Second of WBE’s five questions for spring, cliched as the concept might be. Previously: Is Nick Fairley ready?
No preamble:
4. ARE MIKE MCNEIL AND AAIRON SAVAGE AND TRULY 100 PERCENT AND READY TO KICK ASS?
Because if they are, look out. If they’re not, though, uh … redirect to Auburn fans: look out.
Because the two injury returnees will very likely make the difference between the secondary being a deep, veteran unit with loads of big-game experience well-suited for the Malzahnian grind and the same short-staffed, erratic bunch we saw alternate huge plays with mind-numbing errors borne mostly of inexperience.
Unfortunately, most of those huge plays came courtesy of Walt McFadden, who’s on his way to the NFL as we speak. So without a healthy McNeil and Savage, the pickings looked pretty slim even before Daren Bates underwent a shoulder surgery/position switch double-whammy. Neiko Thorpe was a lock at one corner; Demond Washington was a lock at either corner or safety; and T’Sharvan Bell was a lock to at least be in the rotation somewhere. Past that–and you’ll notice that “past that” are still no less than five spots on the two-deep–it’s nothing but question marks.
Which is why even if McNeil and Savage are all the way back, it would be awfully helpful if Zac Etheridge managed the trick, too. (Though since we have to wait until the fall for him, he doesn’t fit into this particular discussion.) Even if Etheridge isn’t ready for 2010, though, if McNeil and Savage are Auburn should be OK … or better than OK barring any further injuries. The pair of them could start at safety to give Auburn arguably the most experienced safety tandem in the SEC, leaving Washington to hold down the corner position opposite Thorpe, Bell to give Auburn a solid nickel corner, and Bates to step in as need be if another safety’s needed. Or if Bell’s ready to build on his strong finish to ’09 with a starting safety assignment, Savage moves to corner and either he or Washington totally rocks the nickel assignment while providing cover at safety.
The point: if Auburn’s lucky enough to have both Mike McNeil holding down one safety spot and Aairon Savage ready for duty at either safety or corner, Auburn’s going to have options. Lots of them. And eventually, Chizik and Co. are going to find a set of options that work. Starting this week, we find out if they’re goign to have those options are not. Things are looking good, I’d say, with both in white (i.e. contact) jerseys and a Freshman All-SEC safety already ticketed for linebacking. But if Auburn’s going to really improve on last year’s secondary, McNeil and Savage will have to prove that the reports of their recovery have not, in fact, been exaggerated.
You can’t overstate the importance of those two being 100%. And, if Zac is healthy, it would transform what was a very thin and problematic part of the defense into being a loaded secondary.
If McNeil and Savage are anywhere close to where they were before the injury bug, it really will open up the defense….
The D secondary has an opportunity to be almost as good as the 2004 D secondary with them playing….
and it will spill over to what AU can do to stop the run…
hmm…
I wonder where I left my sunglasses…
That’s pretty bold to compare the potential of the 2010 defensive backfield to that of ’04. I hope you’re right. I don’t see any Rogers or Rosegreen back there, but the sum of it’s parts (of the 2010 dbackfield) may be better than that of 2004 . I thought Bates may be filling Junior’s shoes, but they’ve moved him to linebacker? I just don’t understand that one. If you ask me, a dominant guy at that position is far more valuable than a tweener linebacker (even with our depth issues at that position). But hey, I guess there’s a reason I’m not getting paid millions to make that decision. I hope it works out.
Oh, and I’d say you’re correct, WBE. The only way this Bates move makes any sense is if the coaches are totally sold on Mike McNeil being back to his old form. But even then, I question if McNeil at 100% = the potential of Bates. McNeil was a heralded kid coming out of High School, kind of the opposite situation from Bates, but while he has certainly been solid I wouldn’t go so far as to call him spectacular. I think Bates has the potential to be spectacular.
2004? Yeah, not really seeing it, but if Thorpe can recapture his freshman year magic and McNeil/Savage/Etheridge all make it back to full speed and Washington makes another leap forward … they’ll be very, very good. We can talk then.
EC, I’m with you. Even if Savage is at safety rather than corner and Bell is fully ready to take on increased playing time … isn’t Bates really a better option than either, given how well he played last year? Oh well, this is one of those times when you sort of have to assume the coaches know what they’re doing. Which they do.