Published February 16, 2012 - 8:21am
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Continuing the series in off-season improvements is the Auburn Tigers.
The Auburn Tigers had an okay season in 2011 after coming off an unbelievable season and a National Championship in 2010. Losing the top two players on your team in Cam Newton and Nick Fairley will set you up for what could be a downer year.
Auburn: Quarterback
The big question right now going into the off-season is who will take the snaps at quarterback for the Tigers come next season.
There are currently three quarterbacks on campus right now who will compete for the starting quarterback job this spring and heading into next season in junior Clint Moseley, sophomore Kiehl Frazier and true freshman Zeke Pike. Remember, former starter Barrett Trotter left the program.
Moseley took over for Trotter as the throwing quarterback midway or three-quarters through last year. Moseley completed 61.1 percent of his passes, connecting on 66 of 108 attempts. He threw for 800 yards and five touchdowns.
Kiel Frazier, more of a running quarterback, only threw for 34 yards and 12 attempts on the year. However, he did rush for 343 yards and three touchdowns. But he was primarily used as an option quarterback on the ground attack.
Pike is the early enrollee, and he’s good enough to compete for playing time, at least, in year one.
This spring will be good for all three quarterbacks to start fresh under new offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler, who Gene Chizik brought in to replace Gus Malzahn.
Loeffler has had both a spread and pro-style background from previous stops before. He was at Michigan, which ran the pro-style, and he coached under Urban Meyer at Florida, which ran the spread offense. So he has experience to both, and he has said the Tigers will run whatever offense it needs to run to get the most out of the players.
I’m not sure I want to jump to conclusions, but Moseley looked rattled and very unsure of himself at times. Frazier shows the athleticism and the size to be a threat on the ground, but can he throw?
Last year, the Tigers were 10th in the SEC, only ranked above Ole Miss and Kentucky, in the passing offense category. Auburn only averaged 153.4 yards in the air per game. Also, Auburn was last in the SEC in touchdown passes with nine, and they were the only team in the single digits in that department.
That will not get it done in the SEC.
It all comes back to the quarterback position this spring for the Auburn Tigers. I think Frazier steps up and gets it done in more of a spread-based offense.
