Auburn is just a few short months away from kicking off the 2022 season against Mercer in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Continuing their predictions for the 2022 season, Athlon Sports released its 2022 SEC football predictions. They predicted the order of finish in the SEC East and West as well as superlatives for the entire conference.
Despite naming nine Tigers to their preseason All-SEC team, Athlon Sports predicts Auburn to finish seventh in the SEC West. Auburn has not finished last in the division since the 2015 season, when they went 7-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play in Gus Malzahn’s third season as head coach.
Here is what Athlon Sports said about their prediction for Aubrun as well as the rest of their predictions for the SEC.
Auburn
Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
Athlon Sports is not very optimistic about the Tigers having a bounceback season in Bryan Harsin’s second season. They predict the Tigers to finish seventh in the SEC West and have concerns about the team’s depth on offense and the transition on defense.
Between the five-game losing streak to end the 2021 campaign, offseason drama surrounding the job status of coach Bryan Harsin and plenty of roster turnover, there’s been no shortage of drama on the Plains. For Harsin to steer the program back on track and prevent another hot-seat situation, the offense must show significant improvement. The Tigers ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring and averaged only 17.8 points a game over their final five contests. The strength (and focus) of the offense remains at running back with Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter providing a standout one-two punch. The rest of the two-deep is a concern, however. The quarterback battle will extend into the fall with four candidates – Zach Calzada, Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley and true freshman Holden Geriner – vying for the job. Also, more playmakers need to emerge at receiver, and an inconsistent offensive line…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football | Auburn Wire…