Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has always expected much of his starting quarterback.

Not only does Malzahn view the quarterback as the face of his program, but it’s also the position that has to make his hurry-up, no-huddle offense hum along. As the quarterback goes, so goes the fortunes of the Tigers’ offense.

So it should go without saying that the play of Jarrett Stidham is integral to the success of Auburn in the coming season. The problem is, the same could be said of nearly any team at any level of football.

Because of that, today we’ll look at five players we view as crucial for the Tigers’ hopes of being in the hunt for the national title this fall — aside from Stidham.

Kamryn Pettway, RB

Looking back, it’s still hard to believe Pettway, who ended last season as Auburn’s leading rusher, didn’t carry the ball a single time in the opener against Clemson. (That is just one of many lingering questions from that perplexing game, but that’s another topic for another day.)

And don’t get me wrong: Kerryon Johnson is a very good back. He’s a more versatile weapon than Pettway. But the fact remains that the Tigers’ offense was never better in 2016 than when Pettway went on a midseason tear, rushing for 150-plus yards in four straight games — the first Auburn running back to do that since some guy named Bo Jackson in 1985. Not coincidentally, Auburn won all of those games, all against SEC opponents — Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

As soon as Pettway injured his leg late in the victory over Vandy, however, things began to go south for the offense. That was never more evident than in a 13-7 loss at Georgia, when, with Pettway out, the Tigers gained just 164 yards of total offense, the fewest in Malzahn’s stint as head coach.

If Pettway can find the rhythm he had prior to his injury — when he led the SEC in both total rushing yards and yards per game — it would bode well for the Tigers’ chances of national title contention.

Kyle Davis and Nate Craig-Myers, WRs

We’re bunching these two together because, well, they’ve been that way ever since they both signed with the Tigers in 2016. Both were ranked among the top 10 receivers in the country in the 2016 class. And each has had varying degrees of success: Davis caught 12 passes for 248 yards and two scores last season, while Craig-Myers had four receptions for 70 yards and one score.

More will be expected of the duo this season. Far more.

The Tigers lost their leading receiver from last season in Tony Stevens. Davis ranks behind only Darius Slayton in terms of receptions and yards among returning players. While Slayton is talented, he doesn’t possess quite the physical gifts of Davis or Craig-Myers.

Craig-Myers showed chemistry with Stidham in the A-Day game, posting a game-high 154 receiving yards on 5 catches.

Having one of the two youngsters develop into a go-to option would be a godsend for Stidham. Having them turn into a 1-2 punch would be downright nasty — and a headache for every opponent on the schedule.

Prince Tega Wanogho, LT

This one is fairly simple: Wanogho, a third-year sophomore, has never started a college game. And now he’s tasked with protecting Stidham’s blind side.

The good news for the Tigers is that his potential seems limitless.

A native of Nigeria, Wanogho has played football less than four years. After beginning his career on the defensive line, he switched sides during the summer of 2016. He’s earned rave reviews ever since.

To call it a meteoric rise would be an understatement.

But excelling against teammates during practice is one thing; doing it against an opponent you’ve never seen before is an entirely different beast. We might not find out much about Wanogho this week against Georgia Southern.

The following week, however, Auburn travels to Clemson, which has turned into a defensive line factory in its rise to annual national championship contention. If Wanogho can hold his own against the other Tigers, odds are he’ll be able to handle anything else thrown at him this fall.

Marlon Davidson, DE

This might be the safest bet among our five candidates.

Davidson already has a stellar season under his belt, earning All-SEC freshman honors in 2016 after collecting 38 tackles (six for loss) to go along with 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

There is one major obstacle he’ll have to overcome this fall, though: the upperclassmen who made life a little easier for Davidson are gone. No more Carl Lawson. No more Montravius Adams.

What remains is Dontavius Russell, a fourth-year junior. Fellow sophomore Derrick Brown returns, too. Juniors Jeff Holland, Paul James and Andrew Williams will be key members of the rotation, and redshirt freshman Nick Coe and true freshmen Big Kat Bryant and Tyrone Truesdell should contribute as well.

But none will have more pressure on him than Davidson.

If his play last season is any indication, however, Davidson won’t be unnerved.

Instead, he’ll continue to rise to the occasion and put himself in the running for the SEC’s defensive player of the year award.