AUBURN, Alabama—Brodarious Hamm knows all about overcoming adversity after going through cancer and the loss of a son recently. That’s why he sees big things coming from another player who has been dealt bad hand after bad hand in his football career, fellow offensive tackle Austin Troxell.

Injuring his knee for the first time as a junior in high school, Troxell has gone through three different knee surgeries in less than five years. The latest came last year and cost him the entire 2019 season.

Now back and working hard to win the starting left tackle job on the Auburn offensive line, Troxell is competing with Alec Jackson and Kilian Zierer early in camp and Hamm said he’s seen some really good things from his teammate already.

“One thing that stands out with Trox—well, there’s a lot of things that stand out with Trox,” Hamm said. “He comes to work every day. He never has a day where he’s just off. Trox, he has that chip on his shoulder. He has something to prove, that he can be a starter here at Auburn. “He’s a technician. He’s always coming to practice and doing the little things right. We missed the spring so he has to knock that little bit of rust off that all of us have right now, honestly.”

A player who has seen action at both guard and tackle in his career, Troxell’s versatility and experience are things that Hamm predicts will be important for the offensive line this season as they face a tough 10-game SEC schedule.

First, he will have to win the job in a battle that Hamm said should be one to watch for the Auburn offense in the preseason.

“It’s shaping up pretty good,” Hamm said of the competition. “We have a lot of guys trying to compete for the job. Every day is a grind. You just got to come to practice ready. You can’t have any off days. Myself included. You just got to be willing to work and do what the coaches say. Coaches aren’t going to lead you wrong, and they’re going to put the best guy at the position.”

Across the board there is going to be competition with junior center Nick Brahms the only returning player with offensive line starting experience in the Southeastern Conference. While the group needs plenty of seasoning, Hamm said he likes what he’s seen so far.

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“Over the last few days we’ve been out there just competing,” Hamm said. “Everybody’s hungry, everybody’s trying to get in the starting five. At the end of the day, the coaches have to play the best five, and I just feel like everyone has a chip on their shoulder, that, ‘I want to win this job and I want to do what’s best for the team.’ As long as everyone keeps that mindset I feel like we’re going to be pretty good this year.”

 

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