2/27/23 Auburn Articles

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New era set to begin for Auburn on special teams as spring practice starts

Published: Feb. 25, 2023, 10:34 a.m.

5–6 minutes

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We’re taking a look at each position group as Auburn prepares to open spring practice on Feb. 27. The final installment of an 11-part series looks at the specialists.

As Auburn ushers in a new era with first-year head coach Hugh Freeze overseeing the program, the Tigers’ special teams unit is also preparing for the dawn of a new age.

After nine consecutive seasons of having a Carlson brother handle place-kicking duties, the nearly decade-long kicking dynasty on the Plains has finally ended. Anders Carlson is off to the NFL Draft, as the surefooted Alex McPherson is set to fully take over as Auburn’s kicker this year after getting his feet wet late last season.

Read more Auburn football: Why Cadillac Williams was “ecstatic” Auburn landed USF transfer Brian Battie

Auburn’s group at safety returns intact this spring, welcomes a familiar face

Cornerback should be strength of Auburn’s defense entering spring

It will surely take some getting used to, for those who follow Auburn at least, not seeing a Carlson square up on kicks for the Tigers. Daniel Carlson handled the job from 2014-17 and became the SEC’s all-time leading scorer before handing over the reins to his younger brother, Anders Carlson, who spent much of the last five seasons as Auburn’s kicker.

That’s the biggest change for Auburn’s personnel on special teams, so let’s take a closer look at the rest of the unit this spring.

Projected depth chart:

Kicker

Alex McPherson, redshirt freshman

Evan McGuire, redshirt sophomore

Punter

Oscar Chapman, senior

Alex McPherson, redshirt freshman

Long snapper

Jacob Quattlebaum, redshirt senior

Kyle Vaccarella, redshirt sophomore OR

Reed Hughes, junior

Holder

Oscar Chapman, senior

Kick returner

Brian Battie, senior AND

Jarquez Hunter, junior

Damari Alston, sophomore AND

Keionte Scott, junior

Punt returner

Keionte Scott, junior

Ja’Varrius Johnson, redshirt senior

Departed: Anders Carlson, kicker (NFL Draft); Dazalin Worsham, punt return (transfer to UAB).

Due to arrive in the fall: N/A.

Outlook: Auburn has been fortunate to have relative consistency at kicker for close to a decade thanks to the Carlson brothers, even with some of Anders’ struggles on longer attempts in recent years. So, with their time up on the Plains, where does Auburn turn? Simple: Another kicker with an accomplished older brother — Alex McPherson, the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro kicker Evan McPherson.

The younger McPherson was the nation’s No. 1 kicker coming out of high school in 2022, and he soft-launched his Auburn career last season after Anders Carlson experienced a late-season injury. McPherson handled kicking duties for Auburn’s final three games while connecting on six of his seven field-goal attempts, including a 51-yarder against Western Kentucky, and all nine of his point-after tries. The 5-foot-9, 150-pounder is more compact than the lengthier Carlson brothers, but his kicking style and build reminded Anders Carlson of Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (one of the top kickers in NFL history). If McPherson can live up to the promise that he arrived on campus with, Auburn’s place-kicking will be on sure footing for the next several years.

Spring position previews: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | JACK | LB | CB | S

While Auburn will sort of break in a new kicker this offseason, the Tigers maintained continuity at punter, where Oscar Chapman returns for a fourth season. The Australian punter is coming off another strong season, averaging 43.7 yards per punt a year after averaging 44.1 yards per attempt. He helped Auburn finish ninth nationally in net punting (42.3 yards). Chapman, who also served as Auburn’s holder last season, will also return his battery mate on punts, with long snapper Jacob Quattlebaum back for another season.

More intrigue rests with Auburn’s return game. Keionte Scott is back and should handle punt return duties after emerging as Auburn’s top option there last season, when he averaged 9.57 yards per return and ranked 17th among FBS players. On kick returns, the Tigers also bring back their top option in running back Jarquez Hunter, who averaged 21.57 yards on 14 attempts. Whether Hunter remains the No. 1 choice as he takes on a more prominent role in the backfield remains to be seen, but Auburn certainly has another proven weapon to deploy on kick returns this season: USF transfer running back Brian Battie. The 5-foot-8, 165-pounder was a consensus All-American as a return specialist in 2021, when he averaged 32.5 yards per return and led the nation with three kickoff returns for touchdowns. Battie averages 24.2 yards per return over the last three seasons, and he should enter spring as the favorite to take over the primary duties for Auburn this season.

Up next: The start of spring practice on Monday.

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

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5 position battles to keep an eye on during Auburn spring practices

Published: Feb. 26, 2023, 10:32 a.m.

10–12 minutes

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A new day gets underway on the Plains this week as Auburn opens its first set of practices under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze.

The Tigers will open spring practice Monday with the first of 15 practices, ultimately culminating in the A-Day spring game on April 8 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It will be an intriguing spring around the program as Freeze and his staff get their first up-close look at the team they’ve inherited and will be tasked with revitalizing following the disastrous tenure of Bryan Harsin, who had a losing record in each of his two seasons with the Tigers.

Read more Auburn football: Breaking down Auburn’s additions, losses, remaining needs after first transfer window

New AD John Cohen is getting used to “Auburn Being Auburn” in the best way

“That was wild”: How Auburn climbed recruiting rankings after late-season coaching change

With a new staff, of course, comes new opportunity. Plenty of positions will be up for grabs for the Tigers throughout the offseason, and how many of those starting jobs shake out will truly start to take shape during spring practices. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five position battles to keep an eye on over the course of spring practices:

1. Quarterback

This one is obvious, no? The biggest question facing Auburn this offseason revolves around the quarterback position: Who will emerge as the Tigers’ answer at the most important position on the field, and is he already on campus? Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery — as well as lead offensive analyst Kent Austin — have a strong track record of developing quarterbacks, and this spring will largely focus on just how far Auburn’s returning crop at the position can come along under the new staff as they fully assess the personnel and try to shape the offense around their skillsets.

The Tigers have three scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practices: Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley and Holden Geriner. Ashford finished last season as the Tigers’ starter and showed flashes of dynamic playmaking and toughness, but he managed to complete just 49.2 percent of his passes for 1,613 yards, 6.5 yards per pass attempt and as many touchdowns (seven) as interceptions. He also showed an ability to extend and create plays with his legs, rushing for another 709 yards and seven scores. Ashford has expressed excitement about getting to be developed by Freeze, and the new coach certainly took notice of some of the plays Ashford made in last season’s finale against Alabama. But is he the answer at quarterback for Auburn? It remains to be seen.

Finley opened last season as Auburn’s starter, winning the job in fall camp and starting the first three games of the year, but an early-season shoulder injury sidelined him, and he only played in four games for the year. He completed 62.3 percent of his 53 attempts for 431 yards, averaging 8.1 yards per attempt but throwing just one touchdown compared to four interceptions. It will be interesting to see how Finley figures into the picture this spring, and whether he feels he has a future with the team after the coaching change, or if he tries to reassess his options after the spring semester. Then there’s Geriner, who appeared in just one game last season as a true freshman but is a talented former four-star prospect with a strong arm. He was hand-picked by the former staff to anchor the 2022 class, but could he find a fresh start and opportunity under Freeze and Co.?

2. Both offensive tackle spots

Offensive line is far from the flashiest position on the field, but it’s certainly one of the most important—and more importantly for Auburn, it’s a group that has faced its share of questions in recent years thanks to insufficient recruiting, underdevelopment and underperformance in the trenches. It’s an area that Freeze and his staff, led by offensive line coach Jake Thornton and offensive analyst Joe Bernardi, have worked tirelessly to address in the two-month offseason sprint that included both signing periods and the first transfer portal window.

After losing its top offensive tackles from last season—Austin Troxell, Kilian Zierer and Brenden Coffeyy, who combined to start every game at both left and right tackle—Auburn is working with a relatively clean slate at the position. The Tigers return inexperienced underclassmen Garner Langlo, Colby Smith and E.J. Harris, but the real focus on the two tackle spots will be on a trio of new additions: junior college transfer Izavion Miller and portal pickups Dillon Wade and Gunner Britton.

Miller, the No. 2 JUCO offensive tackle prospect in the 2023 class, is highly regarded by Auburn’s staff and will compete at tackle, but with his size—6-foot-6 and 320 pounds—he could play multiple spots along the line. Wade comes to Auburn from Tulsa, where he played for Montgomery and started 16 games over the last two seasons, including all 12 at left tackle in 2022. Britton, a transfer from Western Kentucky, has 18 starts under his belt, including all 14 for the Hilltoppers last season when he split time between right and left tackle. His first six starts last year were on the right side of the line before he shifted to left tackle for the remainder of the year. Expect these three to vie for the two spots, with Auburn likely rotating them throughout spring practices to see which combination works best.

3. Jack linebacker

This is the new name for what was formerly known as the edge position in Auburn’s defense the last two years, with new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts preferring to call it the Jack linebacker spot—a hybrid role in which the player can play off the line standing up and drop into coverage or line up with his hand down in the dirt as a pass-rusher; it’s the new edge rusher role that will need someone to emerge following the departures of Derick Hall, Eku Leota and Marcus Bragg.

Roberts is expected to personally oversee this position group this season, and he’ll head into spring with a trio of top options but no real proven commodity viewed as the favorite to start here: Vanderbilt transfer Elijah McAllister, redshirt sophomore Dylan Brooks and true freshman early enrollee Keldric Faulk.

McAllister touts the most experience among the group, with 36 career appearances and 12 starts to his name from his time at Vanderbilt, where he was a two-time captain for the Commodores. Despite the ample in-game experience, McAllister has yet to put together a true breakthrough season. He has 65 career tackles, with just 6.5 for a loss and 2.5 sacks, and his most productive season at Vanderbilt came in 2019, when he had 26 tackles, with 4.5 for a loss and 2.5 sacks. Brooks is the only returning player at the position for Auburn. After redshirting in 2021, he appeared in 10 games last season—seeing his playing time increase after Leota’s season-ending pectoral injury—and finished the year with six total tackles, including a sack. Faulk, meanwhile, is the highest-rated signee in Auburn’s 2023 class after flipping from Florida State on signing day. He was a top-75 player in the country coming out of high school and should have an opportunity to immediately compete at Jack.

4. X-receiver

Auburn lost a lot of experience at the outside receiver spot following the departure of Shedrick Jackson this offseason, but for as much experience as Jackson had—53 appearances and 26 starts—he was never a go-to option in the passing game. Jackson finished his career with 66 catches for 874 yards and a touchdown, and now Auburn will try to replace him — with an opportunity to reshape the role of the outside receiver in this new-look offensive scheme.

There are two players to keep an eye on here this spring: sophomore Camden Brown and grad transfer Nick Mardner. Brown was the talk of fall camp last year, but the big-bodied receiver finished his freshman season with just nine receptions for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His most productive game was against Arkansas, when he had four catches for 83 yards and a score, showcasing some of the explosive potential he brings to the outside. Mardner, meanwhile, provides an experienced veteran to the room—and one who has a history with new wide receivers coach Marcus Davis. Mardner, who spent last season at Cincinnati, played under Davis at Hawaii in 2021 and had his most productive college season: 46 catches for 913 yards and five touchdowns. Will they be able to reproduce that at Auburn this season? That’s a big question looming for Auburn, which has lacked a true go-to receiver and downfield threat the last two seasons since Seth Williams’ departure for the NFL.

5. Center

Auburn bid farewell to its two most experienced centers after last season: Nick Brahms retired before the start of the season and served as a de facto GA for the year, while Brandon Council finally exhausted his eligibility after starting the final eight games of the season at center for the Tigers.

Heading into a new age of Auburn football, there should be two top candidates vying for the starting center job this season—one who returns starting experience on the Plains and one who has a considerable amount of experience at the Group of 5 level: Tate Johnson and Avery Jones. Johnson returns after starting the first four games of the season for the Tigers last fall before sustaining an elbow injury that sidelined him the rest of the year. It was Johnson’s first substantial playing experience, and the now-redshirt junior had his share of growing pains. Even with Johnson back healthy this year, Auburn chose to address the center position in the transfer portal, bringing in the top available center on the market in Jones, who spent the last three seasons at Eastern Carolina.

A former four-star prospect who signed with North Carolina out of high school, Jones became a fixture along the line for ECU, starting 32 games over the last three seasons, including all 13 at center in 2022, when he was one of the nation’s top pass-protectors. The 6-foot-4, 288-pounder should be the favorite to win this position this offseason.

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

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Spring Preview: Projecting Auburn's QB depth chart ahead of A-Day

Taylor Jones

4–5 minutes

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As Auburn begins to prepare for its first spring practice under new head coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn Wire will begin examining each position group and predict who has the chance of seeing the most playing time.

First up, we take a look at one of the most popular position groups on the field, quarterback.

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Auburn has five options heading into the spring, with both starters coming back to compete for the starting job. As he begins his evaluations, Freeze says that there are four qualities that he will look for in each quarterback.

“At Auburn there’s no question in my mind, No. 1 is accuracy,” Freeze said in a recent interview with Keith Niebuhr of Auburn Live. “No. 2 is the ability to lead a football team and be the face and representation of the program. Three would be arm strength and the fourth, I would love for him to have some maneuverability. Some escapability.”

Here are Auburn’s current options at quarterback heading into the 2023 season:

• Robby Ashford
• Hank Brown
• T.J. Finley
• Holden Geriner
• Sawyer Pate

Here’s how we predict the quarterback depth chart to look like following spring practice:

Justin Ford/Getty Images

Completions-Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	2022 PFF Grade
123-250	1,613	7	7	58.6

Ashford will enter the spring as the incumbent to the QB1 role. He took over last season as the full-time starter after T.J. Finley suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him after just three starts. Ashford showed signs of struggle last season by throwing seven interceptions and being sacked 25 times.

However, under a new head coach and an improved offensive line, Ashford may be able to thrive. Ashford will not only the the QB to watch this spring, but maybe one of the top Auburn players to keep an eye on.

Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser

Completions-Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	2022 PFF Grade
2-3	8	0	0	62.1

Geriner is a former four-star QB with plenty of potential. In High School, he was seen as a quick thrower with the ability to make great decisions in the pocket, which fits well with a typical Hugh Freeze system.

I expect experience to win, early on at least. But if Ashford shows any signs of trouble, Geriner could be given the shot to earn the top spot.

Jake Crandall/ The Montgomery Advertiser

Completions-Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	2022 PFF Grade
33-53	431	1	4	53.5

Finley is creeping into Bo Nix territory in the regard of playing under his third different offensive coordinator in three seasons. Finley provided relief for Nix in 2021 after he suffered an ankle injury, and assumed the role of starter for three games in 2022 before a shoulder injury prevented him from hopping back on the saddle.

There was speculation in the offseason regarding his potential of transferring away from the program, but has elected to stay in an effort to compete for the starting quarterback job.

If Finley is satisfied with his spring results, he could be provide a great battle for the starting role that will be interesting to watch unfold over the summer.

The Tennessean

247Sports	On3	Rivals
3-star	3-star	3-star

Hank Brown will be the youngest QB in the room heading into the fall after signing with the Tigers 2023 recruiting class. No matter if Ashford wins the battle, or Freeze elects to bring in a transfer during the May 1-15 transfer portal window, I see Brown redshirting this season and using this time to better his craft under his new head coach.

The Montgomery Advertiser

Completions-Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	2022 PFF Grade
0-0	0	0	0	0.0

Pate is a walk-on, but is vital to quarterback depth. I don’t see him earning a starting postition, but I do expect him to gain positive development during the spring.

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Former Auburn defensive lineman is one of the best players available in the transfer portal

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

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With the first transfer portal window complete most players found their new home but there are still some talented players looking for their next school.

One of these is former Auburn defensive lineman marquis robinson, who entered the portal on Dec. 6, 2022. 247Sports has him ranked as the No. 3 available player in the transfer portal.

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Robinson actually entered the portal ahead of the 2022 season but decided to return to Auburn for his redshirt-freshman season. However, he missed spring practice and was never able to get into the rotation along the defensive line, appearing in two games and making two tackles.

The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder was a four-star recruit coming out of Milton High School and could still have some appeal to teams looking to fill out their defensive line.

He isn’t the only former Tiger still looking for a new home, linebacker Joko Willis is also still in the transfer portal.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15.

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New era set to begin for Auburn on special teams as spring practice starts

Published: Feb. 25, 2023, 10:34 a.m.

5–6 minutes

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We’re taking a look at each position group as Auburn prepares to open spring practice on Feb. 27. The final installment of an 11-part series looks at the specialists.

As Auburn ushers in a new era with first-year head coach Hugh Freeze overseeing the program, the Tigers’ special teams unit is also preparing for the dawn of a new age.

After nine consecutive seasons of having a Carlson brother handle place-kicking duties, the nearly decade-long kicking dynasty on the Plains has finally ended. Anders Carlson is off to the NFL Draft, as the surefooted Alex McPherson is set to fully take over as Auburn’s kicker this year after getting his feet wet late last season.

Read more Auburn football: Why Cadillac Williams was “ecstatic” Auburn landed USF transfer Brian Battie

Auburn’s group at safety returns intact this spring, welcomes a familiar face

Cornerback should be strength of Auburn’s defense entering spring

It will surely take some getting used to, for those who follow Auburn at least, not seeing a Carlson square up on kicks for the Tigers. Daniel Carlson handled the job from 2014-17 and became the SEC’s all-time leading scorer before handing over the reins to his younger brother, Anders Carlson, who spent much of the last five seasons as Auburn’s kicker.

That’s the biggest change for Auburn’s personnel on special teams, so let’s take a closer look at the rest of the unit this spring.

Projected depth chart:

Kicker

Alex McPherson, redshirt freshman

Evan McGuire, redshirt sophomore

Punter

Oscar Chapman, senior

Alex McPherson, redshirt freshman

Long snapper

Jacob Quattlebaum, redshirt senior

Kyle Vaccarella, redshirt sophomore OR

Reed Hughes, junior

Holder

Oscar Chapman, senior

Kick returner

Brian Battie, senior AND

Jarquez Hunter, junior

Damari Alston, sophomore AND

Keionte Scott, junior

Punt returner

Keionte Scott, junior

Ja’Varrius Johnson, redshirt senior

Departed: Anders Carlson, kicker (NFL Draft); Dazalin Worsham, punt return (transfer to UAB).

Due to arrive in the fall: N/A.

Outlook: Auburn has been fortunate to have relative consistency at kicker for close to a decade thanks to the Carlson brothers, even with some of Anders’ struggles on longer attempts in recent years. So, with their time up on the Plains, where does Auburn turn? Simple: Another kicker with an accomplished older brother — Alex McPherson, the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro kicker Evan McPherson.

The younger McPherson was the nation’s No. 1 kicker coming out of high school in 2022, and he soft-launched his Auburn career last season after Anders Carlson experienced a late-season injury. McPherson handled kicking duties for Auburn’s final three games while connecting on six of his seven field-goal attempts, including a 51-yarder against Western Kentucky, and all nine of his point-after tries. The 5-foot-9, 150-pounder is more compact than the lengthier Carlson brothers, but his kicking style and build reminded Anders Carlson of Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (one of the top kickers in NFL history). If McPherson can live up to the promise that he arrived on campus with, Auburn’s place-kicking will be on sure footing for the next several years.

Spring position previews: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | JACK | LB | CB | S

While Auburn will sort of break in a new kicker this offseason, the Tigers maintained continuity at punter, where Oscar Chapman returns for a fourth season. The Australian punter is coming off another strong season, averaging 43.7 yards per punt a year after averaging 44.1 yards per attempt. He helped Auburn finish ninth nationally in net punting (42.3 yards). Chapman, who also served as Auburn’s holder last season, will also return his battery mate on punts, with long snapper Jacob Quattlebaum back for another season.

More intrigue rests with Auburn’s return game. Keionte Scott is back and should handle punt return duties after emerging as Auburn’s top option there last season, when he averaged 9.57 yards per return and ranked 17th among FBS players. On kick returns, the Tigers also bring back their top option in running back Jarquez Hunter, who averaged 21.57 yards on 14 attempts. Whether Hunter remains the No. 1 choice as he takes on a more prominent role in the backfield remains to be seen, but Auburn certainly has another proven weapon to deploy on kick returns this season: USF transfer running back Brian Battie. The 5-foot-8, 165-pounder was a consensus All-American as a return specialist in 2021, when he averaged 32.5 yards per return and led the nation with three kickoff returns for touchdowns. Battie averages 24.2 yards per return over the last three seasons, and he should enter spring as the favorite to take over the primary duties for Auburn this season.

Up next: The start of spring practice on Monday.

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

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QB? Jack? Biggest questions Auburn football's Hugh Freeze must answer in spring practice

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze spent his first offseason with the Tigers adding 33 players to the roster. Those additions include 19 recruits out of high school, 12 from the transfer portal and two via junior college.

With so many new faces, including a staff that features just two retentions from the previous regime − running backs/associate head coach Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and safeties coach Zac Etheridge − there are a lot more questions than answers surrounding the program.

But with spring practice set to begin Monday, some clarity is due. Here are some of the biggest questions about Auburn that Freeze needs to answer by the time A-Day concludes April 8.

PROJECTING THE STARTERS:Projecting Auburn football's 2023 starters ahead of Hugh Freeze's first spring practice

WIDE RECEIVERS:How Auburn football WR coach Marcus Davis assesses his players before spring practice

JACK LINEBACKER:What's a jack linebacker and why does Auburn football's defense under Ron Roberts have one?

Is the starting QB on campus?

Freeze hasn't shied away from the fact that he entertained the idea of bringing in a quarterback from the transfer portal. He said as much in a news conference earlier this month: "There are a couple (quarterbacks) that we did (inquire about), but they didn't pan out for whatever reason here at Auburn, and I was OK with that, honestly. I'm excited to work with the ones we have."

The candidates to play during spring practice include incumbent starter Robby Ashford, second-year quarterback Holden Geriner and TJ Finley, who started the first three games in 2022.

Freeze told a group of reporters Jan. 27 that he wanted to find out if his starting quarterback was already on campus. The time has come for him to figure that out. If he opts for a replacement, the second portal window is open May 1-15.

Who's going to play jack?

The defensive coaches recently gave some insight into how their unit will be deployed in 2023. A key element will be the use of a jack linebacker, a player who lines up on the line of scrimmage whose main priority is to rush the passer but drops back into coverage when asked.

Auburn's website recently changed the position label for five players, now listing them as jacks: Hayden Brice, Dylan Brooks, Keldric Faulk, Elijah McAllister and Brenton Williams. Faulk is a freshman and the highest-rated recruit in Auburn's 2023 recruiting class. McAllister, a transfer from Vanderbilt, is entering his sixth season as a college athlete.

How many new OL starters will there be?

Auburn's offensive line was a weakness in 2022. And after the season ended, the Tigers didn’t have many players returning at the position. Freeze explained how daunting of a task it was to replenish the group, a unit in which he typically likes to have 16 players.

"I don’t remember a time in my whole career where we felt like we had to sign nine offensive linemen," he said. "I mean, that’s unheard of to try to get to your 16 number. That’s a big challenge, and we were able to sign eight guys thus far."

Those additions are highlighted by the incoming transfers of Gunner Britton (Western Kentucky), Dillon Wade (Tulsa) and Avery Jones (East Carolina). Izavion Miller, a juco transfer, was brought in as well. There's potential − and it’s arguably likely − that the Tigers will have at least three new starters on the offensive line.

What do the linebackers look like?

With four-year starter Owen Pappoe moving on to the NFL, there's a massive hole to fill in the middle of Auburn's defense. New linebackers coach Josh Aldridge explained that he's going to seek a rotation at the position.

Some players he can consider for rotational roles include returners Cam Riley and Wesley Steiner and transfers Austin Keys (Ole Miss) and DeMario Tolan (LSU), among others.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Questions Auburn football's Hugh Freeze must answer in spring practice