Auburn coach Gus Malzahn went into spring practice with three goals for the football team on his mind: to get the team's edge back mentally and physically after last season's demoralizing campaign, for the team to have a basic understanding of the new offense and defense, and to develop a depth chart with two players at each position.
Malzahn believes he succeeded in all three categories, including the depth chart, where he has placed the following players at each position. Though he has placed players at each position, he has not named who will be the starter.
Dee Ford, Craig Sanders, Kenneth Carter and Nosa Eguae are the frontrunners for defensive.
"The thing that stands out (is) those are all older guys," Malzahn said. "And they've got experience so that's a good thing."
Jeffrey Whitaker, Ben Bradley, Gabe Wright and Angelo Blackson are the four players Malzahn has picked at the top of the depth chart for defensive tackle.
"I'm going to take you through the back end, starting with the 'star' position," Malzahn said. "Justin Garrett, you heard about (him) during the spring. We really felt like he was one of our more consistent guys, and then Robenson Therezie. Talking about that 'star' position, it's a very versatile position. You've got to be able to cover people, you've got to play the linebacker position, and sometimes coach (Ellis Johnson) is going to blitz that position. It takes a very athletic guy and both of those guys can definitely do that."
Chris Frost, Jake Holland, Cassanova McKinzy, JaViere Mitchell and LaDarius Owens will be the linebackers, Chris Davis, Ryan White, Jonathon Mincy and Jonathan Jones will play cornerback, and Jermaine Whitehead, Ryan Smith, Joshua Holsey, Trent Fisher and T.J. Davis are the safeties.
Demetruce McNeal was also mentioned with the safeties.
"We took care of all the off-the-field issues that we had," Malzahn said. "So he is going to be in the mix. I didn't put him in the top two right now, but he'll have a chance in the fall. He's a guy that's played before, and he'll have a chance to get back on the field."
Malzahn also spoke of how the defense had improved.
"Coach Johnson really worked hard on tackling and the base fundamentals of the positions they are playing," Malzahn said. "I feel like our tackling improved. There were some good open-field tackles in the spring game, and we will continue to work in that direction."
At the top of the depth chart on the offensive line from left tackle to right tackle are Greg Robinson, Shon Coleman, Alex Kozan, Devonte Danzey, Reese Dismukes, Tunde Fariyike, Chad Slade, Jordan Diamond, Patrick Miller and Avery Young.
Malzahn put Tre Mason, Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant at the tailback position.
"Tre had an injury early in fall camp to his ankle which allowed Artis-Payne and Grant to get a lot of reps," Malzahn said. "You saw Cameron, he had a good spring ... and Corey Grant had a very good spring."
Both Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace will get equal reps at quarterback going into summer practice.
"I've said this before," Malzahn said. "We've not made any decisions (on quarterback). It's a dead heat. Both of those guys are capable of running our offense."
At H-back, Jay Prosch and Ricky Parks are the top two, while C.J. Uzomah and Brandon Fulse are the tight ends.
At various receiver positions are Trovon Reed, Ricardo Louis, Sammie Coates, Jaylon Denson, Quan Bray and Melvin Ray.
"That's kind of where we left spring," Malzahn said. "We told the guys 'we've got you in the positions, we feel like you can be successful, and now the key is getting better over the summer.' These young guys coming in are going to have a chance to compete for all of these positions ... I like where we're at. We've got some work to do. As a matter of fact we have a lot of work to do, but I like where our mindset is, I feel like our team is closer together, and that's important."
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