Auburn football: 5 breakout players to watch in 2020

Which five players on the Auburn football team could have breakout seasons?

Assuming we have college football this season, the Auburn football team could make some noise.

The Auburn Tigers are one of six teams in the SEC that have a realistic shot at winning the conference title bout. Auburn is well coached defensively by defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Every so often, the Tigers will put it all together offensively under head coach Gus Malzahn, and then, something magical happens down on The Plains. 2020 is a weird year anyway, so why not?

Auburn seems to have a strong up-and-coming quarterback in legacy Bo Nix. As a true freshman, he defeated the arch rival Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl. Though the Tigers lost a good bit of talent defensively to the NFL, a few lucky breaks could have the team among the very best in the SEC this year. They can make their first trip to the College Football Playoff in school history.

For any of that to happen, Nix must progress as a passer in his sophomore season, as well as several other players around him step up in a big way. The good news is Auburn tends to recruit well under Malzahn, so a reload of sorts is never out of the realm of possibility. Depending on how the revised 10-game SEC schedule shakes out, Auburn can go 9-1, reach Atlanta and win the SEC.

Look for any of these players to break out for Auburn football in 2020.

One player who everybody is rooting for is redshirt junior offensive tackle Brodarious Hamm. As a sophomore in high school, he tore his ACL. Back in 2016, Hamm was diagnosed with cancer. He overcame that, but the personal tragedy continued. He and his wife Kayla’s infant son Karter passed away unexpectedly. Yet, Hamm continues to persevere though adverse circumstances.

Hamm was a three-star recruit out of Griffin, Georgia in the 2016 recruiting class. At 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, Hamm saw a good bit of action last season as a swing tackle. Now entering his redshirt junior year, it is time for Hamm to become a starter for the Tigers and help Auburn get back to the SEC Championship.

Size, strength and adaptability are great traits Hamm possesses, but mental toughness is clearly his greatest strength. He may not have been a blue-chip prospect coming out of Spalding High School, but he’s ready to be a big reason why Auburn can have a great 2020 season against only SEC competition. It may be a weird year, but Hamm can handle anything that is thrown his way.

Auburn has had plenty of excellent offensive linemen in recent years, but they haven’t had a road grader on the outside as prolific as what Greg Robinson was for them in 2013. Hamm may not be what Robinson was in that special year, but if he keeps Nix upright and opens up lanes in the ground game, he’ll have that breakout year we’ve all been waiting to see out of him for some time.