The NFL Draft has come and gone for 2024. For Auburn, five names were called.
Nehemiah Pritchett 5th Round - Seattle Seasquawks
Jaylin Simpson 5th Round - Indianapolis Colts
DJ James 6th Round - Seasquawks
Justin Rogers 7th Round - How Bout Them Cowboys
Marcus Harris 7th Round - Houston Oiler Texans
There’s a common thread here. All taken late, and all defensive players.
In 2023, the only offensive player taken was Tank Bigsby.
In 2022 Auburn only had one player drafted, Roger McCreary, DB.
In 2021 the only offensive players to hear their names called were, Anthony May The Schwartz Be With You, and Seth Williams
2020? Only Prince Tega Winnebego got the call from the offensive side of the ball
I didn’t throw in Anders Carlson. Offense, I guess. But you get the picture.
Bo Nix had his detractors, and some downright haters. From my perspective, he looked wildly inconsistent. Brian Matthews said, the reality is, when he left Auburn, he went to a place with much better coaches, and much better players around him. He was picked as the #12 overall player in the draft. The other reality is that Gus Malzahn’s last few years, and Brickman Hartpin’s short time at Auburn, basically devastated this program from both from a talent and coaching standpoint.
It's not something we wanted to admit. We’d do our best to rationalize things through the orange and blue sunglasses and say, well if this happens and that happens, we may surprise some people. All the while, everyone not wearing those glasses were picking us at the bottom of the West, and with good reason. It’s why in recent years, you rarely see an Auburn name in the pre or post season All SEC teams, much less All American teams. It’s also why I’ve said many times, that I think Freeze took a flyer on the 2023 season, let his OC handle things while he concentrated on the new college football landscape, how to navigate NIL and the portal, and how to build this program back up.
I honestly think Auburn will be much improved in 2024. The talent level is definitely on the upswing, and if Freeze takes the reins of the offense 100%, the coaching level should be better as well. But, it’s been a pretty rough last few years on Teh Planez, especially on offense. The Draft don't lie!
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