Morrison writes that, in addition to losing Newton, Gene Chizik will be forced to replace 23 players due to expiring eligibility, as well as their top defensive player, Nick Fairley, and leading receiver the past two seasons, Darvin Adams, who left early for the NFL draft. Noy to mention, the "incident" last week in which four Auburn players were arrested and charged with multiple offenses related to an apparent armed robbery, leading to the dismissal of the entire quartet. One of those players, safety Mike McNeil, was a starter for the last seven games in 2010.
Statistically, there’s quite a bit of production that’s gone out the door for one reason or another.
The Tigers are losing 98 percent of their passing and nearly half of their rushing – most of that coming in the form of Newton – along with about two-thirds of their receiving.
Six of their top seven tacklers are gone, players who accounted for 40 percent of the Tigers’ stops last year, along with their top two sack men and the three players that tied for the team lead in interceptions.
Auburn will be forced to replace 20 players who started a total of 224 games in 2010. Not included in that total, and as noted by Morrison, the Tigers will also have to replace their kicker, punter and holder.
There’s little doubt Chizik has landed a couple of very impressive recruiting classes during his first two years on "The Plains". However, losing that much talent from one year to the next does not exactly scream "repeat"
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