AuburnFamilyNews.com: Auburn Football: Top Takeaways from 2015 Fall Camp

Monday, August 31, 2015

Auburn Football: Top Takeaways from 2015 Fall Camp

It's finally game week on the Plains.

After a long offseason of huge hype, weeks-long worry and big-name battles, the Auburn Tigers return to action in less than a week.

Saturday's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic against Louisville will put an official end to the offseason preparation for head coach Gus Malzahn and his team.

The past few weeks of fall camp have been especially important to what looks to be another dramatic season for the Tigers. Several players moved ahead in a number of competitions for starting jobs, while members of Auburn's star-studded recruiting class earned playing time during their first official practices with the program.

As the mood around Auburn shifts from offseason chatter to game-week focus, let's take a look at the three big takeaways from fall camp—one for each phase of play.

 

Offense relying on strength in numbers

This has been the offseason of quarterback Jeremy Johnson, the efficient, pocket-passing replacement to run-first weapon Nick Marshall. 

In a conference that features multiple quarterback battles that will most likely continue through the season opener, Johnson nailed down the starting job shortly after spring practice. Now the real challenge begins for the junior—establishing that rhythm with playmakers on a high-octane offense that returns only one starter at running back and wide receiver.

At running back, Auburn will use a by-committee approach at least through the first two games of the season, according to Marcello, with hopes that a starter will emerge by the Week 3 road trip to LSU.

Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said junior Jovon Robinson, sophomore Roc Thomas, junior Peyton Barber and true freshman Kerryon Johnson will each get reps early.

"We're going to need all four of them," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said, per Crepea. "We're going to plan on playing them all and kind of see how that works itself out."

Thomas and Barber pulled ahead of a slow-starting Robinson ahead of fall camp, while the versatile Johnson has bounced back from a leg injury to figure into the rotation.

"Kerryon gives us flexibility in a lot of different things," Malzahn said, per Green. "He can do a lot of different things. He catches the ball extremely well, but, yes, we definitely can (use all four running backs)."

Over at wide receiver, the coaching staff has been mixing and matching roles to account for star Duke Williams' absences early in fall camp and the need to replace the No. 2 and No. 3 receivers from 2014.

Senior Ricardo Louis is still expected to line up wide opposite Williams, while the inside positions became trickier during fall camp. According to Crepea, junior Tony Stevens has moved to Auburn's "big slot" position with senior Melvin Ray after a good preseason of work. 

Other young players and JUCO transfer Jason Smith joined Stevens and junior Marcus Davis as potential breakout players at receiver for a team that needs several targets to step up for Johnson. While Auburn might not have much consistent experience at receiver outside of Williams and Louis, it has numbers and potential.

"Tony’s making plays. That’s been a bright spot. Tony’s been making plays at a more consistent level in practice," Lashlee said, per Ryan Black of Auburn Undercover. "All the other guys we count on have been doing pretty well. Jason Smith is doing a good job, and even a guy like Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis."

 

Expect to see plenty of freshmen on defense

Although Will Muschamp inherited several veteran playmakers when he took over as Auburn's defensive coordinator this offseason, he still is going to turn the kids loose this fall.

Muschamp rattled off a list of eight true freshmen—defensive end Byron Cowart, linebackers Jeff Holland and Darrell Williams, safeties Montavious Atkinson and Tim Irvin and cornerbacks Jeremiah Dinson, Carlton Davis and Ryan Davis—who are expected to contribute in 2015.

"I don’t know the multitude of snaps right now, so don’t hold me to that," Muschamp said Sunday, per Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News. "All that can vary, obviously, depending on practice week. We have a ways to go until Saturday."

Cowart, of course, is the biggest name on that list of freshmen from Muschamp. The nation's No. 3 overall player in the class of 2015, per 247Sports, has rebounded from his frustrations during fall campMuschamp said he'll feature heavily against Louisville.

"Byron is going to play," Muschamp said, per Brandon Marcello of AL.com. "It doesn't matter first down, second down, third down. He's going to play in the game and play a lot."

Atkinson, Irvin, Dinson and the Davises perhaps have the biggest roles to play on the defense this fall. With Auburn's secondary depth lacking in established talent this fall, those five players will take on major reserve positions.

According to James Crepea of AL.com, both Davises are expected to be the first cornerbacks behind seniors Jonathan Jones and Blake Countess. Dinson is a reserve at the Nickel back, while Irvin is backing up the nickel and traditional safeties.

Crepea also wrote Holland, a backup for Carl Lawson at Buck and JaViere Mitchell at linebacker, is expected to be "a situational pass-rusher in the season opener."

Many of these true freshmen came into fall camp—their first official practices with the Tigers—and locked down roles heading into the season opener against Louisville. While having to rely on several true freshmen isn't ideal, Auburn is confident in its youth on defense.

"Those guys are doing really good," safety Johnathan "Rudy" Ford said, per Crepea. "All those guys, they come here, responded well straight out of high school. They're doing some great things out there."

 

Special teams focused on bounce-back season

One of the most overlooked aspects of Auburn's run to the BCS National Championship Game in 2013 was the standout play of the special teams unit—outside of Chris Davis' return heroics, of course.

But the effects of complete turnover were obvious last season. Quan Bray was a standout punt returner, but the Tigers dropped off in punting, kick returning and, toward the end of the season, placekicking.

Part of Auburn's woes included shared duties for then-redshirt freshman Daniel Carlson, who was the team's starting kicker and punter last year. The extra workload wore Carlson down throughout the season, and it all came to a head when he missed a potential game-tying field goal in Auburn's overtime loss to Wisconsin at the Outback Bowl.

While Auburn won't name a starting punter between JUCO transfer Kevin Phillips and true freshman Ian Shannon until Tuesday, it won't be Carlson—and that's exactly what he wants.

"It's definitely a relief," Carlson said earlier this month, according to Green. "That takes some pressure and stress off me. I’m hoping I’ll be that much better on kicking because I have that much more time to focus on that."

Both Phillips and Shannon have battled all throughout fall camp, and their presence has been a welcome sight for Auburn coaches and players.

"For Ian it's been a little bit more of an adjustment," special teams coach Scott Fountain said, per Wesley Sinor of AL.com. "Kevin got to go through spring and he's played JUCO ball. That's given him an opportunity to be mentally further ahead in all the situations... Going into last year I was concerned [about the punter job], but this year I feel good about it."

As Marcus Davis prepares to replace Bray as the starting punt returner, Auburn hopes to rebound from the fall it had at kick return last season, when it ranked 83rd nationally in yards per return.

Fountain said he was pleased with the competition at kick returner between Thomas, Ford and Louis during fall camp.

"What we're trying to do is find some other guys that can balance us out that can return the ball as well," Fountain said, per Black. "But I think we have three good candidates at kickoff return."

Better play in special teams could be the difference between winning and losing close games in 2015 for the Tigers. Just like the offense, fall camp turned out to be an important time for establishing more depth and confidence at a unit that needed both.

 

All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruit rankings courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

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