BANG: SEC Podcaster is BUYING IN To Byrum Brown, Auburn Taking Step Forward

0:00the SEC is already trending up on Byron Brown. You are locked on Auburn, your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers. Part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Yes, welcome on into locked on Auburn, your daily Auburn Tigers podcast and your host Zach Blackerby. And thank you so much for making locked on Auburn, your first listen every single day. Hopped on locked on SEC with Chris Gordy, talked about Byron Brown and answered some of his questions. Let's get to that conversation. Welcome in our buddy, Zach Blackerby from locked on Auburn. Talk all things Byron Brown and expectations for this season. Zach, now that you have had a couple months to digest it and kind of settled it, I know Auburn's going to get on the practice field very soon, but yes, where are you on Byron Brown? And I've had several people ask me, they say they were high on them.

1:01They love the numbers, but will this translate to the SEC? So let's start there. Where are you in the thinking of will that game translate to the SEC? Yeah, I mean, that's the million dollar question, right? This is so different than in previous years when Auburn has had a guy and you kind of got to talk about potential. The production obviously there, one of the handful of quarterbacks to pass for three thousand rush for a thousand in a single season, an elite elite group that he joined last year. And so now you look at is okay, can all of the South Florida stuff translate? Byron Brown, Alex Goldish, I mean, play calling the pretty much like half of the receiving core, they brought their running back over a few linemen, a tight end, can all the South Florida stuff transfer to the SEC? And we won't know for sure. One thing that gives me more confidence about this, and I would be way more skeptical and asking a ton more questions is Alex Goldish has had success

2:03in this league. Not as a head coach, but he has gotten a front row seat as the offensive coordinator in the play collar when what we saw at Tennessee and with Hinden Hooker under Josh Hype when they had the best offense in college football just a few years ago, those that performance they got him the job at South Florida. One of the more aware answers I've seen from a press conference of folks who watch Lockdown Auburn hear me refer to this over and over and over again, Gordy. And I do it because I think it's important is he was asked the question about, okay, your offense at South Florida, what should we expect at Auburn? And he talked about his time when he was under Hype at UCF and they went to Tennessee and they had these discussions about, look, we can't do the exact same thing, the exact same thing's not going to work better players, different scheme and style of football, you're going to have to handle things differently. And they did and they adjusted quickly. And then when his guys went from Tennessee to South Florida, they had the same

3:05conversation. Now to change things up, but now obviously they're going to have to change it up from South Florida to Auburn. He knows what it takes to win in this conference. I think that's big as far as him hand picking these guys from South Florida to follow him to the SEC and obviously Byron Brown will be the headliner for all of that. We talked about the quote they had saying they want to run the bleep out of the ball. You know, I think that pertains to I think we can say that. Okay. I think it pertains a lot to Jeremiah Cobb and you know, I think gosh, how many times that the last two years we're like watching Auburn game like run the football. Please run the football more. I mean, I think we even talked about a year a couple times, but yeah, that's encouraging, but it also made me wonder how much are they saying Byron Brown, who had a thousand yards rushing last year. And as we know how the game has changed, you can't be a, I mean, very few statues do we have left in college football or the SEC? I mean, even a think of the national championship

4:06game for Adam and Dosa puts his head down, takes off with a big run. So you have to have that as part of your game. But man, Byron Brown is is a special runner. And I just wonder how much they're going to call that number this year. Yeah. Yeah. But let me let me ask you a question. I'm going to put you on the spot here. Who do you think ran the ball more last season Byron Brown or Jeremiah Cobb starting quarterback or starting running back? I'm going to assume this is a trick question. And I do have Byron Brown's numbers with 175 carries. I'm going to say he had more carries than Jeremiah Cobb. It is a trick question. They both had 175 carries the same amount. Yeah. I mean, you look at Auburn's running back room. Even without Byron Brown, you got to think, wow, this is a team that wants to run the football. They brought in some dudes that Gordy. I don't think they had to bring in Jeremiah Cobb. Obviously a returner. But then they go out and get in the Kai Davenport, who's one of those South Florida guys that followed them. And then Bryson Washington, a very good running back coming over

5:09from Baylor. That was kind of Baylor's big talking point going into the season open or last year between Baylor and Auburn out in Waco. I think he can be an electric and dynamic back. And when he's arguably your second or third back in this room, they also went out and got Tay Meadows, who's more of an experienced guy. He came from Troy. I think he'll have somewhat of a peace. And then maybe my favorite guy in the room, he's just young Omar Mabson. He was an early and early last year. We saw him a little bit down the stretch there. But I think he's Tayler made for this offense down the road. Maybe not so much this year, but down the road. And then Alvin Henderson as well is a guy that the staff really likes. So I think Gordy, this staff knows and this goes back to what we were just talking about translating the game and the offense and the scheme and the mindset from South Florida and transferring it to the SEC. I think he's got to know we can't run Byron Brown 175 times in the SEC. I'm assuming. I'm assuming. And like let's also keep in mind two years ago, this is a guy who missed time due to an injury. You don't want that to happen

6:14again, obviously, because the backup plan is not really one. So I think they brought in these stable of running backs. It's like, yeah, we're going to use Byron's leg some for sure. Don't get me wrong. It's a strength. It's a weapon. But I think they're going to use a stable of running backs that they put together. We continue our conversation next right here, unlocked on Auburn. Today's show brought to you by our friends at five hour energy. Welcome to the five hour energy flavor drafts with 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options, like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There's something for everyone. The board is set and the flavors are ready. And I've got my number one pick for the five hour energy flavor draft. I'm going with grape. I think grape in the form of a five hour energy shot. Hey, delicious, no, go free and gets you through your day. Find your new favorite flavor of five

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8:22We continue our conversation talk with Zach Blackerby, host of lockdown Auburn and Zach, you know, when we talk about Byron Brown and his production and what he can do with his arm, we can talk about the arts. We can talk about all this. But the question is, who's he thrown it to? And, you know, this is kind of an easy answer. Guys, he's thrown the football. The same guy as you three two last year. I mean, it is, it was, it almost became comical. We were tracking the transfer portal day by day. And it's like, oh, look, another USF wide receiver transfer in Auburn. And I kind of like the idea. I mean, you talk about continuity and chemistry and all that. Like, who better than guys you had? Now, again, now you're going up against SEC DBs. But it's an interesting dynamic. But I say that for anybody who hasn't paid attention to Auburn's offseason, Cam Coleman's gone. Malcolm Simmons is gone. Eric Singleton's gone. All these guys that we got used to it all for last year, yeah, last few years that were like, throw them the football. They're really good. They're all gone. So how does this transition work? Yeah. I mean, I think the transition's almost, it might be more of a question of

9:26for the receivers that stayed that were on Auburn's roster last year and chose to stay. Your Sam Turner's, your Bryce Keynes. But no, I think all these guys in a vacuum, if there was no context of, you know, Alex Goulish and folks following their coach, and you're looking at them all in a vacuum, I think any SEC team would be like, Keishan Singleton, this guy's a stud. Jeremiah Cogor. Oh, my goodness. This guy's a stud. Chaz Nimrod. I mean, he was in the tent. He was at Tennessee a few years ago. I'm Goulish, obviously, had a relationship with him and then transferred to join him at South Florida. I think all these guys make a ton of sense. Christian Neptune was kind of the guy in the slot. And then Corey Pettigrew didn't really play, but an underclassman. We'll see, we'll see exactly if he can crack the rotation. I don't think you will. I think he's a future piece. But I think if you look at all these guys individually, it's like, yeah, I think a lot of schools would have said, okay, there's room for you in this receiver room. What stands out is it's so much

10:27South Florida that followed him. So we'll see exactly what it looks like to be 100% honest Gordy. I kept expecting another like primary receiver to come in that wasn't from South Florida. And they pursued a few guys. It just didn't happen. I don't know if it was fit. I don't know if they felt like they wanted to be the number one. And Keishan Singleton was the number one. I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. But I respect that he's got a plan. And his plan was to win with his guys and bring in other pieces, you know, to kind of fill out the roster. But we'll see if the plan works. I respect it. And Singleton, by the way, 50 catches for 877 yards last year. They're leading receiver USF and four of their top five receivers all there. The only one who didn't come is Rubin and he graduated. He was done. So otherwise, he would have come. But And I got to watch in this is Jeremiah Cogor to me. So, you know, obviously, when all the South

11:29Florida stuff was happening, I'm watching their tape a good bit, right? And I keep seeing Cogor make all these plays. And I just assumed that he was an upper classman and he is not. He's a young guy. I think Albert hasn't listed as a sophomore. So a name to watch. I think he can be a star if this whole transition works and this offense works at Auburn. I think Jeremiah Cogor will be a big piece of this. I mean, and the other thing that jumps out to Zach is Singleton or Cogor 15.7 yards per catch. Singleton 17 yards per catch. Chas Nimrod 20 yards per catch. You're talking big plays down field. No, again, against SEC DBS might be a little bit different, but it's a high flying offense. They scored a ton of points. And if anything, if you're an opera fan, that's got to excite you that, look, I don't know how many games we're going to win, but at least the offense will be entertaining after the crap we've had to watch the last two years. It's been abysmal. I mean, the lack of offensive products has been atrocious. And then it was

12:32some sick joke that we kind of actually had an offense now that the season was lost after Hugh Freeze got fired and they totally ruined the thing. And it's like, we could have had this all along. What's going on? But yeah, no, very excited for the offensive philosophy, the veer and shoot and all that. It should be fun. Last thing, if I say, Zach, I'm looking at my crystal ball at the end of this year, it is Byron Brown, who leads the SEC in passing and touchdowns. On a scale of, I'm super crazy. What number would you give that take? I mean, is it would it shock you? Can I alter it some? Do you mind if I alter that statement a little bit? Sure. Instead of total, like passing yards, guys, two total yards from Scrimmage. Can I alter that a little bit? Throw in rushing in there too? I don't think that'll be crazy. I don't think that'll be crazy. What's the scale you gave me? Tens, tens absurd to say again, like how shocking would that be? I'd be a little surprised, but I don't think it's the craziest like

13:35I don't think it could be the craziest thing in the world. Yeah, I would say I'd be moderately to not super shocked. Yeah, it's, look, again, it's the unknown. I mean, we talk about the quarterbacks we do know archmaning. We know what Texas is getting in him. We know what Oklahoma's getting in John Matier. Like, we have all these knowns coming back. Marso Reed at A&M, but like between, and this is interesting because I talked about CBS Sports had the piece of yesterday that, you know, two of the top five quarterbacks of, you know, new transfers that they have a Sam Levitt at LSU. They had him number four, and they had Byron Brown at number five at Auburn. And it's like people keep asking me, Zach, what do you think Sam Levitt's going to be at LSU? What do you think? This was a joke, by the way. I don't know. A little show on that list, total. Because it was ranking off of fit. Yeah, fit their new location. And I'm like, Byron's, it's the same fit. Right. What are you ranking? It's a good point. You want to mess the maker at one, which is what they had. Like, that's fine. Similar deal. Okay.

14:37And translating to the big 12 defenses aren't going to be as tough. Like I get that. That's fine. But to put Byron at five when you're ranking fit, that was absurd to me. But the point being with Levitt and Byron Brown, it's just the two unknowns of like, I don't know what they're going to be. Like I said, you could tell me Sam Levitt is going to lead the SEC in passing. Great. You could tell me Byron Brown's going to do a great. I just, we don't know until we see it. Yeah. Yeah. And Sam Levitt thing, like I'm just not really hearing that much about is like the whole foot thing. Like that's not something that you can really rush back. And it sounds like it'd be super limited in spring. Different injury, but sounds similar to the DJ lagway thing a year ago. I don't wish that on Sam Levitt by any stretch of the imagination. But I do think it's weird that that's not being brought up at all. Well, I guess for LSU to they did get who saw Long Street, the five star from USC. So not a bad backup by option. Yeah. They go that route. And by the way, we're going to see these guys play each other. We're going to get Auburn and LSU back on the football field again.

15:40So that'll be, that'll be a fun one. Man, Auburn's got a lot of fun storylines this year. You know, the first SEC game is them hosting Florida, which you know, they had all that drama of you know, Auburn thought, you know, they were going to get, you know, the guy who ended up going to Florida from two lane, which is, which is interesting. And then, you know, Vandy's the next game where it's like, all right, you know, Diego Pavia was the Auburn killer for so long. Can they kind of get back to beating Vanderbilt now that Diego Pavia's gone? They go to Oxford, which would have been really interesting if it was Doose Knight. But it appears that it will be Trinidad Jamblis at this point. And then yeah, they host LSU. I mean, there's a lot. There's a lot of stories. Arkansas comes to Auburn and so your silver field when he was at Memphis kind of consistently got the better part of a goalish at USF. And now, you know, it can, can goalish repay that. I don't know. There's going to be a fun story line filled season regardless of how things

16:41turn out. The only thing we all see is you and LV on the schedule with Jackson Arnold. That would, that would have been a fun one. He was eight on that list that we were just talking about. Well, I didn't go fast. Well, we'll see Dan Mullin doing pretty good down there. That's all I love. I always love SEC coaches. I always see the, like, SEC coaches who fail, but then bounce back somewhere else. Watch Billy Napier. Be awesome. James Madison. You know what I mean? Yeah, Brad Bealum is getting it done. Yeah. Sure. He's doing well. He is that blogger. Be locked on Auburn. Zach always appreciate the time. Thanks, buddy. Thank you to Chris Gordy over at Lockdown, SEC. Thanks for making Lockdown Auburn your first listens. Make locked on SEC and Chris Gordy your second listen. Every single day. Please like the video, please subscribe. We'll see you next time. This has been Lockdown Auburn. lockdown Auburn.