Auburn Stock Report: QB Play on the Rise

The Auburn Tigers season opener against Baylor revealed a thing or two about this team’s identity

While defense didn’t look too great, quarterback play certainly did for Auburn | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers took down the Baylor Bears 38-24 to pick up a power conference win to start the season.

With the game in the rear view mirror, it’s time to see which stocks are on the rise and which ones are bear.

Stock Up - Special Teams

Baylor cut into Auburn’s two-touchdown advantage late in the third quarter on a 10-play 75-yard drive making it 24-17. That’s when newcomer Rayshawn Pleasant made a huge impact in his first game in an Auburn uniform. The junior return specialist fielded the kickoff at the two-yard line, ran up the middle and bounced left. From there Pleasant was able to run between a pair of tacklers and out-race the rest down the left sideline for a 98-yard touchdown, extending Auburn’s lead back to 14 at 31-17.

Pleasant was also one of a large quantity of players to get snaps on the defensive side, playing cornerback behind Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee. Pleasant scored on two kickoff returns last year at Tulane, and didn’t disappoint in his Auburn kick returning debut.

Special teams were costly for the 2024 Auburn Tigers in several games, but the 2025 opener was a solid performance all the way around. Alex McPherson, battling continuous stomach issues over the last two years, was 1-1 on field goals, a 21-yarder early in the game.

None of Hudson Kaak’s punts were returned. The biggest special teams gaffes of the night were a pair of illegal formations on punts, and allowing a 33-yard kickoff return.

With more depth, more talent, more athletes, and the possibility of a healthy season for McPherson, Auburn’s special teams are surely upgraded from a year ago.

Stock Down – Linebacker, Nickel, and Safety

Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson hardly picked on Jay Crawford, Lee, Pleasant and Raion Strader and the Auburn cornerbacks on the outside, yet he was able to put up 419 yards in the air and three touchdowns without an interception.

The middle of the field for Auburn was weak. Whether it was the linebackers, safeties, nickelbacks, Baylor’s slot receivers were open over the middle of the field over and over and over and over. It’s not as if any one person was being picked on. Simply put, Auburn’s coverage in the middle of the field was consistently not good no matter the matchup. Roberston completed 27-48 passes, and about 20 of those completions were over the middle of the field.

Stock Up – Defensive Line Depth

Along the defensive line Auburn played 13 guys by my unofficial count at the defensive end, nose tackle, defensive tackle, Buck positions. Whether that was due to the heat of August in Waco, the interest in the development of young players, or that many guys being deserving and able to contribute, 13 is a large number and great for the future.

Keldric Faulk got his fair share of rest, but was dominant when he was on the field. He moved his tackle deep into the backfield, got pressures on Robertson, made run stops, had a solo sack in the fourth quarter, had a batted ball in the first half, and proved his worthiness as a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft as a third-year junior.

Amaris Williams, Malik Blocton, Chris Murray, Keyron Crawford were all active as well, but none were able to get to Robertson quick enough before someone was open over the middle throughout the game. Zykeivous Walker, Dallas Walker, Bobby Jamison-Travis, Jay Hardy got their snaps, so did four true freshmen -- Jourdin Crawford, Malik Autry, Jared Smith and Darrion Smith.

Pass rush pressure has to get better, but it wasn’t bad enough to be the primary cause of 419 passing yards given up.

Stock Up – Jackson Arnold as a Dual Threat

Auburn’s rushing attack accounted for 307 yards (of the 415 yards total offense), which will win you games 90% percent or more of the time. One-hundred thirty-seven of those came from Jackson Arnold, making his first start in an Auburn uniform. Half of those yards came in the first half mostly on designed pass plays, while Arnold’s runs and yardage in the second half were on mostly designed runs.

Arnold scored on a 24-yard rush in the first quarter on a play that looked to be designed to throw to Eric Singleton out of the backfield in the left flats. Arnold’s other touchdown run was a run design in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-short situation where he faked the handoff to Singleton, got greak blocking from the tight ends and O-line, and ran untouched off left tackle.

Perhaps just as important in the grand scheme of a long season, Arnold avoided hits while leading the team in rushing, going 16 times for 137 yards and the two scores. Arnold was hit and fumbled in the second quarter on a pass play, but otherwise managed to slide, run out of bounds, or find the end zone.

Stock Down – Auburn’s Drop-Back Passing Game

Being hyped as one of the elite receiving groups in college football with a new QB in Arnold and new transfer tackles in Xavier Chaplin and Mason Murphy, Auburn’s pass game on Friday night in Waco left much to be desired.

The highlights of the night were few and far between. Malcolm Simmons caught a 26-yard pass up the seem in the first quarter. Cam Coleman caught a 23-yarder on a deep cross in the second quarter. That was about the extent of the excitement in the passing game. Horatio Fields caught an important hitch in the fourth that converted on third down, but it’s hard to find much to be excited about there.

However, Baylor played with safeties over the top all night long. The Bears were playing to not get beat over the top, and the result was Auburn gaining 307 yards on the ground with no turnovers for the game. Solid win in week 1 – much to build on, much to improve on.