Projecting depth chart on defense, special teams

[aubiefifty 18,231]

montgomeryadvertiser.com

Projecting Auburn's depth chart on defense, special teams before the start of fall camp

7-9 minutes

AUBURN — In January, Auburn gave defensive coordinator Kevin Steele a three-year contract extension worth $2.5 million annually, which made him the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.

It would be hard to argue that he isn't worth it.

When Steele joined Gus Malzahn's staff following the 2015 season, the Tigers hadn't field a top-40 scoring defense in seven years. Since then, they have fielded a top-20 defense in four straight, allowing no more than 20 points per game in any of them.

That defense will look different in 2020. It won't have four-year defensive line standouts Derrick Brown or Marlon Davidson, who were first- and second-round NFL draft picks in April. It won't have starting defensive backs Noah Igbinoghene, Javaris Davis, Jeremiah Dinson or Daniel Thomas.

It also won't have senior linebacker Chandler Wooten or reserve defensive back Traivon Leonard, who both opted out of this season due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19.

MORE:Roster depth may be more important than ever if Auburn plays football this season

But that doesn't mean that expectations aren't still high entering the Tigers' 10-game, conference-only season, which the SEC still plans to start on Sept. 26 — of the 36 players listed below, 27 are four- or five-star recruits, and two of the three-stars will be starters.

Here's a projection of Auburn's depth chart on defense and special teams going into fall camp, which is scheduled to start Monday:

DEFENSIVE LINE

Buck

Derick Hall (So.)

T.D. Moultry (Sr.)

Colby Wooden (R-Fr.)

Romello Height (Fr.)

Defensive end

Big Kat Bryant (Sr.)

Jaren Handy (So.)

Zykeivous Walker (Fr.) OR Jay Hardy (Fr.)

Outlook: A different player will lead Auburn in sacks for the seventh straight season. No player has done it in back-to-back years since Dee Ford in 2012-13, and none will this year after the Tigers lost Davidson and his team-leading 7½ sacks to the NFL. The new leader of the pass rush should come from this group, which is incredibly deep but also young beyond its two seniors. Bryant led the team in hurries last season, just like Davidson did in 2018. He did that as the starter at Buck, but he has played defensive end before, and Hall and Moultry give the Tigers enough depth to move the senior there. But these two positions are often interchangeable, and Auburn has other options at defensive end, too — Walker and Hardy were top-101 recruits nationally in the 2020 class, and Davidson said he sees some of himself in Handy, who cut weight going into his sophomore season. Replacing Davidson, whose 51 career starts rank as the second-most in program history, won’t be easy, of course. But the pieces are there.

Defensive tackle

Daquan Newkirk (Sr.) OR Coynis Miller Jr. (Jr.)

Dre Butler (Jr.)

Defensive tackle

Tyrone Truesdell (Sr.)

Marquis Burks (Jr.)

Outlook: The only thing more difficult than replacing Davidson is replacing Brown, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and No. 7 overall NFL draft pick who will be remembered as one of the best defensive linemen in program history. Auburn returns Truesdell, who ably played the space-eating role beside him last season, but will need someone to step up in the pocket-pushing, playmaking role. Newkirk is healthy after missing much of the last two offseasons with Achilles injuries, which may pay huge dividends — defensive line coach Rodney Garner once said he “checks every box” for what you want in a defensive tackle. Teammates saw a more mature Miller in Year 2 last season, and he’s a former top-10 recruit at the position. The player to watch, though, might be the 6-foot-5, 304-pound Butler, who totaled 11½ sacks at Independence Community College last year.

LINEBACKER

Middle linebacker

K.J. Britt (Sr.)

Wesley Steiner (Fr.)

Kameron Brown (R-Fr.) OR Desmond Tisdol (Fr.)

Outside linebacker

Owen Pappoe (So.)

Zakoby McClain (Jr.)

O.C. Brothers (R-Fr.) OR Josh Marsh (So.)

Outlook: The Tigers' incredible depth at this position took a hit when Wooten opted out, but they still have a first-team All-SEC selection in Britt manning the middle and the incredibly talented young duo of Pappoe and McClain heading into their second seasons as key members of the rotation on the outside. Position coach Travis Williams likes to rotate four players, though, so the biggest question facing the Tigers here might be who will step up in place of Wooten behind Britt. It could be Steiner, the ultra-athletic, four-star true freshman ranked as the No. 7 inside linebacker recruit in the country.

SECONDARY

Cornerback

Roger McCreary (Jr.)

Jaylin Simpson (R-Fr.)

Devan Barrett (Sr.)

Cornerback

Nehemiah Pritchett (So.) OR Marco Domio (Jr.)

Eric Reed Jr. (Fr.)

Nickel

Christian Tutt (Jr.)

Jordyn Peters (Sr.)

Ladarius Tennison (Fr.)

Free safety

Smoke Monday (Jr.)

Zion Puckett (R-Fr.)

Matthew Hill (So.)

Strong safety

Jamien Sherwood (Jr.)

Chris Thompson Jr. (Fr.)

Malcolm Askew (Jr.)

Outlook: Auburn will have four new starters here after losing corners Igbinoghene and Davis and safeties Dinson and Thomas. It already knows for certain who three of them will be — McCreary will rise up to the top cornerback spot after being third at that position last season, and Monday and Sherwood will take over the safety roles after being key parts of the rotation the past two years. The key to determining the other two spots may be Tutt, the one returning starter — if he stays at nickel, the cornerback job opposite McCreary may come down to a battle between the sophomore Pritchett and JUCO addition Domio. If Auburn decides to try Tutt at cornerback, though, it could turn to the veteran Peters at nickelback, where he was once a key playmaker before battling through the effects of an offseason foot injury last year. Regardless of who starts, the Tigers will need some of those younger players, including the freshmen, to step into rotational roles immediately. It will be interesting to see if Hill can become part of that mix after moving over from wide receiver — the former four-star recruit was also a standout safety at Brookwood (Georgia) High.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Place-kicker: Anders Carlson (Jr.)

Punter: Aidan Marshall (Jr.) OR Oscar Chapman (Fr.) OR Crimmins Hankinson (So.)

Long snapper: Bill Taylor (Jr.)

Kick returner: Shaun Shivers (Jr.) AND Matthew Hill (So.)

Punt returner: Christian Tutt (Jr.)

Outlook: Two of these positions are certain. Carlson made 18 of 25 field goals last season and will be the place-kicker as long as he has that last name and is on campus. Tutt was electric as a punt returner last season, averaging 13.6 yards per attempt. The competitions will be at punter and kick returner. Shivers has a chance to take over for Igbinoghene at the latter spot after averaging 18 yards on four attempts last season, which leads all returning players. The competition at punter could be wide open between the former walk-on now back with the team, another Australian import and a graduate transfer from Gardner-Webb, respectively.

Josh Vitale is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshVitale. To reach him by email, click here.