McCreary likes what he sees from fellow cornerbacks

[aubiefifty 18,231]

247sports.com

 

McCreary likes what he sees from fellow cornerbacks

ByJason Caldwell

4-5 minutes

---

 

AUBURN, Alabama—With teams throwing the ball more in college football and spreading the field from sideline to sideline, having guys who can cover is more important than ever. While the Auburn Tigers look to be in good shape with the return of junior cornerback Roger McCreary on one side of the defense, the losses of first round NFL Draft choice Noah Igbinoghene and Javaris Davis have meant plenty of competition for the opposite spot.

Focusing on the Kentucky Wildcats and the season opener on September 26, Coach Gus Malzahn’s team is shifting to more of a game week approach. While that means narrowing the focus at some positions, at cornerback the competition is still ongoing, according to defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.

It’s an interesting competition as well with five players in the mix for the starting job," the coach said. Returners Nehemiah Pritchett and Devan Barrett have limited experience at the position while Jaylin Simpson returns following a redshirt season a year ago. The two new faces? One is junior college transfer Marco Domio and the other is former wide receiver Matthew Hill.

All have shown the ability to get the job done, said Steele.

“With that we have actually gone from having 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,” Steele said. “The guys are playing at a high level. They have all worked with the ones.

“It has been kind of fun to watch because they have all embraced the challenge. They have played with relentless effort. They have shown mental toughness. They have shown physical toughness and they’re good tacklers, which is where we start with everything.

“If we can get that we’ll have a chance. We have been very productive in terms of keeping the top on the coverage with those guys in practice. We have gone from being a question mark to where we are actually are in a situation, we haven’t played a game and a game is different, but we feel like we have got the right guys in the seats.”

That’s the case from McCreary’s point of view as well. The leader of the group and a player that is being counted on to lead the younger players, he said so far he likes what he has observed from the other guys at cornerback.

“Each of the players, I see they all have their different techniques that they bring to the game,” McCreary said. “I think they'll all bring something good to the team. It's a good competition between five of them. I really don't know who it's going to come out to be as the starter.”

With just a week and a half left until opening day, McCreary said the plan is beginning to take shape for the defense as the Tigers look to pick up where last year’s group left off. That is especially true in the secondary with a trio of juniors that have been together for a while.

“The group now as starters, I feel like we have a good chance as a whole DB group because me, Tutt, Smoke and Jamien, we've all been together since we were freshmen,” McCreary said of himself, Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood. “There’s a good team chemistry between us. I feel like it's going to be great on the field, with us communicating and everything.”

 

Devan Barrett is one of the players battling at cornerback. (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Inside The Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)