Players with something to prove

[aubiefifty 18,231]

247sports.com

 

Auburn fall camp preview: Players with something to prove

ByNathan King

10-12 minutes

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What We're Watching As Fall Camps Open This Week 8/1 (Late Kick Cut)

 

It's finally time for football again at Auburn.

And Auburn will, as things currently stand, have normal preseason practices for the first time since 2019 after last year's fall camp started late and was met with heavy restricted due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Tigers, who will have had about a week off to return home and relax after summer workouts ended over the weekend, will report to campus Thursday for meetings, undergo an evaluation day Friday, then kick off practices Saturday to prepare for Bryan Harsin's debut with the program Sept. 4 at home against Akron.

The general consensus among players, parents, coaches and others around the program was that strength coach Jeff Pitman worked the Tigers harder than they've ever worked at AU before. Auburn's strength staff also utilized body monitoring technology to help players keep up healthy balances of conditioning, rest time and sleep, and put an emphasis on nutritional education to ensure players understand what they're putting into their bodies and how it can affect their play.

According to Harsin at SEC Media Days two weeks ago, Auburn will enter fall camp relatively healthy, especially compared to the handful of injuries it dealt with at multiple position groups in the spring. The only player expected to be sidelined for the entirety of camp is defensive tackle Jeremiah Wright, who is recovering from a torn ACL in the spring.

Auburn fans have been anticipating the start of Harsin's regime since he was hired to replace Gus Malzahn in December, and the general storylines surrounding the team have been touched on constantly throughout the offseason.

Auburn Undercover will spend the days leading up to fall camp looking deeper at the Tigers, however, and hovering a microscope over the program following summer workouts, transfer additions and new freshman enrollees on campus.

Next up in the previews: Every player wants to succeed on the college level, but some are met with more setbacks or criticism than others. Here are five Tigers who will have something to prove at Auburn's 2021 preseason practices.

EDGE T.D. MOULTRY

Now returning for his fifth season at Auburn thanks to the free year of eligibility granted by COVID-19, Moultry has one more opportunity to make good on his elite status as a recruit back in 2017.

A top-100 player out of Birmingham, Alabama, and the No. 3 inside linebacker in the country, Moultry, now a pass-rusher, was Auburn's third highest-rated signee in its 2017 recruiting class behind only five-star offensive tackle Calvin Ashley and quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Moultry found some success at outside linebacker early on, with five tackles for loss, three sacks and one forced fumble through his first two seasons.

He hit a pause in his progression in 2019, however, with only two sacks since, as players like Derick Hall and Caleb Johnson moved ahead of him in the pass-rush pecking order. Moultry had plenty of penalty troubles, too; he's been called for offsides more than any other Auburn defensive player over the last three seasons.

Moultry was having a successful spring with new defensive coordinator Derek Mason — working consistently along the first-team defensive front as an edge rusher across from Hall — but he ended up missing at least two of the team's four scrimmages, including the A-Day spring game.

Moultry's past couple of seasons at Auburn have been inconsistent at best, and there will be plenty of competition at his position yet again in 2021 with top recruit Dylan Brooks and Northwestern transfer Eku Leota.

In fall practices, Moultry will be looking to prove he can be a starting-caliber player on the edge, like he was in spring ball, and that returning to the program for one last season was the right move.

OT AUSTIN TROXELL

Troxell finally caught a break with his health last season.

The former four-star offensive tackle has undergone three major knee surgeries in his football career. While recovering from his most recent one, COVID-19 shut down Auburn's campus, and Troxell had to finish his rehabilitation on his own at home in north Alabama. When he finally got back, he didn't win a starting tackle job, but he still rotated in with both Alec Jackson at left tackle and Brodarious Hamm at right. Heading into Week 3 against Arkansas, Troxell's parents told Auburn Undercover that the coaches told Troxell he would start at right tackle. At practice leading up to the game, Troxell sustained a concussion and was then held out for a few weeks.

Troxell did get his opportunity later in the season, however, when both Jackson and Hamm were injured. Troxell started three of Auburn's last four games at left tackle.

Auburn's offensive line picture will take some time to come into focus, considering Brandon Council is returning from injury, too, and eight total players started a game along the front five last season. Will Friend likes what Troxell brings to the table in terms of his athleticism and position versatility at 6-foot-7 and 305 pounds, but Jackson was still the starter at left tackle during spring ball, with Troxell rotating behind.

Troxell will be out to prove what kind of player he can be when healthy, and that he doesn't need others to be out in order to make an impact and be a starter for Auburn. He's been the offensive line's best backup for what's felt like forever.

CB JAYLIN SIMPSON

We wrote about Simpson yesterday as the latest installment in our most valuable players series, as his only full season at Auburn last year was hampered by an injury. The safety-turned-cornerback earned a starting job across from Roger McCreary, showed out in his first game against Kentucky, then was injured later that game and never fully recovered.

Simpson, a former four-star recruit in Auburn's 2019 class, admitted that last season, during which he missed three games and was limited in others, was a frustrating time.

So does 2021 feel like a redemption year for Simpson take back his starting spot at corner?

"Absolutely," Simpson said in spring practices. "Yes, sir. I was very hurt physically (last season), but I was really hurt mentally. I had just got my feet wet, first game, so I got a lot to prove, I would say. So I’m just ready for September 4th."

Cornerback is arguably Auburn's deepest position, with Simpson, McCreary, West Virginia transfer Dreshun Miller and Nehemiah Pritchett if he doesn't stick at nickel all vying for important spots in the rotation. That's not to mention highly touted JUCO transfer Roterius Torrence and former four-star prospect Eric Reed Jr., now a redshirt freshman.

Simpson isn't afraid of the competition. He beat out Pritchett and Marco Domio last preseason, after all.

"What you put in is what you're going to get out of it," Simpson said. "So the amount of reps, the amount of work you put in outside the meeting room or whatever and on the field — so that's how you go get your time."

WR DEMETRIS ROBERTSON

Formerly the No. 1 wide receiver prospect in America back in the 2016 class, Robertson looked all the part of an elite recruit in his first season at Cal, with 50 catches for 767 yards and seven touchdowns.

Robertson hasn't gotten back to that level of play since his true freshman season. He played only three games in 2017 after an injury, had zero catches at Georgia in eight games in 2018, was the Bulldogs' No. 3 receiver in 2019 with 333 yards and three touchdowns, then went scoreless again last season with only 12 receptions in 10 games.

Can Robertson, who committed to Auburn as a grad transfer in early July, resurge with his third program? Even though he did not go through spring practices with the Tigers and their new offense, he certainly could settle into an important role in passing game, seeing as Auburn brought him in to be an experienced veteran (99 career catches) in an otherwise green receiving corps (26 returning catches from last season).

The 6-foot wideout hasn't been the same since his leg injury in 2017, but he did show flashes of big-time playmaking in his three seasons at Georgia. With an opportunity to lead at Auburn, as well, Robertson will be out to prove he is capable of contributing once again like a five-star recruit.

LB CHANDLER WOOTEN

When speaking of Auburn's talented linebackers, much of the attention goes to Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe after their performances last season — and rightfully so. But Auburn has a veteran back in in 2021 who wants to show there won't be much drop off in the linebacker rotation.

Wooten, whom linebackers coach Jeff Schmedding called one of Auburn's most important leaders on the defense this past spring, opted out of the 2020 season with concerns about COVID-19, and to spend more time with his newborn son during the pandemic. The senior from Acworth, Georgia, said leaving his teammates was the toughest decision he's ever had to make, and that he's overjoyed to be back on the field with them.

"I missed being a football player, though," Wooten said. "This is what I like to do. Just being here, I’m back home, so this is me.”

In spring practices, Wooten, an impressive athlete at 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds, headed up the second-team defense and was one of its most productive players in practices and scrimmage settings.

He now gives McClain and Pappoe a reliable backup after the pair rarely left the field last season following K.J. Britt's injury, and he takes some pressure of the second-year linebacker trio of Cam Riley, Wesley Steiner and Desmond Tisdol to rush their development.

11COMMENTS

But Auburn — and Wooten — want him to be more than just a veteran presence in 2021. Wooten will be looking to prove in fall camp that he can contribute as one of the front seven's more important pieces, and that he's back in game shape and ready for SEC play after opting out last year.

[gravejd 3,304]

There are only about 4-5 players on the team that i can think of that don't have a lot to prove this coming season. And i'm sure even those guys want to prove they are better than the team showed the last 3 seasons. 

[aubiefifty 18,231]

9 minutes ago, gravejd said:

There are only about 4-5 players on the team that i can think of that don't have a lot to prove this coming season. And i'm sure even those guys want to prove they are better than the team showed the last 3 seasons. 

i am exited about the talk of pittman working them harder than they have ever worked at auburn before. we need that. and it seems he has the science of doing workouts down as well. that hard ass approach will also help glue this team together. i am not sure everyone was on the same page last year. but when you are working hard and hurting together it creates one heck of a bond!

[fredst 9,070]

My choices:

1)AU offense

2)AU defense

3)AU special teams

[JDUBB4AU 5,287]

The whole AU staff and Players , and fans , students , homers like myself . Lee county ,