lead running back? Roster depth

[aubiefifty 18,231]

montgomeryadvertiser.com

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

8-10 minutes

AUBURN — College football teams face uncertainty before every season. There are always questions to answer. Auburn certainly has them.

Who will be the lead running back now that JaTarvious Whitlow is gone? Which players will fill the four open starting jobs on the offensive line? How will the defensive line make up for the losses of four-year stalwarts Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson?

But all those questions pale in comparison to the one currently facing not only Auburn and the SEC, but every team in every Power 5 conference — will there be college football this season?

The answer to that question, right now, is different depending on what conference a school is in. The MAC became the first FBS league to cancel fall sports due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns on Saturday. The Mountain West did the same on Monday and the Big Ten became the first Power 5 domino to fall on Tuesday. There's a feeling that the Pac-12 might follow.

The SEC, though, appears to be sticking firm to its plan to start a 10-game, conference-only schedule on Sept. 26 — for now, at least. "We know concerns remain. We have never had a FB season in a COVID-19 environment,” commissioner Greg Sankey tweeted. “Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying."

MORE:Unlikely SEC will play football if all other conferences cancel season

Chancellors, athletic directors and coaches from programs across the league — including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee — spoke out in support of the #WeWantToPlay movement on Monday, one week before the schedule start of fall camp. Auburn didn’t use its social media platforms to say anything, but Bo Nix did.

“Thanks to the support of the ENTIRE Auburn administration, we are safer playing a football season,” the starting quarterback wrote on Twitter. “We have worked our entire lives to get to where we are now. Don’t let it go to waste. We need football. Listen to the players.”

Even if the SEC can move forward with a football season amid a pandemic, COVID-19 will be a significant factor. And not just because of the inherent health risks — reserve defensive back Traivon Leonard said the virus made it “extremely hard to get out of bed,” and ESPN reported Monday that the newest concern is that it can lead to Myocarditis, a potentially fatal heart condition.

On Friday, the SEC announced a series of health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus. They include two COVID-19 tests per week for all football players and coaches, typically on Sundays and Wednesdays, with a third test possibly being added closer to game days if one that provides rapid results becomes available.

They also include the same quarantine guidelines recommended by the NCAA’s return-to-sport guidelines — 10 days for a positive test and 14 days for anyone who was in close contact (more than 15 minutes within six feet) with someone who tested positive.

That means players could potentially miss two consecutive games, even if they’re asymptomatic. Possibly more if they do suffer from symptoms and need time to get back up to speed physically.

Depth is always important in college football, but it may be more important than ever if a season does happen this fall.

Fortunately, Auburn has it at a lot of positions on the roster. Let’s split them into three categories:

Great depth

Quarterback — Auburn had only Cord Sandberg behind Nix after Joey Gatewood left the program last October. Now, it has Sandberg and three others. There’s Bowling Green graduate transfer Grant Loy, who completed 56% of his passes for 1,478 yards and six touchdowns last season; Caylin Newton, younger brother of Cam, who is being listed as a wide receiver but was an electric playmaking quarterback at FCS Howard; and Chayil Garnett, a three-star true freshman.

Defensive line — Brown and Davidson will not be easy to replace, but Rodney Garner will not lack options. Big Kat Bryant, T.D. Moultry, Daquan Newkirk, Tyrone Truesdell, Coynis Miller Jr., and Derick Hall are back; Jaren Handy and Colby Wooden are in line for larger roles in their second seasons; JUCO additions Dre Butler and Marquis Burks provide an immediate influx of experience; and four-star signees Jay Hardy and Zykeivous Walker were two of the highest-rated defensive linemen in the 2020 recruiting class.

Linebacker — This position took a hit when senior Chandler Wooten decided to opt out of the season over health and safety concerns, but Travis Williams’ group is still incredibly deep. Senior K.J. Britt was a first-team All-SEC selection last season; Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe were breakout young stars; and a talented trio of four-star freshmen (Wesley Steiner, Desmond Tisdol and Cam Riley) give the Tigers plenty of options to fill in the gaps.

Enough depth

Running back — D.J. Williams, Shaun Shivers, Mark-Antony Richards, Tank Bigsby and Harold Joiner give Auburn a good number of options, but there is very little experience at the position at the position without Whitlow, Kam Martin and Malik Miller. Williams is the team’s leading returning rusher after totaling 400 yards last season, and Richards and Bigsby have still never been through a full college practice.

H-back/tight end — Like running back, there isn’t much experience at these spots. But between veteran John Samuel Shenker, redshirt freshmen Luke Deal and Tyler Fromm, and true freshmen Brandon Frazier and J.J. Pegues, the Tigers have a lot more depth there than they’ve had the past few seasons.

Defensive back — Auburn lost four last year’s top eight players in the secondary, but it returns starting nickelback Christian Tutt and feels good about Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood stepping in to start at safety and Roger McCreary rising up to the No. 1 cornerback spot. Veteran Jordyn Peters; returning reserves Nehemiah Pritchett, Zion Puckett and Jaylin Simpson; and true freshmen Eric Reed Jr., Ladarius Tennison and Chris Thompson Jr. will help fill out the rotation.

Questionable depth

Wide receiver — The Tigers have an outstanding returning trio in Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove, who combined to catch 137 passes for 1,591 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. But with Will Hastings, Sal Cannella, Jay Jay Wilson, Marquis McClain, Jashawn Sheffield and Zach Farrar gone, and Matthew Hill now listed as a defensive back, the rest of Auburn’s wide receivers combined for just two receptions ;ast season (both by Shedrick Jackson). The freshman group of Ja’Varrius Johnson, Elijah Canion, Ze’Vian Capers, J.J. Evans and Kobe Hudson will need to get up to speed and contribute quickly. Maybe Newton, too.

Offensive line — This has been the biggest question on Auburn’s roster since January. Starting center Nick Brahms is back, but he’s the only one. First-year position coach Jack Bicknell Jr. has a ton of options — led by returning reserves Brodarious Hamm, Austin Troxell, Tashawn Manning, Alec Jackson and Keiondre Jones; JUCO additions Kilian Zierer and Brenden Coffey; and Akron graduate transfer Brandon Council — but this is going to be a brand new unit, and chemistry will be key.

It may seem crass to analyze a football roster in terms of which positions are most likely to be able to handle losing players to quarantine. But that may be a fact a life for SEC teams this season if it does take place. Multiple Power 5 programs have had to quarantine double-digit players or even their entire team because of positive COVID-19 tests, and that was during the summer when most campuses were empty. Auburn is prepared to welcome 30,000 students back this week before classes begin Monday.

The hope, of course, is that the safety and testing protocols put in place by SEC programs will limit that number of positive cases. That’s part of the #WeWantToPlay movement — players want to play because they love the game and have worked hard to get here, but also because there’s a belief that being in a team structure and on a schedule will motivate everyone to be as careful as possible off the field.

Still, there’s no way to make the game completely immune to COVID-19 outside a bubble, as shown by the MLB’s struggles early in its season. We may see teams take measures such as trying to keep players at the same position away from each other off the field, so if one tests positive, others won't be lost to quarantine.

If there is a football season this year, roster depth may be tested more than it ever has before.

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.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Questionable depth at OL? Did Bill Taylor enter the portal? 

[aubiefifty 18,231]

i have no idea who that is........

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

i have no idea who that is........

Lightest offensive tackle in the SEC in 50 years.

[Barnacle 9,107]

7 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

i have no idea who that is........

Only my man crush of the last two years, but don't worry about it fifty.

[gr82be 14,910]

13 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Questionable depth at OL? Did Bill Taylor enter the portal? 

Snap decision... Today's kids, everything is an impulse. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

11 hours ago, gr82be said:

Snap decision... Today's kids, everything is an impulse. 

I hope most people get this.

[gr82be 14,910]

4 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I hope most people get this.

Well I knew you would 👍