Auburn Wire Roundtable: Bold predictions for the 2022 season
We’re just 19 days away from the Auburn Tigers hosting the Mercer Bears at Jordan-Hare Stadium to kick off the 2022 college football season.
While the game is less than three weeks away, we still don’t have a clear picture as to who will be the starting quarterback. Zach Calzada was finally cleared in the summer and the true quarterback battle began as fall camp opened.
“It’s not just, hey that guy throws the ball perfectly or the best every time.” head coach Bryan Harsin said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “You want that, but how’s he operating? What’s he doing? Is this guy gonna help us in the run game, can he help us with his feet? Can he do some things in the pass game? So there’s a lot more other factors.
You leave the huddle and you come to the field and the tailbacks on the wrong side and he should be on the other side and you don’t correct it — that’s an opportunity to lead. That’s an opportunity for you as a quarterback to get things right. So those things happened. And you gotta be able to, you gotta know it. You gotta know your system.”
While the quarterback battle is ongoing, the Auburn Wire staff put together their bold predictions for the upcoming season. Spoiler alert, the quarterback situation wasn’t one of the predictions made for 2022.
Patrick Conn, Regional Editor
Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics
Most who have followed my work know that I am very much an “all running backs matter” kind of guy. So, it should come as no shock to see that my bold prediction for the upcoming season involves a running back. This time I am going with [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag].
Prediction: Bigsby rushes for 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns
JD McCarthy, Contributor
Gary Cosby / USA TODAY NETWORK
One of the things that makes the SEC the best conference in college football is the line play and [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] is one of the best pass rushers in the conference. He has spoken about his desire to break Nick Fairley’s program record of 11.5 sacks in a single season and I think he will do just that.
Prediction: Hall breaks the Auburn sack record with 13 sacks.
River Wells, Contributor
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
It hasn’t been an easy offseason for the Auburn Tigers. It won’t be an easy season, either.
Auburn has an absolutely brutal schedule for 2022, including a murder’s row stretch from October to the middle of November that includes quite a few fearsome SEC opponents (Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, etc.). On top of that, the Tigers are set to rematch Penn State at home with an arguably worse roster from last year.
Games like the Penn State game are toss-ups, but with offseason drama and a weakened roster, I don’t think Auburn is in the position to win those types of games. The Tigers will go just 4-8 in 2022 with wins over Mercer, San Jose State, Missouri and Western Kentucky, and coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] will exit the program after just two years of coaching.
Prediction: Auburn wins just four games.
Taylor Jones, Contributor
Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics
The only certain aspect of Auburn’s offense at this point in fall camp is that Tank Bigsby is RB1, and Jarquez Hunter is RB2.
The quarterback job is still up for grabs, and there’s no clear No. 1 target at receiver. One candidate for the top receiver job is freshman [autotag]Camden Brown[/autotag].
Brown has turned heads during fall camp and has the ability to be a breakout star in 2022. No matter who wins the starting quarterback job, expect Brown to make their job an easier one.
Prediction: Camden Brown records 600 receiving yards in 2022
One breakout star prediction
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Patrick: This isn’t a big shocker with Owen Pappoe, but now that Zakoby McClain is no longer on the Plains the Auburn defense needs a linebacker to step up. I believe that Pappoe will be the guy that fills the void on defense.
JD: Landen King immediately came to mind here. He has moved to wide receiver but should still be a nightmare to defend because of his height and speed. He will become one of Auburn’s top playmakers by the end of the season.
River: Expect safety Zion Puckett to take command at safety and improve on his 2021 campaign. He had the most productive season of his career last year and I think he’ll use that experience to give Auburn fans a memorable senior year in the defensive backfield.
Taylor: edge rusher Colby Wooden is the guy for me. He is Auburn’s leading returning tackler, finishing fourth last season behind Zakoby McClain, Chandler Wooten, and Smoke Monday with 61 tackles, 8.5 of them were for a loss. Wooden has taken on a leadership role with the defense. Expect him, as well as Derick Hall, to be a threat to stop the opposition’s run game every week.
