Passing offense, rush defense among Auburn football's biggest questions heading into 2023

AUBURN — Talking season will officially come to a close this weekend.

Auburn football opens its first campaign under coach Hugh Freeze against UMass on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN). The Tigers, coming off their worst season since 2012 in which they missed a bowl game for only the third time since 2000, have a lot to prove versus the Minutemen (1-0) and beyond.

It's difficult to land on concrete expectations for Auburn in 2023. At each of Freeze's previous coaching stops, he's come in and rapidly improved the program compared to the season prior to his arrival. But is that possible with the Tigers? And if it is, what does it hinge on?

Here are three of the biggest questions hanging over the program as the season kicks off:

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How quickly can Payton Thorne and Auburn's WRs get on the same page?

In a typical offense, wide receivers can take a play off every now and then. For example: If the call in the huddle is a run, the WR on the outside can casually run down the sideline to easily get the defensive back in front of him away from the box.

But Freeze's offense is different. With so many RPOs in the scheme, receivers don't know for sure when the ball is coming their way. If starting QB Payton Thorne reads a defender has committed to stopping the run, he can pull the ball away from the RB at the mesh point and quickly fire off a pass.

Then there's the issue of option routes; Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery have added plenty of them to the playbook. An option route requires both the receiver and quarterback to read a defender's position and leverage and then decide which way the WR should break.

It's a powerful offense when its clicking on all cylinders, but risks being catastrophic if Thorne and his playmakers are seeing different things.

Is Auburn football's run defense a concern? Or do the Tigers simply have good RBs?

It's been the question of the preseason: Is Auburn's rushing offense that good, or is the rush defense that bad?

The Tigers undoubtedly have a stable of talented RBs that ranges from junior Jarquez Hunter to freshman Jeremiah Cobb, but they've run wild both in practice and at the two scrimmages in fall camp. Auburn also has a new-look offensive line creating holes for them.

By the time conference play opens against Texas A&M, fans should have a better idea of who the Tigers are on the defensive front.

Where's the pass rush coming from?

Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts introduced a new name for edge defenders this offseason: Jack linebacker.

It's the player on the edge of the defensive line, typically standing up and tasked with either getting after the quarterback or dropping back into coverage. Auburn has three players on the roster listed as a jack in Hayden Brice, Brenton Williams and transfers Elijah McAllister (Vanderbilt), Jalen McLeod (Appalachian State) and Stephen Sings V (Liberty).

McAllister, McLeod and Sings are the top three players at the position on the depth chart. Is it fair to expect three newcomers to generate the majority of Auburn's pass rush?

Fair or not, it needs to be the case.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Biggest questions for Tigers to answer in 2023