Like the nut of an oak tree, or one of its many relatives, Auburn’s probable starter at right tackle, Jack Driscoll, is an acorn.
Please, allow J.B. Grimes to elaborate.
“If we had to play today, it would be Jack Driscoll being backed up by Austin Troxell,” Grimes said Thursday at Auburn’s annual assistant coaches interview session. “My daddy said a long time ago, ‘A blind hog will find an acorn every once in a while.' I think we found us an acorn in that one, getting a grad transfer from UMass that probably had no stars coming out of high school.
“He was a 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end that now, after watching him on tape, is an SEC football player. He belongs here.”
Translation: Grimes and the Tigers lucked out when they signed Driscoll as a Massachusetts graduate transfer in late April.
Driscoll was brought into a crowded right tackle spot — redshirt freshmen Austin Troxell and Calvin Ashley made for a jam-packed unit — that has since slimmed down in fall camp. Ashley has been moved to right guard, where the former five-star tackle prospect is still growing.
“He’s still a young guy,” Grimes said of Ashley. “I said this back in 2013, but you don’t just throw an offensive lineman into the grease and pull him out like you do a piece of fried catfish. You gotta put him in the oven and bake him a while. And then you pull him out.”
Troxell, a former four-star hailing from Madison Academy (Kerryon Johnson and Malik Miller’s former school in Madison, Alabama), surely looks the part of an SEC tackle, what with a 6-foot-6, 305-pound frame. He worked through the first week of fall practices with the “orange” first team but has been supplanted by Driscoll as of late.
Driscoll’s 20 FBS starts at UMass could be a factor. Grimes said Troxell is talented enough to be a starter in the deadly trenches of the SEC but needs to continue to get stronger. Tigers strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell will be counted on to play a part in that.
“Austin Troxell, he’s an SEC-caliber player, but we’ve got to get him stronger, get him better fundamentally,” Grimes said. “Austin belongs. He belongs here. Is he strong enough yet? No. I have so much confidence in our strength coach. I believe that, in November, we’ll be stronger than we are in August. And that’s the key. You either get worse or you get better.
“What’s that saying, ‘You don’t want to fight an old man because he’s got that old man strength? That old man could cheat.’ It’s kind of like that. Jack’s just got some maturity. Austin will continue to progress. But right now, more than anything else, it’s a strength thing with Austin.”
Driscoll has that strength, the right demeanor and the drive to become a key contributor for Auburn’s unit next season, according to Grimes.
“This kid is a gym rat,” Grimes said of Driscoll. “Jack is a pro before he’s a pro. He’s a very, very serious guy. He’s serious about being a good football player. It isn’t happenstance that he understands things when you talk to him. And he knows our offense, right now, as good as some of the guys that have been here before.”
In addition to Driscoll, the rest of Auburn’s starting five along the offensive line is coming into focus. In fact, Grimes knows exactly what combination would take the field against Washington if the season-opener were to be played tomorrow.
"If we had to play today, I know who I would want to jog out there for that first play,” Grimes said. “It would be (Prince Tega Wanogho) at left tackle, (Marquel) Harrell at left guard, (Kaleb) Kim at center, (Mike) Horton at right guard and Driscoll at right tackle, if we had to play today. But we're still a work in progress."
Kim, a junior, is working with the starters for the first time as a Tiger. His position at center as been the other question mark for the offensive line in camp, as Tega, Harrell and Horton have had their spots all but locked up since the spring.
Kim suffered a leg injury in spring ball that held him out the team’s A-Day spring game and is not yet 100 percent healed, per Grimes.
All during camp, teammates have praised Kim for his football IQ, claiming he doesn’t get rattled and has an invaluable knack for pre-snap reads and overall communication. That understanding mixes well with Grimes’ system.
“He’s been on our “blue” team, which is our second unit, for three years now,” Grimes said. “He brings experience. I’m probably one of the more simple line coaches in the country … I want to keep it simple so you can play fast and play physical. I think Kaleb has benefited from that — helping get everyone lined up and heading in the right direction.”
While Kim has been viewed as the natural fit to start at center, Gus Malzahn and Grimes created a contingency plan with Horton receiving snaps at center, despite never playing that position at any point in his football career.
Horton embraced the challenge. But Grimes’ confidence in Kim has grown, considering Horton has slid back to right guard in recent practices.
Malzahn said early in camp that he wants to name his O-line starters “as early as possible,” but the sixth-year coach has yet to officially do so after two scrimmages. Grimes may have revealed his five guys, and if that's the combination, he plans on sticking with it for the long haul.
“I want to try to get five guys playing next to each other, and the next five playing,” Grimes said. “I believe there’s great rewards in continuity, in a double team where guys are working together.
“I’m not into mixing and matching — plugging this guy here or this guy over here. I want to plug them in and let them charge their batteries.”
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
