AU's most irreplaceable player

[RunInRed 16,994]

Chris Low blogs about the most irreplaceable players in the SEC. For AU, he went with...

Auburn: Offensive tackle Lee Ziemba. The Tigers were hopeful that freshman signee Shon Coleman would be able to come in and sort of serve as Ziemba’s apprentice this first season at left tackle. Sadly, Coleman is battling lymphoma. Right now, it’s difficult to pinpoint anybody on Auburn’s roster who would be able to come in and competently handle defensive ends in this league.

Do you agree with this selection? Going into the 2010 which AU player do you think is most 'irreplaceable'?

[Rhetortiger821 3]

Yea cause I'm sure going to miss a solid false start a game... No, our most irreplacable player is without a doubt Ryan Pugh thrown from tackle to center, yet still a leader. Maybe his name will not post the stats, but his leadership will be well miss.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

I'd put them in this order: (1) Ryan Pugh... most experienced and most versatile lineman. He's going to be All-Conference at Center, BUT if Ziemba goes down, we'd shift Eddins to Center, put Pugh at LT, and we wouldn't have a drop off on the edge. None. (2) Josh Bynes... those incoming freshmen may be good, but he's essential for our defense to be better. Experienced with size and room to get better. (3) Demond Washington... frankly we have a clear 1 & 2 at corner, and he's the 1. Plus he may be the best safety on the team. Our secondary could be deep if we get everyone back healthy (Savage, McNeil, and Etheridge), but Demond's ability and versatility give us a cushion. (4) Mario Fannin... RB is a strength on this team, but that's only true if we have a clear workhorse. We know McCalebb won't be it (too small). We know Smith won't be it (not good enough). That leaves Fannin and True Freshman Dyer. We can't lose Mario.

Then I'd probably go with Ziemba.

[BamaGrad03 0]

If the coaches keep him at the position he's going to help you the most (RB) - Mario Fannin...by about a million miles.

Otherwise I'd say Ryan Pugh.

[Mikey98 0]

I'll go in a different direction... I think our D line is going to be the most crucial aspect of our success this year and feel Mike Blanc is going to plug the trenches and be a disruptive force for us. I think he will be one we cannot lose.

[stoic-one 1,557]

I'm not going to even try and guess, at this point, who is most irreplaceable.

I will however say that it is probably not Ziemba, no offense to him, just don't buy it.

[Duder 238]

I won't rank them, but I'll say Ziemba is not #1. He's great when he can remember the snap count, but not the most important.

Fannin has a real shot at it--he has the size and speed to be a terror if he is left in the backfield all year. He could provide the cushion we need to get Cam's feet back under him.

Bynes will be huge to a defense that must find an identity. There is a lot of talent on D and with the young guys coming in we have some depth but leadership will be crucial.

Pugh will be integral to the success of the o-line. He provides a steady force that the o-line can rally around. He's also versatile as hell so we can shift him around.

I'm also going to mention Cam Newton in this discussion. He is the point man in an offense that is expected to do big things this year. Trotter and Caudle have had their problems and you can bet their confidence is down because of being beaten by the new guy. He may not be irreplaceable, but he's certainly damn important.

[Mikey 16,781]

Ryan Pugh. Anybody else, though there might be some drop off, has a reasonable backup. For example Gayden could probably step in for Ziemba if necessary. We don't have anybody that can cover what Pugh does.