Auburn QB Byrum Brown Gives Optimistic Perspective on Offensive Line's Development

A team can sometimes only go as far as the trenches take them, and for Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown, there’s a chance for that group to lead by example.

Despite being only two days into the Tigers’ fall camp experience, the USF transfer has already seen the strides that his offensive line has been making since the spring, especially with a few pieces back from the previous months with injury.

Brown had plenty of praise for his protection over the last two practice periods.

“Like, they gave me plenty of time, especially the first two days,” he said on Thursday. “All of them are healthy, all of them are communicating on the o-line, like you could see it before the play’s happening.”

One of the best qualities of a player is their ability to take criticism. Brown’s group is constantly doing so, following head coach Alex Golesh’s emphasis on being a team that talks. Even if the quarterback has had plenty of time, the offensive line has continued to ask what to do better.

"They’re coming out to me. ‘How’s the protection? How is everything, good?’” Brown recalled. “So, they want to protect me, want to help get this offense going because they’re the main catalyst.”

That, of course, begins with the center, and fellow USF transfer Cole Best embodies what a leader on the line is. Brown and Best have picked up right where they left off from their time in Tampa with Golesh, and his experience has helped the rest of the group learn and grow into the Auburn head coach’s system.

“I call him ‘Cap,’” Brown said. “He takes care of everything, left, right, got the guys on one accord. He’s the same guy every day. He’s not going to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself.”

While Brown said that his line was healthy, the Tigers will be without lineman Tai Buster for the first half of the season due to injury. On the other hand, he returned two transfer tackles, Stanton Ramil and Jacob Strand. Coming from Michigan State and Oregon State, respectively, the duo has had to wait in the wings while recovering from their respective injuries.

Now, they’re back on the field, and Brown saw how much they were taking note on Golesh’s offensive scheme in their first months on the Plains.

“They’ve been really good,” he said. “They were obviously locked in spring, weren’t allowed to take any reps, but you can see that their hard work and dedication in the film room has translated out into the field.”

With how Golesh wants to run the football in 2026, the offensive line will need to be fundamentally sound to do so. Brown has given some optimism for that to be the case as the Tigers go to Atlanta to face Baylor to open the season in under a month now.

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