Auburn Football 2017 season preview, predictions and more

Defense

Replacing Carl Lawson is the name of the game for the Auburn defense. That’s going to be a tough task, but it won’t be overwhelming. That’s because the defense returns 10 out of the 12 leading tacklers from the 2016 season.

The 2017 defense will be led by senior defensive back Tray Matthews who elected to return to school instead of entering the NFL draft. Matthews, who transferred from Georgia after playing sparingly as a freshman, has upped his production every year since. He posted 45 tackles in 2015 and followed it up with 76 tackles in 2016. He was one of six SEC defensive backs to reach that many tackles last season.

It’s the front seven, with the losses of Lawson and Montravius Adams, that will take the most effort to replace. But like any blue-blood SEC school, they have multiple experienced options to plug in at both spots of the line. The combination of Dontavius Russell and Andrew Williams, both redshirt juniors, will hold down the interior of the defensive line. Marlon Davidson, who managed six tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks of his own in 2017, will slide in at the end.

They don’t have all of the big names that Alabama does, but they were picked to finish right behind the Tide by the media, but the depth and experience of this defense makes it one of the more formidable units from the get go.

Special teams

And then they have their secret weapon: kicker Daniel Carlson. He led the SEC in points last year and was responsible for 10 points or more six times in Auburn’s 12 regular season games. He was accurate from 87.5 percent of his field goals, second best in the SEC. When the offense does falter, they will trust Carlson often in 2017.