This year’s opening week on the college football schedule doesn’t have a kick-off classic type contest between traditional national contenders to get the season started, but Oregon at Auburn should be a pretty good consolation prize. In particular, you’ve got Oregon, which figures to be a prime contender in the PAC-12 going on the road against a quality SEC opponent with a chance to make an early season statement. It will also be a chance for Ducks’ QB Justin Herbert (#10, 6-6, 240) to make something of a statement for pro scouts. Indeed, at this time last year, Herbert was being talked about as a potential #1 pick overall at the 2019 draft; however, Herbert suffered through an up-and-down season last year that caused his grade to slip. In the end, Herbert, who has all the tools including a big arm and surprising athleticism, opted to return to school to polish his game and get back into the top 5 discussion.
Herbert, though, is not the only possible top 10 prospect for the upcoming draft as Auburn DT Derrick Brown (#5, 6-3, 320) is generally considered to be the top interior defensive line candidate in the country. Brown is a massive wide-body anchor who is tough to move off his spot on the defensive front; however, he’s also got a little quickness to his game and can also get into the backfield where he has posted 8.5 career sacks. Meanwhile, Oregon MLB Troy Dye (#35, 6-3, 230) is a tackling machine with over 300 career tackles to date. He’s not all that big, but is quick and instinctive and figures to be a mid-to-late second prospect.
Herbert also isn’t the only Duck with opening round potential. RT Calvin Throckmorton (#54, 6-5, 310), for example, is right there among this year’s very good OT class, while OG Shane Lemieux (#68, 6-3, 320) is also one of the leading prospects at his position. In fact, this game figures to be a must-see stop for NFL teams looking to upgrade their offensive lines at the upcoming draft as 9 of the 10 projected starters are seniors. That includes Auburn LT Prince Tega Wangoho (#76, 6-6, 305) and Oregon OG Dallas Warmack (#75, 6-2, 310), an Alabama transfer; both figure to be mid-round prospects next April.
In fact, both teams in this game have relatively experienced line-ups with a number of later round or free agent type prospects including Oregon WR Juwan Johnson (#3, 6-3, 230), a Penn State transfer, C Jake Hanson (#55, 6-5, 295), OT Brady Aiello (#66, 6-6, 310), DE Gus Cumberland (#45, 6-6, 260) and OLBs La’Mar Winston (#32, 6-2, 230) and Bryson Young (#56, 6-5, 250). Other Auburn players to watch include OGs Marquel Harrell (#77, 6-2, 310) and Mike Horton (#64, 6-3, 325), C Kaleb Kim (#54, 6-3, 300), RT Jack Driscoll (#71, 6-5, 300), WR Sal Cannella (#80, 6-4, 230), DE Marlon Davidson (#3, 6-3, 280) and safeties Jeremiah Dinson (#20, 5-11, 190) and Daniel Thomas (#24, 5-11, 210).
However, while both Oregon and Auburn are senior-laden teams, the player most likely to affect the outcome is true freshman Auburn QB Bo Nix (#10, 6-2, 210) who will start for the Tigers. Nix was a decorated recruit who threw for over 12,000 yards in high school, but this is still a huge step up. However, if he can handle the pressure this could be a really interesting early season game.
