Auburn Football: Tigers poised to shake up SEC in 2018

Despite a ho-hum performance in last year’s Peach Bowl, Auburn football still has plenty of weapons in its arsenal. The Tigers will be a force again in 2018.

In case you missed it, SEC Media Days are in full swing. As usual, the focus is mostly on Nick Saban and Alabama, but maybe it shouldn’t be. Auburn is going to be great in 2018, and here’s why.

The SEC West is in transition. You have a bunch of hungry young coaches, but that doesn’t mean that any of them have the wit to take down Nick Saban in their freshman seasons. The coach with the best resume — Jimbo Fisher — may not have the roster to beat the Tide. That leaves LSU and Auburn with a decent path to win the West. Of the two, only Auburn has beaten Bama recently.

Jarrett Stidham is back to full health, and is now a veteran quarterback. Don’t scoff. Stidham’s Tigers took down two No. 1 teams last year — Georgia and Alabama. He will have an increasing ability to check at the line of scrimmage. He’s learned from his mistakes against Clemson, and he now fits in beautifully with Auburn’s run-pass option offense.

Stidham will likely be a Heisman Trophy candidate. He could also easily be a first-round NFL draft prospect. Stidham’s best quality, though, is that he knows how to take down the onslaught of the Crimson Tide. I mean, he’s the only quarterback right now who can say he beat Alabama.

Alabama will have a new starting quarterback, and there are still question marks about his long-term ability to lead a team.

Add that to a terrific Auburn defense, led by linebacker Deshaun Davis, Dontavius Russell, Marlon Davidson, Derrick Brown and other veterans returning to lead the Tigers’ defensive line in 2018, and you have the combination for SEC success.

I’m not saying that Alabama is going to choke — the Tide will still be the team to beat. But to assume that it’s all over in the SEC West is taking far too much for granted. The Tide have a new offensive coordinator, Mike Locksley. Hopefully, Locksley will stop relying on the lame-duck offensive plays from last year with its quarterback runs and check-downs.

Next: Biggest takeaways from Auburn post-spring ball

If he doesn’t? Auburn has a shot to take the SEC West.