Let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words, two simple words which express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation: Auburn Sucks.
If … Gunner Stockton is as good as Kirby Smart says. Smart gushed about Stockton at SEC media days, saying, “He’s got winner written all over him.” The junior was thrown into the deep end late in 2024, playing the first non-garbage-time snaps of his career against Texas (SEC championship game) and Notre Dame (CFP quarterfinals) thanks to Carson Beck’s arm injury.
Stockton didn’t exactly thrive — he had 4.6 yards per dropback and took six sacks, including a game-turning strip sack against Notre Dame — but that was nearly the toughest situation imaginable. Stockton will have an entire offseason to prep. As is one of the themes of this piece, we won’t know he’s ready for the job until he proves it.
If … a veteran receiving corps improves. In the Dawgs’ last two losses of 2024, against Ole Miss and Notre Dame, they scored a total of 20 points, and Beck and Stockton averaged just 10.5 yards per completion while taking nine sacks, many of them coverage sacks. They just didn’t have any difference-makers out wide.
Veterans Dillon Bell, London Humphreys and Colbie Young are back, and 6-5 Texas A&M transfer Noah Thomas is a potential big-play target. But the flashiest new player is Zachariah Branch, a former USC blue-chipper who drew attention as a freshman return man in 2023. However, he produced only 823 receiving yards and three scores in two seasons. Can he or anyone else punish good secondaries?
If … both rebuilt fronts hold up. We can assume Smart is going to put out a smart and absurdly physical defense. But thanks in part to a lack of disruption up front, the Dawgs’ D ranked ninth last season, their worst (or maybe least awesome) showing since 2017. And now, of the 11 players in the front seven who saw at least 200 snaps last season, eight are gone. The offensive line, meanwhile, lost two All-American guards among four starters. Four players return with starting experience, and there are, of course, the requisite former four- and five-stars everywhere you look. But that’s a lot of production to replace, especially considering neither front was quite as strong as usual in 2024. Honestly, if I didn’t trust Smart so much, I would have made this entry two separate ifs. (emphasis added)
4 thoughts on “If Ifs and Buts Were Candy and Nuts”
If…….. the injury bug can leave us alone this season
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A rebuilding year on O and D. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be successful. We don’t lack talent.
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The problem on the o-line last year was injury. The guys who plowed over and through Clemson’s defensive front never played together healthy again through the season.
Cole Cubelic seems to think Georgia will have the SEC’s best offensive line this fall. I don’t know if I agree … just show me.
Defensive line is where we have stepped back in talent the last couple of years. I want to believe they are going to be dominant … show me.
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I can’t remember being more lost on what to expect going into a season than this one.
To me, it comes down to these factors:
If Stockton is a willing and effective runner and Bobo is willing to run him, I think we can be very good. If he can run enough up the A gap to worry the safeties, we could be really really good.
If he is an unwilling runner or not used that way, we’d better be real damn good at RB AND on defense or shit could go sideways.
I think that if we see us run some version of what OSU, ND, GT ran last year, which was quite a few qb keepers, we can get a lot of single coverage on the outside and hit some big plays downfield.
If we’re trying to force a RTDB offense, getting constipated and putting Stockton behind the sticks a lot in obvious passing situations, shit won’t be pretty vs the best teams on the schedule.
One of the things that really worried me in NOLA is that Stockton wasn’t used in that way AND he never showed any athleticism: quick/fast/speed.
He can chuck it deep and he looks like he could run with some power. From the outside, to me he looks like he could be a better version of Bennett: stronger arm, bigger, etc…. Bennett was just a 4.7 guy. I think Stockton can match that.
The intangibles tho? That will tell the tale.
If he isn’t a version of Bennett but is instead a version of Fromm, I just don’t know that we’re good enough everywhere else to be really good. I suppose its possible, but I am skeptical.
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If…….. the injury bug can leave us alone this season
A rebuilding year on O and D. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be successful. We don’t lack talent.
The problem on the o-line last year was injury. The guys who plowed over and through Clemson’s defensive front never played together healthy again through the season.
Cole Cubelic seems to think Georgia will have the SEC’s best offensive line this fall. I don’t know if I agree … just show me.
Defensive line is where we have stepped back in talent the last couple of years. I want to believe they are going to be dominant … show me.
I can’t remember being more lost on what to expect going into a season than this one.
To me, it comes down to these factors:
If Stockton is a willing and effective runner and Bobo is willing to run him, I think we can be very good. If he can run enough up the A gap to worry the safeties, we could be really really good.
If he is an unwilling runner or not used that way, we’d better be real damn good at RB AND on defense or shit could go sideways.
I think that if we see us run some version of what OSU, ND, GT ran last year, which was quite a few qb keepers, we can get a lot of single coverage on the outside and hit some big plays downfield.
If we’re trying to force a RTDB offense, getting constipated and putting Stockton behind the sticks a lot in obvious passing situations, shit won’t be pretty vs the best teams on the schedule.
One of the things that really worried me in NOLA is that Stockton wasn’t used in that way AND he never showed any athleticism: quick/fast/speed.
He can chuck it deep and he looks like he could run with some power. From the outside, to me he looks like he could be a better version of Bennett: stronger arm, bigger, etc…. Bennett was just a 4.7 guy. I think Stockton can match that.
The intangibles tho? That will tell the tale.
If he isn’t a version of Bennett but is instead a version of Fromm, I just don’t know that we’re good enough everywhere else to be really good. I suppose its possible, but I am skeptical.