What we learned from 1st week of fall camp

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What we learned from Auburn's 1st week of fall camp

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

7-8 minutes

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Auburn wrapped up its first week of fall camp with the first of four scheduled scrimmages this preseason, and head coach Gus Malzahn was pleased with what he saw on the field after such a prolonged time away from it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The team practiced in Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time Saturday and ran a 92-play scrimmage that also included live special teams work. The Tigers plan to scrimmage each of the next three Saturdays, according to Malzahn, before taking it easy on the final weekend of the preseason leading up to the opener Sept. 26 against Kentucky.

“Overall, I thought it was a good first scrimmage,” Malzahn said. “Gave our coaches a really good idea of where our players are at. I did see that just overall, the players were trying to do what was asked, pushing through. It was really good to be out there. It was really an overall positive scrimmage. No major injuries or anything like that. The first Saturday was good.”

The first scrimmage of fall is traditionally a basic one, as far as the offense and defense go, and Saturday’s was no different. There weren’t many big plays, and it was a relatively low-scoring affair inside Jordan-Hare Stadium as Auburn rotated three groups—in line with Malzahn’s desire to establish a three-deep depth chart this fall.

“Obviously, we’ve only been practicing for four days so there wasn’t a whole lot of special-type plays, or defenses or offenses or anything like that,” Malzahn said. “It was just an evaluation scrimmage of where we’re at. You’ve got to keep in mind, we haven’t been out on that football field since Jan. 1. So it was really good for our coaches to see where we’re at.”

Offensively, Auburn had five quarterbacks get some reps during the scrimmage, with Bo Nix running the first-team offense and then grad transfer Grant Loy and redshirt sophomore Cord Sandberg each getting “quite a few reps.” Freshman Chayil Garnett and redshirt freshman walk-on Trey Lindsey each saw some opportunities as well, according to Malzahn.

At running back, the Tigers divvied up carries almost evenly among four of the five backs vying for the starting job. Sophomore D.J. Williams, who was seen on Monday in an orange non-contact jersey, was held out of the scrimmage, but Malzahn said he expects the team’s leading rusher to return fully next week.

That means junior Shaun Shivers, redshirt sophomore Harold Joiner, redshirt freshman Mark-Antony Richards and true freshman Tank Bigsby all split reps in the backfield on Saturday. Richards continues to draw praise this preseason as he works his way back from a leg injury that sidelined him throughout the 2019 season. The talent is there, and it’s evident, according to Malzahn; it’s just a matter of Richards, a former top-100 recruit nationally, getting the reps to get comfortable again on the field.

Perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway from the scrimmage offensively was the usage of the tight ends. Malzahn said Auburn’s tight ends combined for four or five receptions during the scrimmage. That’s more catches than Auburn had at the position for the duration of last season, when John Samuel Shenker finished the year with three receptions for 21 yards.

It’s arguably the biggest change to expect from Auburn’s offense this season under new offensive coordinator and play-caller Chad Morris.

“He likes to throw to the tight end, utilize 11 personnel, utilize 12 personnel, which has two tight ends,” Malzahn said. “He’s done that some throughout this first week. He’s changing things out. I think it’s a good change. We’ve got some guys that are competing for those positions.”

Along with the 92-play scrimmage, Auburn had live reps on special teams, with live field goal/field goal block opportunities, as well as six reps of live punt and punt returns. Auburn’s newest punter, Australian import Oscar Chapman, was on hand for Saturday’s scrimmage — marking his first time at practice this week — but did not punt as he still must go through the team’s mandatory acclimation period before fully participating on the field.

In all, it provided Auburn with an opportunity to truly shake off some rust after nearly eight months without game-like reps, and it proved to be a good evaluation period for Malzahn and his staff as they prepare for what will certainly be the most unconventional season of their collective careers.

“What I talked about was the Auburn standard, man,” Malzahn said. “We go out there and we put full pads on, our game field, it’s an Auburn standard — playing with great effort and having great pride. There’s some mistakes but that’s to be expected. And like I said, I just wanted them to play as hard as they possibly could, and for the most part they did that. So that was the positive. And now it gives us a really good judge as coaches of where we’re at. Because, like I said, we didn’t go through spring, so. And, where we’re at big picture and where we’re at individual players, too.”

Here are a few more notes of what we learned from Auburn’s first week of fall camp:

-- With Malzahn looking to develop more depth quickly due to the uncertain nature of this season — especially with the SEC’s COVID-19 protocol calling for 10-day quarantines for positive tests and a 14-day quarantine for high-contact tracing — the Tigers are looking for more versatility at positions this year, particularly with veteran players. For example, Malzahn said, safety Smoke Monday is getting some reps at cornerback in camp to provide a contingency plan at the position. Monday is surely not the only player who will cross-train this fall.

-- Down two linebackers this season following the opt-outs of Chandler Wooten and Josh Marsh, Auburn will have to lean on some more inexperienced players to fill out its linebacker rotation behind K.J. Britt, Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain. Malzahn didn’t name names on Saturday, but he said each of Auburn’s three freshman linebackers — Wesley Steiner, Cam Riley and Desmond Tisdol — are as advertised.

-- Junior college transfer Marco Domio is drawing some early praise at cornerback, where he is competing for a starting job opposite Roger McCreary. Domio made an interception in practice Thursday, as seen in a highlight released by Auburn. As Monday put it this week, “his heat is kind of different.”

-- Auburn has been working with two groups of offensive linemen this week and is letting them compete for the four open starting jobs alongside center Nick Brahms. The group, in all, had a “solid week” of practice with new position coach Jack Bicknell. Some names we have heard a lot about so far include Brodarious Hamm and grad transfer Brandon Council, who has the ability to play all five positions across the line.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[aubiefifty 18,231]

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[aubiefifty 18,231]

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