checklist for second half of spring practice

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Bryan Harsin's checklist for second half of Auburn spring practice

ByNathan King

 

AUBURN, Ala. — The second half, so to speak, begins this week for Auburn in its 2021 spring practices.

After giving players a week off from the practice field in order to focus on film study and position-group evaluation with his new staff, Bryan Harsin will get his ballclub back in the swing of things Monday afternoon. The Tigers will practice seven more times over the next two weeks, scrimmage inside Jordan-Hare Stadium at the 2021 A-Day spring game, then hold one last practice the following week to make up for a session that was canceled by weather concerns.

Harsin has already learned a lot about his new team, but things figure to change slightly over the next two weeks as playbook install speeds up, and assistant coaches look for tangible separation at a number of position battles.

Here's a mid-spring refresher and primer on what Harsin will be looking for out of his Tigers, and what areas of the roster he may be most focused on.

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Harsin didn't shy away during the team's late signing period in saying the Tigers could need some more transfers at a number of different positions.

Post-spring additions are becoming more common in the transfer portal in recent years; just look at Brandon Council for Auburn last April. There's a seemingly endless selection of talent from across college football available for the taking in the portal at the moment. Harsin now just has to discern which areas on his roster could use some added experience and depth.

The offensive line could and likely will be one of the positions addressed via the transfer portal, particularly at offensive tackle. New O-line coach Will Friend has had a week to look over his lineups and break down the film, so it will be intriguing to see whether he makes some changes up front in the second half of spring practice. So far, things have been nearly identical to how the offensive line was rotated in 2020.

If a player like Brodarious Hamm, currently starting at right tackle, is best thought of as a guard, and Auburn isn't satisfied with its other options, the addition of a high-level, SEC-caliber offensive tackle in the transfer portal in the coming months wouldn't be a surprise.

Auburn could also stand to bring in a running back, unless it's comfortable with four scholarship players in the room (freshman Jarquez Hunter will arrive in the summer). The receiving corps, which is currently dealing with three injured players, could also be addressed should Harsin and position coach Cornelius Williams decide more experience is needed for one of the Tigers' least experienced units.

Additionally, Auburn doesn't seem to mind the idea of adding even more depth to an already excellent secondary rotation. The Tigers' staff was chasing after West Virginia transfer Tykee Smith, who committed to Georgia on Sunday and whose former Mountaineer teammate, cornerback Dreshun Miller, will arrive at Auburn as a transfer in the summer.

Harsin will continue to field questions about Bo Nix and Auburn's quarterback development for the rest of this spring, into the summer and all throughout fall camp. It seems there's a daily checkup on Nix and his progression under Harsin and new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

It sounds like so far, so good for Nix, but that's the nature of a spring practice period. Quarterbacks always look good. For the next two weeks, Harsin needs to ensure Nix is making tangible steps forward every day leading up to A-Day in order for the QB to be set up for success in 2021 — set up to take a crucial next step as a junior and move into the SEC's upper echelon of passers after two inconsistent seasons as an underclassman.

If his development falls short, it won't be for lack of effort on Harsin's part. The head coach fancies himself an established quarterback whisperer, and he's been tied at the hip with Nix in the couple of practices reporters have been able to see in person. Harsin isn't letting Nix out of his sight and will do everything in his power to ensure growth this spring.

There's also the question of who will be Nix's backup. Grant Loy is available and plenty capable of reprising his role as QB2, but Dematrius Davis and Chayil Garnett aren't going down lightly.

One of the top position battles to watch over the final two weeks of practice will be at the receiving end of punts. Auburn returns a total of 4 yards on one punt return from last year's roster (safety Ladarius Tennison), so the starting job looks wide-open on the surface. However, there's a clear frontrunner who's been cutting his teeth in practice for a couple years.

Redshirt sophomore receiver Ja'Varrius Johnson, who has also been a standout player on the Tigers' offense this spring, has been one of Auburn's backup punt returners since he arrived on campus, even though he's never touched the ball in a game. His experience and reps in the past should give him a leg up this spring, as he was one of three players practicing at punt returner for the Tigers last week, joining running back Shaun Shivers and walk-on defensive back Devin Guice.

Johnson, one of the fastest players on the roster, allows Auburn to lessen the load for a player like Shivers, seeing as both he and Tank Bigsby returned kickoffs last season before trotting into the backfield to carry the ball.

With players like Christian Tutt and Ryan Davis taking up the mantle over the past few seasons, Auburn has ranked in the top half of the SEC in punt-return average since 2018.

Harsin admitted a couple weeks ago that the coaching staff was taking things slow with special-teams evaluations, but those question marks should now be expedited in April.

On the topic of offensive line questions: Are there any of them that can be realistically answered this spring for Auburn?

With Council, who's all but guaranteed a starting job on the interior of the O-line once he returns from injury, still sidelined, the Tigers have deployed the same starting five — Alec Jackson, Tashawn Manning, Nick Brahms, Keiondre Jones and Hamm — as they did last season. Austin Troxell and Brenden Coffey are still rotating in at left and right tackle, respectively; the only eyebrow-raiser so far has been sophomore Kam Stutts taking some first-team reps at guard.

With not everyone healthy and a transfer possibly still on the way, Auburn may be again looking at an offseason-long evaluation of its O-line — and, more importantly, what its best-case starting lineup is.

With Nix entering his third season, the Tigers can't afford for him to be given the same inconsistent offensive line he's so often dealt with. If Auburn's offense is to truly take a leap forward under Harsin, it has to start in the trenches, where the Tigers were sometimes above average in 2020 but fell victim to injuries as the year progressed.

As spring practice resumes Monday, Friend will have the opportunity to give more starting reps to players like Troxell, Coffey and Stutts. Whether he does so — and whether this group looks any different by the time A-Day rolls around — is another question, however, and could be telling in terms of how much tinkering will need to be done in the offseason.

We already know Johnson has taken advantage of openings within the offense caused by injuries. Now Auburn needs one or two more names to emerge and stand out this spring in order to feel good about its depth in the receiving corps in 2021.

Senior Shedrick Jackson and sophomore Ze'Vian Capers were already set to be limited for most of, if not all of spring with their respective injuries before redshirt freshman J.J. Evans got hurt during the first week of practice and added his name to the limited list. That means, of the players currently available to consistently catch passes for the Tigers in practice, Auburn has 10 returning receptions among its receivers (Kobe Hudson and Elijah Canion).

Unsurprisingly, those are the two names who have most consistently worked with the starting offense in spring ball so far; Ja'Varrius Johnson and Malcolm Johnson Jr. have both rotated in as speedy, flanker-type receivers who can give the Tigers some production going side to side as well as down the field.

Depending on the recovery timetables for players like Jackson and Capers, Auburn could find itself in a much better position at the end of spring practice than it was at the start, but it can't bank on that. Youngsters like Canion and Hudson need to step up and cement their cases as Nix's new, go-to receivers by closing out spring ball with strong performances. Otherwise, Auburn won't be as confident as it once was in replacing its top three pass-catchers from last season, all off to the NFL (Anthony Schwartz, Seth Williams and Eli Stove).

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