Auburn believes Zion Puckett can be All-SEC

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Auburn believes Zion Puckett can be All-SEC caliber safety when healthy

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-6 minutes

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Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey (84) catches a pass as Auburn safety Zion Puckett (10) defends during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021 in Auburn, Ala.(AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

Zion Puckett has been limited this spring due to a lingering injury that has left him practicing in a yellow non-contact jersey, but defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge sees no limit to the junior safety’s potential for Auburn this season.

Puckett is a key returning piece to a secondary that replaces All-America cornerback Roger McCreary, two-year starting safety Smoke Monday and on-and-off starters Bydarrius Knighten and Ladarius Tennison. The Tigers are looking to Puckett to not only step into more of a leadership role for the defense, but to deliver from a production standpoint this fall.

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“Zion’s potential is extremely high,” Etheridge said. “I’m expecting Zion to go as far as he wants to go, and being an all-conference safety, because he’s one of the smartest guys in the room.”

Puckett has shown what he’s capable of in the secondary when he’s healthy. He appeared in 10 games last season and made nine starts at safety alongside Monday, finishing the year with 48 tackles, including a career-high 10 in a loss to Georgia. A former four-star recruit and top-150 prospect who signed with Auburn in 2019, Puckett redshirted as a freshman that season while appearing in four games. The following season, he saw the field in 10 of Auburn’s 11 games, including his first career start against Kentucky in the season opener.

He posted 15 tackles, with two for a loss, and a pass breakup before stepping into a near-fulltime starting role last season, when his 48 tackles were seventh-most on the team despite missing three games.

Etheridge this week spoke highly of Puckett and what the 6-foot, 227-pounder brings to the table, noting his ability to play both safety spot as well as nickel — a versatility that Etheridge expressed wanting to see out of more of Auburn’s defensive backs this offseason. Etheridge also lauded Puckett for his sharpness in terms of football IQ, pointing to his time spent as a high school quarterback for having a better understanding of how to diagnose things on the back end of the defense.

“Being able to play quarterback in high school, they see the game differently,” Etheridge said. “They see the full picture. That’s what you want on the back end, is understanding what the quarterback is reading, understanding the rotation. Zion understands those things, so it allows him to move faster and play faster because he understands what the final picture should look like for those guys. It’s always good to have a guy that came and played high school quarterback to be able to play on the back end.”

Now Puckett could be tasked with being the quarterback of Auburn’s secondary with Monday on to the NFL. First, he needs to get healthy.

He has been limited so far this spring due to injury, still participating in 7-on-7 periods and position drills but being held out of live periods while sporting that yellow non-contact jersey. Bryan Harsin noted that Puckett “wants to go” full speed this spring, but the staff is taking a cautious approach with the junior and will continue to assess his progress this spring.

Puckett is expected to be cleared for summer workouts and well before the start of fall camp.

“We just got to protect him and keep him out of live situations, but he’s done a great job of staying off the ground and being able to take those reps and be on the field from a communication standpoint,” Etheridge said.

Coping with an injury is nothing new to Puckett. He missed three games late last season due to injury, and he was sidelined last spring as well when the opportunity was in front of him to step into a larger role alongside Monday in the secondary.

Etheridge, no stranger to overcoming setbacks, has seen how Puckett has handled those injuries over the last 15 months and has been impressed with the safety’s maturity through it all. While the injuries and limitations have certainly been frustrating for Puckett to deal with, Etheridge is confident in how he will respond once he’s fully cleared and set loose this fall.

“He understands what comes with the game of football,” Etheridge said. “He don’t get down. He don’t make excuses. He just shows up and he keeps going, and that’s what you love about him. We have conversations about that, but I think as long as Zion can walk and breathe, and he got two arms and two legs, and he’s got a heartbeat, he’s going to continue to push to play the game.”

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

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