Observations from 6th spring practice

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Observations from Auburn's 6th spring football practice

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-7 minutes

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Auburn held its sixth practice of the spring on Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which also marked the Tigers’ first scrimmage of the spring.

Before the team took the field for the scrimmage, though, local media was afforded a 40-minute viewing window at the start of practice. Here are AL.com’s observation’s from Thursday’s practice:

-- Thursday provided us with the first look at Auburn’s early candidates to take over as punt returner, as Saturday’s open practice did not include punt return work during special teams periods. The Tigers are replacing all four players on last year’s team who fielded a punt in games, including leading return man Christian Tutt, and it looks like wide receiver Ja’Varrius Johnson is the early frontrunner for that job.

Johnson, who has been in the mix for those duties in prior seasons, was one of three players to get opportunities to field punts during the first 40 minutes of practice. The 5-foot-10, 159-pound receiver got the first crack at returning a punt on Thursday, while senior running back Shaun Shivers was second in line and walk-on defensive back Devin Guice was the third man in the rotation.

-- A notable absence from Thursday’s practice, at least during the periods open to the media, was edge defender T.D. Moultry. The fifth-year senior was receiving reps with the first-team defense during Saturday’s practice but was nowhere to be seen during the 40-minute window on Thursday. It is unclear why Moultry was absent, but head coach Bryan Harsin is scheduled to speak with the media Thursday evening after practice.

-- Backup quarterback Grant Loy, who was limited with an apparent hamstring injury during Saturday’s practice, was back in action and working with the Tigers’ quarterbacks on Thursday.

-- A group of five players remained off to the side rehabbing and doing some conditioning drills in the south end zone while limited due to injury. That group included wide receivers Ze’Vian Capers (foot), J.J. Evans (who sustained an apparent knee injury on Saturday) and Shedrick Jackson (undisclosed), as well as defensive backs Zion Puckett (undisclosed) and Marco Domio (undisclosed). Those players also participated in limited position drills.

-- Linebacker Desmond Tisdol and defensive back Ahmari Harvey remained in yellow non-contact jerseys, though they were able to participate in a limited capacity during team drills.

-- Auburn’s first- and second-team offensive lines remained unchanged from Saturday’s open practice. The first unit consisted of left tackle Alec Jackson, left guard Tashawn Manning, center Nick Brahms, right guard Keiondre Jones and right tackle Brodarious Hamm. The second-team line, from left to right, included Austin Troxell, Tate Johnson, Jalil Irvin, Kam Stutts and Brenden Coffey.

-- Bo Nix and Tank Bigsby remained with the first-team offense, as expected, while Elijah Canion and Kobe Hudson lined up as outside receivers, with Ja’Varrius Johnson in the slot.

-- Auburn also got work with a two-tight end set with the first-team offense, with Luke Deal and Tyler Fromm getting the first reps before rotating Brandon Frazier and J.J. Pegues in with the first-team offense. Pegues saw some action at fullback again.

-- The defense worked through first-, second- and third-team reps in its base look as well as its nickel package. Here’s how the first- and second-team lineups shook out, with a couple notes on the third unit as well:

First-team defense (3-4 base):

-- Defensive end Colby Wooden, defensive tackles Tyrone Truesdell and Marquis Burks, with Derick Hall and Jaren Handy as edge defenders playing close to the line of scrimmage. Handy got reps in place of Moultry, who worked with the first-team defense at edge on Saturday.

-- Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe at inside linebacker.

-- Jaylin Simpson and Roger McCreary at cornerback, with Ladarius Tennison and Smoke Monday at safety.

First-team defense (nickel):

-- Wooden and Burks on the line, with Handy and Hall flanked on either side as edge defenders.

-- Pappoe and McClain at linebacker.

-- Simpson and McCreary at corner, with Nehemiah Pritchett at nickel, and Tennison and Monday at safety.

Second-team defense (3-4 base):

-- Dre Butler and Jeremiah Wright at defensive tackle, with Zykeivous Walker at defensive end. Caleb Johnson and Romello Height as edge defenders on either side of the line.

-- Chandler Wooten and Cam Riley at linebacker.

-- Kamal Hadden and Malcolm Askew at cornerback, with Trey Elston and Chris Thompson Jr. at safety.

Second-team defense (nickel):

-- Butler at defensive tackle and Walker at defensive end, with Johnson and Height on the edges.

-- Wooten and Riley at linebacker.

-- Hadden and Askew at corner, with Devin Guice at nickel, and Elston and Thompson at safety.

Third-team defense notables: Both Tisdol and Harvey got some work with the third-team defense in the nickel package. Tisdol lined up at linebacker in that group, while Harvey was at nickel. Wesley Stein and Kameron Brown also got some third-team reps at linebacker; Brown was back in the mix after being absent from Saturday’s practice. The third-team line included Daniel Foster-Allen, Lee Hunter and Jay Hardy.

AL.com will update this post.

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

[Sani-Freeze 552]

Finally a Jay Hardy mention, albeit on the third team line. Hoping he shows up on the depth chart by the fall. 

[boisnumber1 2,916]

Nice to see JJ working with the return team. He's one whose abilities fit that role. Returns had really been a sore spot for me under the previous coach.

[steeleagle 2,945]

3 hours ago, boisnumber1 said:

Nice to see JJ working with the return team. He's one whose abilities fit that role. Returns had really been a sore spot for me under the previous coach.

I can see an opposing team's player hustling down on the kickoff, and seeing JJ, and veering the other way for sure! would be fun to see him on it.

[toddc 13,197]

10 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I can see an opposing team's player hustling down on the kickoff, and seeing JJ, and veering the other way for sure! would be fun to see him on it.

I think he meant Ja’Varrius Johnson . At least that’s what I hope he means.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

Speaking of the JJ Peques people on TOS are mentioning rumors of a switch to D since the injury of J. Wright. I am all in favor of giving him a look if that is true. I am all for him playing both ways. Iron Man JJ Pegues