5 questions entering 1st fall camp of Harsin era

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5 questions Auburn faces entering 1st fall camp of Bryan Harsin era

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

8-10 minutes

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Auburn’s season-opener is less than a month away, and the start of the college football season is within sight.

It’s that time again. That’s right: It’s time for the start of fall camp.

Auburn’s players report for camp Thursday, with the first day of practice Friday as the Tigers ramp up their preparation for Bryan Harsin’s first season at the helm of the program. Harsin will meet with the media Thursday afternoon in advance of Friday’s first practice, but before things get underway, let’s take a look at five of the biggest questions facing Auburn as it enters Year 1 of a new era.

1. How will Auburn integrate its new transfers into the defense?

Auburn scoured the transfer portal this offseason as it looked to complement its existing roster with an influx of talent thanks to the NCAA’s new one-time transfer rule. The Tigers added 10 players through the transfer portal this offseason, including seven on the defensive side of the ball.

Derek Mason spent the spring installing his defensive system, and now he’ll have the opportunity to integrate those seven new players into the scheme. Auburn added Northwestern edge rusher Eku Leota, Kansas defensive lineman Marcus Harris and UAB nose tackle Tony Fair to the defensive front. The Tigers also added four to the back end of the defense, including Vanderbilt safety Donovan Kaufman, West Virginia cornerback Dreshun Miller and JUCO defensive backs Bydarrius Knighten and Ro Torrence.

With Auburn returning several key pieces to its defense from last year, the question now is how will those seven newcomers fit into things from a personnel perspective? Kaufman should be in the mix for the starting safety job opposite Smoke Monday, while Miller will vie for the No. 2 cornerback spot opposite Roger McCreary. Knighten could see time at safety or nickel, while Torrence should also provide depth at corner. Leota could be an interesting fit as Auburn looks for a No. 2 edge guy to complement Derick Hall, and Fair should help fill a need on the interior of the line, with Harris providing additional depth up front.

How long it will take for those newcomers to get up to speed remains to be seen, but the influx of talent should help Auburn in the long run as the defense looks to rebound from a down year in 2020.

2. What will Auburn’s starting offensive line look like?

Auburn’s offensive line has been one of the biggest points of contention for the last few seasons, but things could be looking up in the trenches. After replacing four starters a year ago, Auburn has some needed continuity up front, as it returns eight players with starting experience from last season.

It’s just a matter of finding the best five-man unit among those players, which will be the focus of offensive line coach Will Friend for the next several weeks.

Nick Brahms returns as Auburn’s starting center for the third straight season, but that may be the only sure thing for the Tigers’ starting lineup. Tashawn Manning started every game at left guard last season, and he should hold that spot down during fall camp. Keiondre Jones came on strong at right guard last season after Brandon Council went down with an ACL injury, showing a lot of promise particularly as a road-grader in the run game. Council, who missed spring while recovering from that knee injury and an offseason shoulder injury, is back in the mix, and while it’s unclear when he’ll be full-go, he could be the biggest wild card for Auburn up front. When healthy, the former Akron standout was arguably Auburn’s most consistent lineman last season, and he has the versatility to play any position along the line, giving the Tigers a plug-and-play option anywhere up front.

At the tackle spot, Brodarious Hamm is back after starting eight games last season and should be the favorite to keep that role, but Auburn also has former JUCO transfer Brenden Coffey who can push for playing time, as well as Austin Troxell — who could kick out to the right side, as he did for the Citrus Bowl, if Alec Jackson or Kilian Zierer emerge at left tackle.

The coming weeks will tell what the best five-man combination is for Auburn, but with so much returning experience and a new offensive line coach, the Tigers should feel good about having some improved play up front this fall.

3. Who will emerge as the top receiving threat in the new-look offense?

Auburn lost its top-three receivers from a year ago as Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove all departed for the NFL. That left Auburn with very little returning production in the receiving corps, with the returning players combining for just 23 catches for 311 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season.

That’s a lot to replace in the passing game — but it also means there’s a big opportunity for new receiving threats to emerge for Auburn. During spring practices, Ja’Varrius Johnson in particular stepped up into that void, becoming a favorite target of Bo Nix. Elijah Canion, who had signs of a breakthrough in the Citrus Bowl, continued to build on that through the spring as well, while Kobe Hudson and Malcolm Johnson Jr. also showed promise. Auburn could have a few more names looking to factor into the receiving game in fall camp, though, as Ze’Vian Capers returns from a foot injury he sustained in the Citrus Bowl, J.J. Evans and Shedrick Jackson both return from spring setbacks, and Georgia grad transfer/former five-star prospect Demetris Robertson joins the mix.

That’s a lot of mouths to attempt to feed on offense, so it’ll be interesting to see who among that group rises to the top over the coming weeks.

4. Can T.J. Finley actually push Bo Nix for the starting quarterback job?

Bo Nix has started every game since he has been at Auburn, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t be QB1 when the Tigers open the season Sept. 4 against Akron — but that doesn’t mean there won’t be competition for the job during fall camp.

Auburn this offseason added former LSU quarterback T.J. Finley to the mix, with the coaching staff making the pitch to him during the recruiting process that he will have the opportunity to come in and push Nix for the starting job. Finley, a former three-star prospect who was the top quarterback in Louisiana in the 2020 class, started five games for LSU last season but hit the portal at the end of spring practices. He completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 941 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions during his freshman season, and while he will certainly face an uphill battle to unseat Nix, his arrival at least provides Auburn with some needed depth in the quarterback room — and another option with SEC experience who can provide Nix with his first real competition since he beat out Malik Willis and Joey Gatewood two years ago.

5. Can Auburn avoid any COVID-related setbacks?

This is one of the biggest questions facing every college program this fall, as America is still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and many regions are dealing with surges thanks to the delta variant.

As of SEC Media Days, Auburn’s team was at just about 60 percent roster vaccination, which is well below the SEC’s preferred threshold of 80 percent — a mark that only six of the league’s 14 teams had reached as of two weeks ago. The good news for Auburn, Harsin said in Hoover, is that the team has not had a positive test result over the last five months, and he credited the efforts of team doctor Michael Goodlett for properly educating the team.

On Wednesday the NCAA announced new COVID guidelines, saying that vaccinated individuals won’t be required to be tested for the virus so long as they aren’t showing any symptoms, and vaccinated athletes won’t be forced into quarantine if they’re tagged through contact tracing. Unvaccinated individuals, meanwhile, will be tested one to three times per week—depending on which test is used — and should wear masks in public settings at all times, according to the NCAA’s recommendations.

The bottom line is that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has urged teams to get to that vaccination threshold, especially since the league does not have plans to postpone, reschedule or rule games no-contest this season in the event of COVID-related disruptions. That means teams that endure issues with the virus, as many did last year, could be forced to forfeit a game if they can’t field enough players. Navigating the virus will remain a challenge for all teams this season, and Auburn is no exception.