Auburn Football: Five reasons why Tigers will win 2017 national title

5. Underrated defense

When it comes to recent history, most opposing fanbases think of Auburn’s offense first. Part of that stems from the fact that Auburn has burned through defensive coordinators at an alarming rate. In six seasons, Auburn fielded five different defensive coordinators. Interestingly, the defensive coordinators all had sterling reputations prior to short stints at Auburn—Ted Roof, Brian Van Gorder, Ellis Johnson, Will Muschamp and Kevin Steele. All right, sterling might be overstating it, but suffice it to say, all of them had mostly positive reputations. The bottom line is Kevin Steele enters year two after a successful first season, bringing some much-needed stability.

Auburn fields one of the strongest secondary units in the SEC led by senior safety Tray Matthews and top corner Carlton Davis. The defensive line will take a slight step back after losing Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams, but the unit returns starters Marlon Davidson and Dontavius Russell. The linebackers unit looks similar on paper.

Auburn has one of the better defenses in the SEC, even if the defense doesn’t receive proper credit. Having defensive coordinator Kevin Steele back should only help the unit grow.