Auburn Offensive Grades and Outlook

 Through 9 games this season, the Auburn offense has had its fair share of ups and downs. In those 9 games the Tigers offense have alternated between being downright explosive and struggling to move the ball 10 yards downfield. Arguably the biggest area of concern for the Tiger offense is the offensive line. While they have only allowed 14 sacks thus far this season, the pass and run blocking have been painfully average compared to other SEC lines. Although being ranked highly in the country rushing wise, Auburn has struggled on short yardage situations. On 3rd down situations, Auburn is only converting on 44% percent of their attempts, compared to teams like Alabama and LSU who are converting more than 50% of their attempts. This may be in part because of Auburn’s reliance on the ground game, Auburn has the 22nd ranked rushing offense in the nation, compared to the 91st passing offense. This will lead to defenses being ready and fully expecting Auburn to run the ball in short yardage situations. This combined with lackluster play calling has lead to a predictable offense against stronger defensive schemes. 

However, it’s not all bad on the Plains. Auburn has some promising young players that, with a better scheme, could produce a future juggernaut on offense. Players like true freshman Bo Nix, Anthony Schwartz and recent breakout running back, D.J. Williams have brought a new spark alongside the team veterans. Bo Nix has had his struggles this season but for a freshman being thrown into offense that can’t decide on its identity, he has played pretty well. He does make his fair share of mistakes but not all of the blame can be placed solely onto him. So far this season he has thrown for just about 1,800 yards with 12 touchdowns to only 6 interceptions on 56% completion percentage. While he does still have a lot of growing to do, he will be a great option at quarterback for Auburn in the coming years. Looking at more of the Tiger offense, Bo’s main targets, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz have been the team’s spark plugs in the receiving department. Six foot three Seth Williams has hauled in 569 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns and has quickly become Nix’s favorite target on the field. He is the Tigers' go to jump ball receiver and is difficult for defenses to bring down. 

Alongside him is Sophomore speedster Anthony Schwartz, the complete antithesis to Williams. Schwartz, dubbed the fastest player in the nation has slowly cemented his name into the wide receiver two conversation with Eli Stove. Finally, D.J. Williams, the freshman running back out of Lake Placid, Florida has recently burst onto the scene for the Auburn rushing offense. With only three games of meaningful stats, Williams has racked up 303 yards on only 55 carries. Williams, paired with Whitlow and Martin, bolsters a strong running back room that will be a force to be reckoned with. While the future for the Auburn offense is bright, the current state of it leaves a lot to be desired for everyone involved with the Tigers.