5 players battle for cornerback spot

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al.com

 

5 players battle for Auburn's cornerback spot

By Giana Han

4-5 minutes

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While Roger McCreary has his starting job locked down, the cornerback position across from him is completely up for grabs.

“We’ve kind of got a fun battle going on,” defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said. “We’ve actually gone from a situation of ‘who’s going to be the starter’ and ‘can we find some backups’ to having a good competition with five guys, not counting Roger.”

When the first starting lineup is announced, the name listed could be Nehemiah Pritchett, Marco Domio, Devan Barrett, Matthew Hill or Jaylin Simpson. All of them are battling at a high level, Steele said. He’s had fun watching the competition.

Out of those five names, two came up the most frequently in conversations with Auburn’s veteran defensive backs and wide receivers: Pritchett and Domio.

Pritchett is heading into his sophomore season, and senior wide receiver Eli Stove said he can tell that he’s coming into himself now that he has some experience.

“He’s doing his thing,” Stove said. “Freshman year, everybody’s head is spinning. So I think he’s slowed everything down.”

When Pritchett arrived at Auburn, he was quiet and didn’t really talk, junior safety Smoke Monday said. Now, it’s clear, even without him saying much, that his confidence levels have increased. It’s allowed him to show what a smart player he is, and he’s made plays that have impressed the wide receivers.

Domio is still brand new to the team, having transferred from Blinn College, a junior college in Texas. He’s adjusting to SEC speed and a new playbook, yet he’s still been able to impress. Junior Seth Williams, Auburn’s top wide receiver last season, has matched up with Domio in practice and can tell he has the potential. He just has some learning to do.

Picking up the playbook is no easy task, but Monday has been impressed with how quickly Domio has adapted. He’s a really smart player, but he also has an awareness about him. He can tell what situations he is in, and that makes him a great ballplayer in general. That, combined with his work ethic, has allowed him to stand out early on.

“He’s had a few interceptions,” junior safety Jamien Sherwood said. "It amazes me. And then we go to meetings and we watch him on the replays, and it’s just like ‘Wow, that’s a great play.’ "

Despite being in his second year at Auburn, Hill is another player who has to learn the playbook. Hill came over from the offense, where he was one of Auburn’s top-rated wide receiver recruits. After falling down in the receiver rotation, Hill was moved to the other side of the ball. His athleticism has transferred nicely.

“To be honest, I was surprised,” Sherwood said. “I didn’t know his footwork would be as good as it is. Coming from receiver, I thought it would be a hard transition.”

When he steps on the field, he shows confidence, Monday said. He’s learning the position quickly, and Monday thinks he could help anywhere in the secondary. Coach Gus Malzahn said he’s seen good things out of Hill, even up against first team competition.

Malzahn has also seen good reps out of Simpson, a redshirt freshman. Simpson played in four games as a true freshman, the maximum allowed before he burned his redshirt, and totaled two tackles He, too, has gotten in a lot of practice reps, including with the ones.

As a senior, Barrett has spent the most time at Auburn. However, like Hill, he came over from the offense. In 2018, he switched from running back to cornerback. In the 2019 season, he played seven games.

All five of the defensive backs have shown the traits Steele looks for in a player: relentless effort, mental toughness and physical toughness. No matter who wins the battle or is available to play, Steele is comfortable with his options. Auburn is a long way from where it was at the end of 2019, when it was facing the loss of four starters.

“We’ve gone from being a question mark to where we’re actually are in a situation — we haven’t played a game and a game is different — but we feel like we’ve got the right guys in the seats,” Steele said.