A football team’s offensive and defensive lines are usually pretty accurate barometers for how good — or bad — that team will be in any given season. Sometimes one group is better than the other, but this year, Auburn appears to have decent talent on both sides of the ball.

The Tigers’ offensive line returns three starters — guards Alex Kozan and Braden Smith along with Austin Golson, who played 11 games at center last season but is transitioning to left tackle. With Golson making that switch, Xavier Dampeer has taken over at center while Robert Leff, who made two starts at left tackle in 2015, will man the right side.

Returning three offensive line starters is a good thing to begin with. But it’s even better when two of those players — Kozan and Smith — are preseason All-SEC selections.

“That’s a group that’s jelling,” Gus Malzahn told the Montgomery Advertiser on Saturday. “We’ve got a handful of guys with the twos we’ve been getting a lot of reps with. Those guys got the scrimmage reps today … It’s really more from a depth standpoint if injuries (occur) and all that.”

Kozan knows a lot about injuries. Despite redshirting in 2012 and missing all of 2014 after having back surgery, he has played and started in 27 games, mostly at left guard.

Redshirt freshman Mike Horton gives Auburn a lot of flexibility and some depth on the line. He can play every guard and tackle spot, but the Tigers could really use him at center.

Dampeer has even less experience at center than Golson picked up last year. Over the last two seasons, Dampeer has appeared at the position in just six games, all in mop-up duty.

Dampeer’s 2015 season was cut short due to an incident last October with ex-Auburn wide receiver D’haquille Williams, who reportedly punched the offensive lineman and broke his jaw. But the 6-foot-2, 310-pounder, who graduated in December, hasn’t let go of the Tigers’ starting center spot since grabbing it during spring practice.

AU goes into the season with several questions on the offensive line, the most important being whether Dampeer can handle being a full-time center. Plus, Golson, who played 12 games mostly at guard for Ole Miss in 2013 before transferring to Auburn, is basically on his third position in college and must prove that he can handle it.

On top of that, it remains to be seen how well new offensive line coach Herb Hand will jell with his new players. He’s in a much tougher conference with much different personnel, but as a co-offensive coordinator with Gus Malzahn at Tulsa, he helped the Golden Hurricane lead the FBS in total offense from 2007-08.

While Auburn has a new offensive line coach, it also has a new defensive coordinator in Kevin Steele, who held the same position at LSU last year. With the Tigers facing some uncertainty in their linebacking corps and secondary, their line appears to be their strongest group on defense.

One of Steele’s biggest challenges will be generating any kind of pass rush. Auburn finished next to last in the SEC — and tied for 102nd in the FBS — last season with just 19 sacks in 13 games. Linebacker Cassanova McKinzy, who led AU with five sacks last season, had taken his talents to the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being released on Monday.

Montravius Adams, whose 2.5 sacks in 2015 led all of Auburn’s defensive linemen, is back. And joining him as returning starters are oft-injured defensive end Carl Lawson and tackle Dontavius Russell.

Despite being limited to seven games a year ago because of a hip injury, Lawson has gotten a lot of love from SEC media types. The 6-foot-2, 253-pounder, who missed all of 2014 due to knee surgery and missed six games in 2015, was named preseason First-Team All-SEC, but questions about his durability will always follow him around.

Adams — and everyone else associated with Auburn football for that matter — is counting on Lawson to stay injury-free. If that comes to fruition, the rising senior would more than likely improve upon his numbers from last season, which included 44 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 6 QB hurries, 2 forced fumbles and a pass breakup.

Russell was arguably more impressive as a freshman a year ago, when he finished with 42 total tackles — 4.5 for a loss — 8 QB hurries, 1.5 sacks and one pass breakup. On the flip side, rising sophomore Byron Cowart struggled in his first campaign on The Plains, compiling just 6 total tackles and 6 QB hurries over 13 games.

Devaroe Lawrence provides experience at defensive tackle after making 31 tackles — 2 for a loss — and adding 5 quarterback hurries last year. Maurice Swain will look to emerge in his final season of eligibility after posting just eight tackles in 2015.

JUCO transfer Paul James III and former outside linebacker Jeff Holland could be key reserves. Plus, five-star recruit Derrick Brown — along with fellow freshmen D-linemen Marlon Davidson, Antwuan Jackson and Nick Coe — are also fighting for snaps.

Defense is not Malzahn’s specialty, and positive comments about his players are not surprising. But check out what he had to say about his defensive line going into this season.

“Our defensive front has the chance to be one of the best, if not the best, in college football,” Malzahn told SiriusXM’s College Sports Nation earlier this month. “The quality of depth really stands out to me, too. We’ve had some strong defensive lines since I’ve been here, but as far as depth goes, quality depth.

“We have some freshmen that can really play, too. They’re going to have to earn it out there, but they’re extremely talented.”

Just imagine how effusive Malzahn would be if he had Cam Newton or Nick Marshall coming back to play quarterback. But that scenario would truly be fantasy football.