VERY GOOD: SEC Writers DECLARES Byrum Brown a Top Three QB in the SEC

0:00It's so nice to have a totally different conversation about Auburn's quarterback situation that we have had in a long time. 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 in the Locked On Auburn, your daily Auburn Tigers podcast, I'm your host, Zach Blackerby. Thank you so much for making Locked On Auburn. Your first listen, every single day, Darrell Dappish Montgomery radio legend hanging out with us. Auburn hoops. They need to ball out tonight against Texas, big, important game, both teams feel good about themselves. The defensive line discussion I think is going to continue and it's not going to go away. We'll add to that in a moment, but Darrell, it's so nice. It's so refreshing to be able to have a different conversation about Auburn's quarterback situation

1:01with Byron Brown that we've had to with, with Jackson Arnold, with Peyton Thorne, and obviously preseason quarterback power rankings aren't the end all be all, but I thought this was interesting. Will Rosenblatt of LSU wire, so an LSU writer lays out and ranks all of the SEC quarterbacks has archmaning at one, training that shambles at two. That's fine. I think most people are going to have them in the top two spots, but that has Byron Brown at three above Sam Levitt, above Gunner Stockton at Georgia, above John Material at Oklahoma, above Marcel Reed at Texas A&M. Bryant Smith came on the show and kind of made that claim that he was a top three quarterback on the SCD. I got a lot of pushback. I kind of think you're going to see that opinion shared a lot throughout the offseason. Darrell. Yeah, I'm with you preseason rankings don't hold that much water or weight, except that when it came to rating Auburn's quarterbacks the last couple of times it did.

2:03They were extremely accurate and I was always kind of like, man, I would love to see Auburn have a quarterback that was preseason top five, top three where it was a known commodity where you had some encouragement, you had some hope and, you know, I remember us getting kind of excited that Jackson Arnold I think got to high as eight on one list and we were like, hey, if he could just be in the top half. So he's just average, which is average. That's still is correct. If he would have been just average, we might have gone, you know, nine and three for a while. So it's refreshing to get some hype and again, preseason hype does not equate to proof of concept on the field, except that again, these have been pretty accurate the last couple years, especially when it came to Auburn's quarterbacks. I think they probably had mature a little bit too high last year, but most of the time they've been pretty spot on. Of course, you don't understand no one saw what happened with Trinidad last year. They had Austin Simmons in there. So yeah, nice to not have to defend this, not have to try to speculate, nice to read

3:07this list to be honest with you and keep scrolling up, scrolling up, scrolling up, waiting. Yeah, I was thinking, okay, here comes no, another name, another name was sure that Marcel Reed first. Huh. Yeah. Okay, surely he's surely he's next. Nope. I mean, it was pretty cool. It was kind of a weird feeling. And I think the point that you make is the most valid one. Let's see how many people are like minded in this when it comes to preseason quarterback rankings when they do this because there's always that list that comes out three or four of those lists. So interesting, encouraging, and let's hope the trend continues with people properly evaluating Auburn quarterbacks, except this time to the good. Yeah, I hope so. I hope I mean, if Auburn has the number three quarterback in the SEC next year, I mean, goodness gracious. I mean, you talk about potential outside for this team. An LSU rider ranking Byron Brown ahead of Sam Levitt.

4:13I think I would rather as far as Auburn situation, I definitely would rather have Byron Brown. Same system, similar situation, all that stuff like that definitely makes sense. I don't think that's going to be I don't think that's going to be something that's echoed consistently. He'll be top four, top five by a lot of folks, almost by default, and just people don't like Marcel Reed. But I do think I do think a lot of people are going to have Sam Levitt, in my opinion, a little too high, but also he's going to be in a Lane Kiffin system where it's like, well, yeah, I mean, he's probably going to be probably going to play pretty good because Lane Kiffin quarterbacks do play pretty good. They do. He'll absolutely prosper there. And in this system, under this offensive coordinator and this head coach, I really like where Byron Brown sits and the fact that it's not an unknown commodity plane for a different offense with different terminology.

5:14So it's a good fit and I'm comfortable. And if you would have told me at the beginning of the year, this upcoming year, that Auburn's going to have a quarterback that's considered to be top five in the SEC, I take that all day and on Sunday. You would love to have that. So some of these are interchangeable. I'm like you. I'm a little bit confused as to why maybe Reed is where he is on this. But Lane Kiffin will make any quarterback, that's just he's a quarterback whisper. And of course, Archman came on late in the year and we also what Trinidad did. So it's, man, it's exciting. And yeah, I think they're interchangeable and I think they could go up or down a couple spots, but I'll take it all day. Yeah. My Monday morning show, Barrow was about like looking at all levels of football. If you get your head coach and you get your quarterback, typically everything else falls into place like that's where it needs to start.

6:15Yes, you need to block form. Yes, you need guys who can, you know, catch passes and make plays. Yes, you need a defense that can slow teams down. Of course, all that is obvious. But all that is more likely to fall into place if you nail the head coach situation and you nail the quarterback situation. And I feel very good. I feel so much, I feel differently about this quarterback situation than the previous ones just because we don't have to talk ourselves into it. We don't have to convince us. Well, painthorne two years ago was solid when he had NFL options and maybe he'll get that. But we're okay. Well, now we've got more receivers coming in. So we should be fine. Well, Jackson Arnold was really good come out of high school and he was at a terrible situation. We don't have to do that anymore. We could say, yeah, Byron Brown had one of the more productive seasons in the history of college football, very few people throwing for 3,000, rushing for 1,000. He's on that very prestigious list. Great. And he's in the same offense for the same head coach, same offense, a coordinator. Great. There's nothing we have to talk ourselves into.

7:17And I think that's a big, big deal. I think there's a lot of respect being shown here that I really, really appreciate. It's a different feeling. It's a new wave of people giving Auburn and it's coaching staff and it's players kind of the benefit of the doubt. A lot of times we saw other transfers come in and they would get automatically the benefit of the doubt. They would get this reputation thing that came with them. The fact that Byron Brown is getting this is some equity earned here. I think he's really encouraging and it's a nice change of pace. Yeah. That's a good point. And I agree. I agree. All right. One of the things Auburn does need to fall in place, defensive line. I mean, it seems you unanimously agreed upon. That's the biggest question about this roster. What's that mean? That's next right after this word from Mazda. Hi, everyone. I'm Clea Butler, host of Locked On Women's Basketball. And this is Mazda's Women's Basketball snapshot. Celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. The WMBA has released its 2026 schedule featuring a 44 game regular season beginning on Friday,

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9:26Mazda puts the same drive into every detail, wins to find the moment, putting in the work that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Quick note here shortly after this was recorded, the news of Dallas Walker's return happened. Yes, he got another year of eligibility from the NCAA. The news, I think was broken by on three. I saw Justin Hockinson boasting at first. Obviously, this is a big deal. Obviously, I'm going to keep the original conversation with me and DAP in. And we still have questions about the depth and veteran leadership. Dallas Walker coming back obviously helps a good bit of that. Did we still think more older guys would come in probably, probably, but this does impact the tone of the conversation, obviously. So now two seniors and this the interior defensive line room with Dallas Walker and then Cody

10:29Sigler, Saint Ferrier from AppState, a junior, and then you've got those four sophomores that we all think can take a next step with Buddy Mathis, junior, the transfer from Ella, Hugh Malik, Audrey Jordan Crawford, Darien Smith, and the Cory Wells, the true freshman. And Dave Young Branch, we'll see how both those guys fare, but wanted to leave the original conversation in because I still think defensive line is a question. It becomes less of a question now with Dallas Walker, but I still think a lot of the points, especially the past rush are still relevant. So I want to leave that in there, but you know, here's DAP and I continuing, go. Zach Blackerby, Darryl Dapperich, hanging out with us. Thank you for making a long time when you were first listen every single day. I haven't heard anybody that really pushes back on this that the biggest question on this roster is defensive line. There have been people say, yeah, I'm also concerned with blank, but nobody's really pushed back and said the biggest question isn't the defensive line.

11:35You and I did this a little bit last week as far as the level of concern. And is it important or is it interesting? And I do think there are guys who are able to step up, but I would like more sure things on this defensive front than they're currently are. Yeah, and I think it goes for both defensive lines comprised of edge and interior defensive line. And I think while there could be a little bit more of a quantity from an edge perspective when we throw JJ Falcon there, I don't know the quality level is obviously a concern. And then from an interior defensive line, getting siglar and some of these other guys, but they're just so unknown. It's just, you know, you worry about death, but you also worry about performance. I don't know what level of production these guys are going to give. And so when you, when it's a known, you know, a known quantity and you come back and, and you know what's coming back on your team and you've seen production, that's one thing.

12:37I don't know if Auburn has that and that's why I'm concerned. Yeah. Yeah. And they're similar situations are like you feel decent about the sophomores in both of these spots. D line, your sophomores, Walter Mathis, Buddy Mathis, Malik Audrey, Jordan Crawford, Darian Smith. And then a, and Smith may play both Smith may play some, some end as well. And then an edge like Jared Smith and we'll see what happens to Joe Phillips. The fact that the staff wanted him back, I think is interesting. It might be important. And then they've brought in some older guy. I do think I feel, I feel better about Cody Sigler being a much larger contributor and potential starter in the interior than I do with the senior edge guys that they brought in with the Sean Wilmak and Nate Johnson. And I'm not saying those guys can't take a step and can't fit into the system and all of that. But my thing is, edge rushing, like past rushing as a whole, that is a unit.

13:39You have to like create matchups for one another and then whoever has the weak link based off of the type of protection the opposing offense has, they've got to win. And I don't know if Auburn has that yet. The good news is there's so many guys that can step up. Jared Smith, I expect to be really good this year. Malik Autry can absolutely step up. Jordan Crawford can step up. I don't know how much of a pass rush or he'll be, but I definitely think he'll be effective in early downs, especially against the run. Buddy Mathis could be a candidate for that. You know, Darian Smith, we kind of saw glimpses of. So it's just, once again, I've said this a million times and we will continue to say a million times. There are guys who are in a prime spot to step up. But until they do that, it's just a big if. My concern is Auburn did has not a really good job in the last couple of years under Durkin replenishing a defensive line that quite honestly you and I went to a spring practice two years ago and there was somebody there that we respect that covers high school and college football and said that line looks like a high school line.

14:42Remember, I mean, and it was like there was concern. Yeah. And in the last two years, Auburn has really rebuilt that, reconstructed it. It was effective last year. But then just to your after after that comment, after that spring, they went on and added a bunch of guys. Right. I think I was like when they added Isaiah rakes and I'm trying to remember who else was. Was that bleeding? Did they had bleeding that year too possible? They did. They did. And I feel like there was somebody else. Well, they ordered a guy for that. They added a guy from Kansas who turned out to be not very effective. But yeah, they addressed it because there was two periods, two windows that you could go and they went and got more after that spring window now. You can't. But are the freshmen in sophomore a lot more ready to play now than they were two years ago because they're under darkened and the recruiting aspect, you know, upticked a little bit. We'll see. But it's still it's it's surpassed the offensive line for me as far as the biggest concern.

15:43And we'll see how it all plays out. But yeah, it I'm surprised that nothing has happened in the last week. I thought that and it still could. But I thought that probably as we were hearing all these transfer portal names coming fast and furious for Auburn, I thought over the last four or five days, you might see a couple more names added that were defensive linemen. And it didn't happen. And so that's where I think my concern ratcheted up a little bit. Yeah, because there was a point where everybody's saying, okay, like I like the young guys on the old line, the D line, but like we need some some age here. And then they did that on the offensive line. There's five seniors. I think they're all transfers. Yeah, all five of them transfers. Okay, cool. They did it there. I'm with you. I just expected that to eventually come for the D line and it and never happened. It just never happened. So we'll see there. I think there are some things that they can do from a scheme standpoint that we've talked

16:43about, Riddick at edge, you know, can they scoot, Darian Smith out, you know, consistently just to be an edge is set of, you know, maybe a three technique, which we saw him line up at edge some or it in some, do they blitz atkins more? I've talked to some folks that really think that's the plan. And you can do that to generate past rush. You can. Is that enough? Does that hinder you in coverage when you feel like you have the blitz to generate pressure? That's, I mean, that's just going to be the discussion we're going to have all summer and that crazy happens and that doesn't address the other side of that and that's stopping the run. I mean, that's one thing to talk about how you're going to generate past rush and could you get go scheme, but that's one side of the ball. What if you're getting it run down your throat and your defensive lineman out and there's no depth and their gas and it's fourth quarter? I mean, what do you do schematically? You walk safeties, safeties up to the line of scrim engine, all that walk linebackers up.

17:43I get that. Then you make yourself susceptible for play action and over the top. So there's a lot of what ifs and and I'm probably putting the cart before the horse, but there it's not just about past rush. It's about stopping the run when you need to stop the run too. And, you know, I would have liked to see in a couple more bodies that had experience playing at the collegiate level. Maybe they feel comfortable with what they have in that room already that kept them from going out and adding some more. And if they do, then maybe that's a good sign kind of kind of strangely. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with you. Auburn basketball. They've got a big one tonight. They've got a big one tonight as they host the Texas Longhorns. Both teams feeling really good about themselves. That's next right here unlocked on Auburn. Today's show brought to you by our friends at game time, game time is the best place to buy tickets. We're going to go to the Auburn basketball game tonight. Download the game time app. Use promo code locked on college, get $20 off your first purchase. It's so easy, Darryl. This is the only app I use to buy tickets, the only app you use to buy tickets.

18:46Don't overthink it. People. Absolutely. And again, I love those lightning deals. And I like where you can see exactly where you're sitting. And the biggest thing I like is the versatility of concerts, theater, sports. There's a lot of different events, and you can just have that one app for anything you want to go to entertainment wise. Take the guests. We're going to buying tickets with game time, download the game time app, green and account. Use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. That is code locked on for $20 off today. Today's show also brought to you by our friends at Fandall. Fandall is America's number one sports book. As we sit down to record this, Darryl, there's no line for Auburn. And Texas for basketball. But I imagine Auburn will be favored by four or five-ish points if you want to get it on the action. You could do that there. Also, the last time the bet on football this year, the Super Bowl, the Patriots, four and a half-point dogs against the favorite Seattle Seahawks, last time to get it on the

19:51actual football this season. So get in. If you're a new customer, bet just five bucks, get $200 in bonus bets if you win. Make it count because after the Super Bowl, the season is, it's over. Last call for football on Fandall, the official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 60, visit fandall.com to get started. Thank you so much for making locked on Auburn. You're first, listen, every single day. Texas feels good about itself for blasting Georgia, obviously Auburn feels good about itself for going down to Gainesville, getting that first win in Gainesville in 30 years. Very exciting stuff. I've said it a million times, they're like, it would be brutal to be on this emotional high and take this match up for granted and drop a game that you absolutely should win tonight. Man, I have said this for years and years and years. I have beat a dead horse no matter what team I've pulled for or whatever sport.

20:54When you go and do something that you're not expected to do, it's like, it's like putting money in the bank, it's like banking something. You don't want to make it with draw four days later and give it right back. And that's what'll happen because if you look at, let's just say last Friday, looking at the next five days of Auburn basketball, you probably take a split. You probably say, oh, there's going to be a split. You don't want the split to be getting the hard one out of the way. The historic one out of the way and then come back and have a let down and start feeling really, really good about yourself and comfortable and ease up and give back what you've gained. I think the way this team has won four out of its last five, the way Steven Pearl is wired, I think this team will come out and not play that way. I think they'll play like they lost that Florida game, like this is a desperation because Auburn's not 100% in the clear yet when I know all these projections come out, LaNardi

21:57and all these NCAA projections have them, some as high as a seventh seed, but all I can happen from now until March. So you're not, every win is crucial and every win at home, you've got to have it. So I think the coaching staff's probably imposing that same viewpoint on this team. And they're just playing better. And I think the way they're guarding and defending shows urgency, and I think you'll see that urgency tonight. Yeah, you need to and, you know, I don't really care where it comes from, it can come from Keishan, it can come from the hot, it can come from Murphy, it can come from Yovic, it can come from Sway, it doesn't matter. We've kind of grown across like most games, Keishan Hall is at least a big part of it. You know, it's been a minute since Overton's really popped, is it his turn? You know, like, this is a game that every metric points that it says Auburn should win, especially at home. And I like what you said, you know, it's, you don't want to go ahead and take a withdrawal

22:59when you made that unexpected deposit a few weeks ago. Last night I put up a few days ago, excuse me, last, last night I put up a crossover with BK Hostel Vlocked on Long Horns. We both picked a similar score. I think I had Auburn winning by six. I think I said 80 to 74. He said Auburn like 80, he said like low 80s to mid 70. It was pretty close. So what you're thinking, or do you, do you think it could be more lost on or even closer? Well, I think at one point, I want to preface before I say this is that, you know, the game that all, the last time Auburn was at home, they want a really ugly game and got a South Carolina that Hall did not play well at all. And I think it was very encouraging to me to see Auburn win that game despite Hall not having to get 12% from three in Yovic went off. So I think there's more depth now. I think they've settled into a lineup. I think at home, yeah, I see an eight to 10 point spread actually. I can see a game Auburn's guarding better. I see something like 78, 68.

24:00That'd be awesome. 78, 70, something like that. I think they're starting to defend like Auburn's reputation for guarding people. Yeah, yeah, heck of a job by Steven. One thing that BK mentioned, their coach, kind of Sean Miller, right? Like was, was discussing, there's a clip that went kind of viral about like, how they're just going to foul, no matter what. You know, he said he used, you know, different language than I just did. You know, with how Auburn's been, as far as one getting to the free throw line, but two, their execution and actually making free throws, which went a nice pivot from the start of the year, wouldn't it be shocked if that was a big part of this game and kind of what put Auburn over the top? I mean, that, if you decide to do that at your own peril, go ahead, Sean Miller. I mean, I think you don't want to put Auburn at the free throw line 30 to 35 times. I don't think they're going to, you know, they missed 12 free throws in two consecutive, separate games this year against Houston and against Georgia, both of those games, not at home at Auburn's gym.

25:04So I think they're a little bit better at home from the free throw line. If you put Auburn at the free throw line 35 times, and if they only make 25, a 35, those 25 points you're giving up, going to be hard to come up with, especially with the way they've been playing in the paint and the points in the paint. So stick to the same formula. I don't, I don't think that would be a very smart strategy for Sean Miller. If they did that, especially the way Hall is really good at hitting free throws and, and to haunt typically. Well, and just for clarification, Darryl, I think he was saying, like, out of frustration is like, we foul everybody. Like, I wish we could. Oh, I got you. I thought that was his strategy was we're going to go in and foul and create, put them on the line and make his beat them from the free throw line. Yeah, if I miss said that, I apologize. No, no, he was, he was kind of describing it as frustrated. He got it a little bit of a rant, yeah. The thing about that, though, that's interesting. Is sometimes when a coach uses that kind of psychology and puts that out there, the players hear that and start to become a little less aggressive defensively. Please.

26:04And if that happens because they're like consciously trying not to foul, they heard what their coach said. And then there's the blowbys that happen then. That'd be awesome. Yeah, that'd be a great situation to be. I get what he's doing and I get he's sending something, a message through the media to his team, but it can backfire sometimes. Agreed. Darrell Dapper, talk to people, check out everything you've got going on. Wednesdays and Fridays, post game lives. I'll be live tonight from Neville, arena right when the game's over. I'll be jumping in the barncast at halftime as well. So look forward to that. A lot going on over the next week. Yeah, please like the video. Please subscribe. We'll see you next time. This has been locked on Auburn.