Jaylin Simpson wins cornerback battle

[aubiefifty 18,231]

al.com

 

Jaylin Simpson wins cornerback battle

By Giana Han

4-5 minutes

---

As the battle for the second starting cornerback position waged on through the preseason, Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said it was pretty much a toss up which of the five players would come out on top. When Auburn released the depth chart Tuesday, it was Jaylin Simpson, one of the newest to the position, with his name in bold next to Roger McCreary’s.

A redshirt freshman out of Georgia, Simpson has played in four college games — the max a freshman can play without losing his redshirt. In all four of those games, Simpson played at the safety position. As of August, Simpson was still practicing with the safeties, in addition to the cornerbacks.

“Jaylin Simpson, has been contributing very well, also, at the corner spot, even though he plays safety, he’s been getting good reps at corner,” safety Smoke Monday said on August 20.

But Simpson “really came on” during fall camp as he started to learn the cornerback position and joined the competition against the other defensive backs, coach Gus Malzahn said.

“He’s got some natural football instincts and we put him at corner right off the bat, and you could tell that each day he improved,” Malzahn said.

Simpson has a whole list of physical skills and attributes that helped win him the job. He can “flat out run,” Malzahn said and “jump 40,” according to linebacker K.J. Britt. He has good ball skills as well as good tackling skills.

“He’s crazy athletic, a freakish athlete,” Britt said.

But more than physical skills won Simpson the job. Britt has seen that Simpson has a true love for the game, a love that has pushed him to work hard every day. Simpson’s also shown a willingness to accept challenges. He has bought in to “the Auburn defense and what we’re going to be made of,” Britt said.

Simpson has also shown a commitment to progress. After making an early impression, Simpson carried the momentum, Malzahn said. And Britt doesn’t expect that momentum to stop anytime soon. He saw Simpson progress from freshman safety to a novice cornerback to the starting cornerback in less than two years. Britt only sees more progress in Simpson’s future.

“Before it’s all said and done, I expect him to be a household name,” Britt said. “He’s going to be really special.”

To earn the starting position, Simpson beat out four other cornerbacks — Marco Domio, Nehemiah Pritchett, Devan Barrett and Matthew Hill. Steele described all of them as good tacklers who have “embraced the challenge” and are playing at a high level.

Over the course of the preseason, Pritchett’s and Domio’s names came up often when other defensive players spoke about the cornerbacks. Domio is a junior college transfer, and safety Jamien Sherwood said he consistently impressed him at practice, making plays that had Sherwood saying “Wow.” Pritchett played in six games as a true freshman in 2019 and made four tackles. McCreary said he felt like Pritchett was the most improved.

Meanwhile, Hill gained notice because of the switch he made from wide receiver to defensive back. His teammates shared that they were impressed with how well he made the transition.

According to Tuesday’s depth chart, Pritchett is the No. 2 cornerback behind Simpson, and Domio is the third. Hill and Barrett are No. 2 and 3, respectively, behind McCreary. Although Simpson and McCreary are the official starters, Steele said they don’t view only the first people on the field as the starters. Since they rotate so many players in and out of games, the Tigers have more like 18 defensive starters than 11. Last year, players like McCreary gained significant game experience despite not being an official “starter.”

With COVID-19 adding another unknown to the game, in addition to unforeseen injuries, the four players who Simpson beat out for the starting spot may be called to step up at any given moment. With the level of competition shown through the preseason, the team seems confident that no matter who goes out first on Saturdays, it will be in a good position.

[alexava 6,974]

My gut tells me to expect some breakdowns early. But a youngster winning the spot is very encouraging as to his potential. 

[alexava 6,974]

Just now, alexava said:

My gut tells me to expect some breakdowns early. But a youngster winning the spot is very encouraging as to his potential. 

My bigger concern was a 270 pound true ( I think)freshman starting at DT. Maybe they both kick ass. 
 

[bigbird 60,939]

6 hours ago, alexava said:

My gut tells me to expect some breakdowns early. But a youngster winning the spot is very encouraging as to his potential. 

What's exciting to me about Simpson's naming is that we know Steele and what he expects from his corners. He prefers tight, aggressive man coverage and won't put out a player he doesn't have the utmost confidence in. Knowing that, including Roger, we could potentially have two lock down corners. Having two corners able to live on the island would allow so much flexibility and freedom to do all sorts of things defensively.

[cole256 17,085]

Hmmmm this is surprising. I hope the board is accurate and fair with him. I think corner is the position where people on the board get wrong the most. Some of our most talented corners are the guys that the board ridiculed the most. 

[AU80cruiser 1,102]

Lets remember Iggy had his struggles at times his first year on defense and give Simpson the same time to develope.

[bigbird 60,939]

45 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Hmmmm this is surprising. I hope the board is accurate and fair with him. I think corner is the position where people on the board get wrong the most. Some of our most talented corners are the guys that the board ridiculed the most. 

You mean Neiko wasn't the worst corner to ever play at Auburn? 

 

IMO, corner is far and away the toughest position to play and one of the easiest to criticize. There are so many little intricacies that go into playing the position that rarely are seen and, even more rare, understood

[Sizzle 3,948]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

You mean Neiko wasn't the worst corner to ever play at Auburn? 

 

IMO, corner is far and away the toughest position to play and one of the easiest to criticize. There are so many little intricacies that go into playing the position that rarely are seen and, even more rare, understood

Yeah a lot of people on here always yell at our corners to turn theirs heads but it’s way easier said than done. It’s tough playing press and then trying to turn and make a play on the ball at the last second

[toddc 13,197]

12 hours ago, Sizzle said:

Yeah a lot of people on here always yell at our corners to turn theirs heads but it’s way easier said than done. It’s tough playing press and then trying to turn and make a play on the ball at the last second

I’m not sure getting their head around is a big part of this style of play, but getting your hands in there and disrupting the catch are. 

[Sizzle 3,948]

1 hour ago, toddc said:

, but getting your hands in there and disrupting the catch are. 

Which they’ve done a good job of doing

[gr82b4au 5,576]

Was excited when we signed him and I hope he plays well. 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Good for Jaylin