Auburn Football's Potential for Offensive Impact for 2010

In this article I hope to bring some idea about the impact potential of the 2010 Auburn Tigers. I will not be focusing as much on the well known players, but on the soon to be well known players. I will not be including true freshmen in this article.

The reason I decided not to include true freshmen has many angles. The biggest is, the offensive player has more to learn to succeed. It is unfair to expect a true freshman to come in and produce within three months. 

It is also unreasonable to expect a true freshman to have the strength and conditioning necessary to excel in the SEC with only three months to prepare. Is it reasonable to believe that some of the true freshmen will have an impact? Of Course it is. 

I simply think it is unfair to point out particular incoming freshmen and put undue pressure to perform on them. I think they must be given time to produce at their own pace. I believe the 2010 class will produce in record quantity while at Auburn.

The key component of offensive impact is touchdowns. Players with a nose for the end-zone are usually the ones that can break games open. Auburn had 17 players score touchdowns in 2009. Of those players 13 return for 2010. 

Auburn had 11 players with multiple touchdowns in 2009. Of those players eight return for 2010. This certainly points toward Auburn having a very healthy number of offensive impact players this season.

How does this compare to other SEC teams? Arkansas had the most players with touchdowns in 2009 with 19. Of those 10 had multiple touchdowns. LSU had 13 players with touchdowns in 2009. There were 10 with multiple scores. Georgia had 15 players with touchdowns, 12 had multiple scores. Alabama had 14 players with touchdowns and only 8 had more than one. 

This leaves us with the fact that Auburn has as many or more returning impact players as any of the teams that beat us in 2009. South Carolina rotates onto the schedule this year and they had 11 players with touchdowns. Ole Miss lost many of their impact players and must replace them for 2010.

Clemson had 13 players score touchdowns in 2009. They also lost half of their offensive production to graduation. This covers the out of conference competition for 2010 that could be of offensive concern.

We all know about Darvin Adams, Terell Zachery, Onterio McCalebb, and Mario Fannin. These are all players that have become well known names and contributed 23 touchdowns to the total in 2009. We can expect that total to rise significantly in 2010.

The first player I am going to cover did not score one touchdown in 2009. He is a player. Coach Trooper Taylor is very positive on this particular player. DeAngelo Benton  was a true freshman in 2009. He had to attend prep school to brush up before enrolling. 

He is 6'3 and over 200 lbs and runs a 4.4 forty. He has a 37" vertical leap and can certainly be a vertical threat. He spent the 2009 season getting in condition and working on fundamentals. Coach Taylor says he will break records at Auburn and I believe that will begin in 2010.

The second big impact player I believe will break out in 2010 is Kodi Burns. Now wait and read me out! I am not predicting a breakout at quarterback, or even wildcat quarterback. I think Kodi Burns will have a big break out year as a possession receiver.

We all know that he is strong and durable. He was moved to receiver shortly before the 2009 season. He made huge progress at that position. I expect him to be a legitimate impact player as a receiver across the middle in 2010.

Phillip Lutzenkirchen is Auburn's 6'4 240lbs tight end that runs a 4.75 forty. He has the best hands on a tight end that I have ever witnessed. He scored two touchdowns for Auburn in his true freshman season. Expect many more in 2010.

Eric Smith is a 5'10 240 lbs ball of muscle. He is a fullback that is good at blocking. He is a punishing runner. The one quality most do not know about him is his hands. Eric Smith has some of the best hands for catching a football on the Auburn team. 

The players I listed up to this point I expect to be used in a different way. A quarterback with a stronger arm will lead Auburn for 2010. Players like Darvin Adams and Terell Zachery will stretch the field more leaving openings across the middle. 

I expect the players listed above to have big years finding those gaps and moving the chains. This will be a dimension that was largely missing from the 2009 offense. While Chris Todd did a great job, he could not make the long pass.

That left the opponents corners and safeties less area to cover. This reduced the possibility of the shorter and mid range passes across the middle. This will be one improvement in the offense for 2010.

The next big impact player will be Dontae Aycock. Auburn lost big Ben Tate and his 10 touchdowns to the NFL. Dontae Aycock is 5'10 and 220 lbs. of muscle. His speed looks to be in the 4.4 range. He makes the first man miss on a consistent basis and is a powerful runner. 

Look for Dontae Aycock to step in and fill the rather large shoes of of Big Ben Tate. He will likely produce close to the same output at this position in 2010. He might even produce more of an impact as he looks to be a little stronger runner after initial contact.

Travante Stallworth and Anthony Gulley are two lightening fast players that have carried the ball for long runs on specialty plays. Between the two they averaged 14 yards per carry. They will certainly make an impact in this way in 2010. 

Mario Fannin had the next nearest average with 8.64 yards per carry. Ontario McCalebb averaged a little over six yards per carry before he was injured in 2009. One or both of them will have an impact in long threat receiving as well.

Demond Washington averaged 31 yards per kickoff return last season. He returned the ball 16 times toward the end of 2009. This made a huge difference in field position once he took over this position. He was ranked 1st in the SEC and 5th nationally at this position. 

The players that will make these impact players look good in 2010 were covered in this well written article by Brooks Webb.

The thing most fans will not notice is the huge improvement in the offensive line. No impact player can show their true potential without great players blocking for them. receivers need pass protection. Running backs need that opening to hit. 

With all of the improvements to look forward to on the Auburn football team in 2010, the offensive and defensive line are likely the most improved.