Tiger's Tale

Stay strong, Auburn family, stay strong. This will pass - I promise. So we've lost three games in a row..

I want you all to keep in mind that it's not the end of the world, first of all. Second, there's no reason why the Tigers can't come out and beat Ole Miss. 

But what I really want to talk about is Auburn's quarterback situation. I've heard a lot of talk about "bring in Neil Caudle." Well, I disagree. I think Chris Todd can still get it done. Like many of you, probably, I see that Auburn offensive woes don't trace back solely to Todd. And his performance isn't indicative of his talent level or ability. In fact, I think it's more telling of just how little depth Auburn has at offensive line. It's the line's performance that has made Todd look so bad.

There were plenty of instances I can think of from the LSU game where Todd made a check at the line to account for a coming blitz, only to be let down by a veteran offensive lineman or back who was supposed to block a blitzing defender. The result: he was sacked or was forced to fumble the ball because he was blindsided by the defender. Due to this kind of play from the line, Todd has tried to force balls in certain situations and throw earlier than he should. This is part of the cause for his recent interceptions. Now don't get me wrong. He has made some poor choices, such as the final throw of the Kentucky game and the interception he threw against LSU into double coverage. He never would have attempted those throws in the first four or five games this year.

There's also poor receiver play. Auburn's receivers got away with some sloppy route running in the first few games. But as the competition has improved, our receiver inadequacies have been exposed. Our guys must learn to run crisper routes. I think we might see a little more of the younger guys, like Emory Blake and Philip Lutzenkirchen, in the coming games.

So that's that.

Of course, Neil Caudle has played pretty well when given the chance. As well he should, since he was one of the top seven quarterbacks in the country coming out of high school - the guy was incredible and won a lot of games. He entered college football alongside guys like Tim Tebow, Josh Freeman, Matt Stafford and Jevan Snead. He was considered just as good, if not better than, all but Stafford and Tebow. 

So why hasn't he won the QB job the whole time he's been at Auburn? I don't know. But do I believe in him as a backup? Heck yeah.But I also believe Chris Todd is right choice to be our starting quarterback and I think he'll snap out of his slump, as will the offensive line. I just hope the receivers will do the same and find a way to get open so Todd can hit them when the time comes.