Auburn Football: 5 Bold predictions for Tigers in 2018

1. Jarrett Stidham leads the SEC in passing touchdowns

Two SEC passers threw for more than 3,000 yards last season, Drew Lock (3,964) and Jarrett Stidham (3,158). It’s extremely possible that those two end up at the top of the passing leader board against next year but Stidham has some work to do to catch up to Lock’s otherworldly touchdown numbers.

Lock threw 44 touchdown passes, the best mark in the SEC and the best mark in the nation. He more than doubled Stidham’s passing touchdown total of 18 but also had twice as many interceptions (13 to Stidham’s six).

Lock was in his third year at Missouri while Stidham just finished his first season at Auburn. Stidham will continue to develop in his second season under offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey but Lock is going to have to adjust to new Missouri OC Derek Dooley. The former Tennessee head coach has never been an offensive coordinator – ever – and spent the last five seasons outside of college football as the wide receivers coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Dooley isn’t going to stifle an elite passer like Locke, but the entire Missouri offense is going to take at least one step back. That will leave room for Stidham, without the safety net of Kerryon Johnson, to put up some impressive numbers in 2018.