air

It really was, even though we lost a lot of close games, at least we didn't get blown out in a game we shouldn't.

[Didba 5,256]

1 hour ago, Win4AU said:

I keep hearing things like this team is United and similar to 03 all this coach mess has helped the program more than it hurt internally.  We won’t know till they play the games but you can make up talent with chemistry a lot in college.  UGA and Bama probably have too much to power to overcome but look what happened in the Iron Bowl last year with a 1 legged back up Qb.  How good Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Miss State will determine how the season goes.  Win those 3 or 2/3s and it could be a very good year.  

From player interviews it seems all the BS that happened with the rumors and trying to fire Harsin just pissed off and brought the team together.

LockedOnAuburn has several player interviews where they opine to this.

[GunsmithAU 383]

42 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Don't think I can agree with this at this stage.

We lost Nix, Hudson, Worm, Robertson and Hamm. Of that group, only Nix, Hudson and Hamm were meaningful contributors. 

Hamm will be hard to replace. He was pretty good. He wasn't great, but he was good.

There's nothing that tells me we can't do better than Nix. I'm not assuming either way. He was average. We only have to do better than average. A guy who can consistently hit open receivers downfield will be more valuable than Nix was. We may or may not have that.

Hudson... lol. He won an ass kicking contest because he was the only one with two legs. I am highly confident that any of 3 or 4 guys who either weren't on the roster or barely played last year can replicate and exceed his production. 

Furthermore, we're adding players and, more importantly, the guys returning are now in their second spring under Harsin. They're more experienced and, specifically, more experienced in this system. 

I don't think we'll be good, but it's entirely possible this offense will be quite a bit better than last year's. 

We may not have lost all Americans but it says something that those meh to decent players were still the best option at years end. 

While nothing says we can't do better than Nix, but ATM nothing indicates we'll have even equal levels of productivity. 

Talking down on Hudson when he would still be the best reciever on staff doesn't help you case. There aren't 3 or 4 guys in the WR room who are better than Hudson. That's simply poppycock.  

There is nothing to indicate at current any player needing replaced from last year is being replaced by superior talent. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

22 minutes ago, GunsmithAU said:

We may not have lost all Americans but it says something that those meh to decent players were still the best option at years end. 

While nothing says we can't do better than Nix, but ATM nothing indicates we'll have even equal levels of productivity. 

Talking down on Hudson when he would still be the best reciever on staff doesn't help you case. There aren't 3 or 4 guys in the WR room who are better than Hudson. That's simply poppycock.  

There is nothing to indicate at current any player needing replaced from last year is being replaced by superior talent. 

Had to laugh at the receiver comment.

As for the rest, I see you're ignoring the part where most of the roster on offense will have something that none of those guys who left did- a 2nd year in the system. 

(There's also something to be said for the fact that we started last year with a WR coach who didn't make it to the 5th game. He's been replaced by Ike freaking Hilliard. And while there's nothing sexy about our new OC, he is Harsin's guy and was running the offense that got Harsin hired here in the first place.)

[au302 2,669]

1 hour ago, Hank2020 said:

If 9-10 wins gets him coach of the year (in your expressed opinion) how many wins gets him retained (in your opinion also of course). Probably neither of us have any real impacts to this, just opinions. Surely National Coach of Year record is not your normal “expected” record.

Not to stray from your question, but my concern is another lost recruiting class and roster overhaul. This is the first time in a very long time that we're in on this many trench players. We have a legit chance to land 5 OL and DL respectively that will cure some of the recruiting woes in the trenches we've seen for 5+ years now.

Point being, it would suck to miss another OL class because Harsin didn't meet his 9 wins or get fired standard that our fans are saying. Hopefully the new president is more competent than that. If he wins 6-8 and has a solid class full of OL and DL, he needs to stay another year imo solely to rebuild that d

[tbone4jc 2,241]

I don't want to set myself up for disappointment so I will not predict our win total. All I want to see is a big improvement from last season in all phases of the team. War Eagle and IGTBAAT!

[cbo 7,851]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Had to laugh at the receiver comment.

As for the rest, I see you're ignoring the part where most of the roster on offense will have something that none of those guys who left did- a 2nd year in the system. 

(There's also something to be said for the fact that we started last year with a WR coach who didn't make it to the 5th game. He's been replaced by Ike freaking Hilliard. And while there's nothing sexy about our new OC, he is Harsin's guy and was running the offense that got Harsin hired here in the first place.)

The offensive roster scares me. We might not have lost much, but we didn't add much either. Only 7 offensive signees in the 2022 class, which is pretty crazy. Maybe 4 have a chance at real playing time. And only transferred in the 2 QBs. Kobe may not be a world beater but he's been replaced by literally no one. He made some very nice plays and probably would have been better in his 2nd year too. 

And, of course, the offensive talent wasn't close to adequate last season to begin with. I know you know all this, but it sucks because I really like Harsin's offense and want it to have a chance to work. Just don't see how we have the guys to do it. And even if we recruit well in 2023, a bunch of true freshman won't make the difference for that season. It has to happen in the portal and soon. 

[bigbird 60,529]

3 hours ago, Didba said:

It really was, even though we lost a lot of close games, at least we didn't get blown out in a game we shouldn't.

Exactly.

I hate losing, but being embarrassed as we had been routinely was what fed the mountain of apathy that Auburn fans were standing on

[Didba 5,256]

41 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Exactly.

I hate losing, but being embarrassed as we had been routinely was what fed the mountain of apathy that Auburn fans were standing on

I used to regularly read on AuburnEagle and AUfamily when I was younger up until maybe 2016. By 2016-17 I was so disgusted and apathetic I stopped paying attention to AU football besides to watch the actual games.  When Harsin was hired I actually felt interested again, excited even bc I knew his offensive scheme was legit compared to Gus's, and I liked what he was preaching about culture.  At that point I made this account, started reading again and eventually began posting for the first time.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Didba

[cbo 7,851]

23 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Exactly.

I hate losing, but being embarrassed as we had been routinely was what fed the mountain of apathy that Auburn fans were standing on

I know some are still bothered by the Iron Bowl because of how it ended. But that game is one of the most positive signs I've seen from Harsin. Our guys were outmatched but showed up. 

[Didba 5,256]

2 minutes ago, cbo said:

I know some are still bothered by the Iron Bowl because of how it ended. But that game is one of the most positive signs I've seen from Harsin. Our guys were outmatched but showed up. 

Yes. So much this.

[bigbird 60,529]

10 minutes ago, cbo said:

I know some are still bothered by the Iron Bowl because of how it ended. But that game is one of the most positive signs I've seen from Harsin. Our guys were outmatched but showed up. 

 

8 minutes ago, Didba said:

Yes. So much this.

I was gonna type the same thing, then I kept reading and it was said for me. Thanks!

[oracle79 3,569]

3 hours ago, GunsmithAU said:

but ATM nothing indicates we'll have even equal levels of productivity. 

It's hard to place a value on Bobo not calling plays.

[lca408 366]

7 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

I looked at 2021 stats and if I read them correctly no team had 3 or more TO/ game average. If that is correct it seems totally unrealistic to expect us to that in 2022.

Exactly, which is why I said that. Unless our defense is bailing us out with 2-3 TOs per game, we have to rely on an offense that doesn’t have enough talent or depth at 1-2 crucial positions. Meaning that, even if they’re good in 2022, they can’t reach that level of production, therefore it comes down to an offense with personnel issues.

[Mikey 16,601]

8 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

If 9-10 wins gets him coach of the year (in your expressed opinion) how many wins gets him retained (in your opinion also of course). Probably neither of us have any real impacts to this, just opinions. Surely National Coach of Year record is not your normal “expected” record.

If he wins 9-10 games with what little talent he has to work with, I'll create my own award and pin it on him.

As to the how many wins gets him retained question, that depends on other factors as well. Finish as poorly as 5-7 but have a kick-azz early signing day and don't lose any more important players to the portal and I'd expect him to be retained. That same 5-7 record with continued pedestrian recruiting and more talent bleeding through the portal and if he's not gone, he should be.

[bigbird 60,529]

8 hours ago, Mikey said:

that depends on other factors as well.

So you can use nuance. Interesting.

[McLoofus 35,182]

18 hours ago, cbo said:

Kobe may not be a world beater but he's been replaced by literally no one.

Can't agree here. We're bringing in 3 freshman WRs and all three could potentially be better than him. 

That said, your pessimism is very much warranted and I've posted at length about how dissatisfied I have been with Harsin's recruiting so far. But again, I'm not claiming we'll be good. Only that it's not a given that we're less talented this year than we were last, and that we can improve our production in the passing game without dropoff in the run game. 

18 hours ago, cbo said:

And even if we recruit well in 2023, a bunch of true freshman won't make the difference for that season. It has to happen in the portal and soon. 

Agree 100%

[Didba 5,256]

20 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Can't agree here. We're bringing in 3 freshman WRs and all three could potentially be better than him. 

That said, your pessimism is very much warranted and I've posted at length about how dissatisfied I have been with Harsin's recruiting so far. But again, I'm not claiming we'll be good. Only that it's not a given that we're less talented this year than we were last, and that we can improve our production in the passing game without dropoff in the run game. 

Agree 100%

I am really hoping King, Capers, and Frazier can be the big targets that can create mismatches in the center of the field.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, Didba said:

I am really hoping King, Capers, and Frazier can be the big targets that can create mismatches in the center of the field.

King for sure. Seems like we need lights to come on for the other guys. (No info here. Just going off their extremely limited appearances on last year's stat sheet.)

Cam Brown is a big dude. Kelly's not small. Fair could be the best of the bunch. Ike Hilliard will be coaching them. All is not lost. 

PS- Let's not forget that Hudson was booted and Javy Johnson tried to leave but was asked to stay. It doesn't mean Johnson is better than Hudson or that Harsin displayed good judgment in either situation, but it's data that needs to be factored into the calculation. 

[WFE12 9,191]

On 3/30/2022 at 9:00 PM, WarEagle1983 said:

This pretty much expresses what i expect. I don't have much hope it will be a good season; I'll gladly eat crow if so. I just think we don't have enough talent at a lot of key positions and we have serious depth issues in many areas. I feel good about the defense. But that is subsided by the fact I don't have much faith in the offense. 

I just want to see what i was hoping for last year. 1. Progress as the season goes on. We can clearly point to a number of players and/or units that have improved from game 1. 2. Coaches putting players in the best position to be competitive and possibly pull out a surprise win(s) 3. Adjustments when needed; whether it be personnel or how we're game planning on offense and/or defense.

I’ll be happy if we can just fast forward to 2023

[wildlife alumni 304]

I am going to stay optimistic. Different hard hat attitude with guys that will fight for their coach. I am going 8 wins.

OL - I am going to say the oline improves with experience. I mean they have been here for 6 years. Different passing attack (quicker and more play action) may help.

Wr - We need one "go to" guy. This would take pressure off the other guys and make the group seem better.

QB - Just needs to be above average to be an improvement. I am not high on Finley but, I do think they can get overall better play. Need to be a game manager not a human highlight.

TE/RB - Will have to carry the team. Multiple TE sets with a down hill running game will force teams to play bigger against us. Use play action off of this to get the ball to the TEs and WRs in Space. The offense will run through the RB position, mainly Tank. RBs will either have the ball or be a decoy every play.

The big problem may be more in the two minute passing game. They will not be built to go four and five wide. Quick passes and play actions will probably be more utilized. 

 

I may be crazy but War Eagle anyway!

[GunsmithAU 383]

35 minutes ago, wildlife alumni said:

I am going to stay optimistic. Different hard hat attitude with guys that will fight for their coach. I am going 8 wins.

OL - I am going to say the oline improves with experience. I mean they have been here for 6 years. Different passing attack (quicker and more play action) may help.

Wr - We need one "go to" guy. This would take pressure off the other guys and make the group seem better.

QB - Just needs to be above average to be an improvement. I am not high on Finley but, I do think they can get overall better play. Need to be a game manager not a human highlight.

TE/RB - Will have to carry the team. Multiple TE sets with a down hill running game will force teams to play bigger against us. Use play action off of this to get the ball to the TEs and WRs in Space. The offense will run through the RB position, mainly Tank. RBs will either have the ball or be a decoy every play.

The big problem may be more in the two minute passing game. They will not be built to go four and five wide. Quick passes and play actions will probably be more utilized. 

 

I may be crazy but War Eagle anyway!

Game managers don't work when they don't have solid teams surrounding them. This team has to have a playmaker at QB to hit a winning season. 

[wildlife alumni 304]

2 minutes ago, GunsmithAU said:

Game managers don't work when they don't have solid teams surrounding them. This team has to have a playmaker at QB to hit a winning season. 

Don't mess with my positivity. I have only got so much to work with.