Auburn Tigers: The Byrum Brown Year

Byrum Brown is one of the most exciting quarterbacks I have ever seen. I was watching him at USF, and an announcer called him a fullback who throws. It’s not an exaggeration. He’s listed at 6’3”, 230 pounds, and he looks for hits. He’s able to get his tall frame down low to gain leverage. He reminds me of Cam Newton.

Alex Golesh, Auburn's newly minted Head coach who like Brown is coming over from sunny Suuth Florida, utilizes screens, Brown’s running ability, and their willingness to chuck the ball downfield to freeze defenses, keep them guessing, and create strange open pockets where wide receivers are just flat-out open — the kind you just don’t see very often.

In addition to Cam, Brown reminds me of Saquon Barkley. He’s tough and strong and can run for short yardage, but his superpower is second-level running. His shiftiness, agility, and speed allow him to take a 5-yard run and turn it into a 50-yard highlight reel. And if you actually catch him — good luck — because he’s going to connect with his inner fullback, treat you like you stole his lunch money, and make you second-guess football as your career choice.

He uses his running ability as a planned, featured asset. That sets up screens and deep shots down the field, taking advantage of one-on-one coverage. Nimrod, coming over from USF, already has chemistry with him on deep balls. Brown throws it with enough air underneath the ball to allow Nimrod to create separation. While I have not seen Brown execute a lot of timing throws or consistently go through a four-progression read, he created a dynamic home-run-or-strikeout offense.

The Question:

When Auburn faces the mammoth defensive lines of the SEC, will they be able to create consistent running lanes for Brown?

There’s a new offensive line, and even with two carryovers from USF, there isn’t obvious premium talent there. Really, you can boil this season down to that. If Alex Golesh can get this O-line cohesive and functional against top-tier SEC fronts, Auburn could be a playoff team. If not, it’s going to be an up-and-down year.

And that’s why this season matters so much...

Because 2027 might actually be harder for Auburn than 2026. The USF transfers that Golesh brought over with competitive experience will mostly be gone. Auburn will be more reliant on younger players and portal swings without real reps or team chemistry. So while an 8–4 season in Year 1 would get praise as a “great turnaround,” I actually think that might be missing the window.

This is the year they need to push for the CFP. Not just for fans and donors — but so players start recognizing Auburn as a destination.

Ten wins feels like the magic number.

And the schedule is brutal.

The Defining Four

There are four pretty clear losses on paper:

Georgia

LSU

Ole Miss

Alabama

Auburn most likely needs 10 wins, they have to steal two.

You’ll be hard-pressed to convince me Georgia is one of them. The Bulldogs are a juggernaut. Gunner Stockton isn’t flashy, but he’s reliable, and Kirby Smart won’t put him in bad positions. Georgia’s roster and structure are too stable. That feels like a loss.

LSU? I’m buying the $40 million roster. Lane Kiffin stepping into the biggest spotlight of 2026 doesn’t scare me — I actually think pressure sharpens him. They brought in Leavitt, Jordan Seaton, and Princewill Umanmielen. It’s loaded. It’s also new. But I think in Year 1 they simply out-talent Auburn.

Trinidad Chambliss is officially coming back, and that swings what could have been a win for Auburn into a really tough one. Chambliss is good enough to maximize what they have. That game probably flips from an Auburn win to a loss because of him.

Which brings us to Alabama. Alabama is putting an extreme amount of faith in Austin Mack or Keelon Russell. Neither has real experience. And experience is becoming the new currency in high-level college football. It’s arguably negligent to start a quarterback in the SEC without 300 FBS attempts. We’re seeing too many teams rely on first-time starters.

But even if they steal Alabama, they still need one from LSU or Ole Miss. And that’s the tightrope.

Game-by-Game Reality

The season likely starts fast.

Baylor at home is an early trench test. If Auburn can run the ball there, that’s a good sign. Auburn starts 1–0.

Southern Miss doesn’t have the horses and has had heavy roster turnover. Auburn moves to 2–0.

Florida is rebuilding under Jon Sumrall. Not this year. 3–0.

Vanderbilt is building something real with Clark Lea and Jared Curtis, but probably a year early. Auburn to 4–0.

At Tennessee is the first real swing game — at Neyland, with 100,000 out-of-their-mind Volunteer fans. I don’t think Joey Aguilar will have the same luck that Trinidad Chambliss had, which likely means a young quarterback on the other side. If Auburn can grind it down and lean on Brown, that’s the type of ugly road win that defines a season. I think they get it. 5–0.

Then Georgia likely hands them their first loss. 5–1.

LSU at home — the roster gap shows. 5–2.

Ole Miss is the swing game of the season. If they win, they’re a CFP team. If they lose, they probably just miss it. We’re going to predict a triple-overtime loss here to make it as hard as possible for the committee. 5–3.

Arkansas and Mississippi State don’t have the quarterback stability to keep up. Auburn takes both and moves to 7–3.

Samford is essentially an unofficial bye week. 8–3.

Which brings us to Alabama. We’re going to put our faith in a desperate Auburn team that will have everything in front of it. If they beat an Alabama team breaking in a young quarterback — and possibly dealing with major internal pressure — Auburn closes the regular season 9–3.

The Bottom Line

This entire season hinges on one thing: Can Auburn run the ball against elite SEC defensive lines? Because if they can, Byrum Brown becomes a nightmare in space with second-level explosions and deep shots downfield. I don’t think this is a long-runway rebuild. I think this is a window year. An 8–4 season will get applause. But 10–2 changes perception. And if Byrum Brown stays upright and the line holds up just enough, Auburn might be closer to that number than people think.