With the opening of fall practice, new faces are in the Auburn backfield looking to catch the eye of head coach Gus Malzahn and the rest of Auburn's coaching staff.
Racean "Roc" Thomas and Kamryn Pettway, two freshman backs, have gotten their first reps with the team this weekend.
"We're going to give them a chance early in fall camp to carry the football and just be reactive," Malzahn said. "We'll see where they're at with that and we'll see the ball security. We'll slowly implement those guys."
Thomas and Pettway have impressed their more experienced teammates with how quickly they've picked up the playbook.
"They're actually doing a lot better than I thought they would," senior running back Corey Grant said. "They're doing better than most freshmen that come in. They've been doing some extra studying so they know the playbook a little better."
Thomas, one of the nation's top running back recruits according to many recruiting services, has gotten his first chance to display his talent with the start of fall practice.
While Pettway wasn't as heavily recruited as his fellow incoming freshman, Grant and teammate Cameron Artis-Payne both praised the freshman's size and physicality.
"They still need to learn some of the nuances of the game, but as far as talent they're as talented as anybody else," Artis-Payne said.
Redshirt freshman running back Peyton Barber, who impressed coaches in the spring before injuring his knee on his first carry of the A-Day game, is back working at full speed according to Grant.
"He's learning each day," Grant said. "He's picked up right where he left off and it didn't change him a bit."
The younger backs may be breaking ground in their first practices, but the veterans Artis-Payne and Grant seem to be the most likely to earn the starter's share of carries.
According to Malzahn, it's simply a matter of the veterans being further along in their development.
"The older guys it's just improving on the little things," Malzahn said. "The protections and the check downs. Most of our older guys have a pretty good idea of our offense and the running lanes and the timing of things. It's just a matter of getting better at the little things."
The zone read, which Auburn so often turned to with Nick Marshall and Tre Mason in 2013, is a play that Artis-Payne feels more than comfortable running already.
"Me and Nick are pretty in tune with that," Artis-Payne said. "I'm pretty sure we're in mid-season form as far as the read option. I'm not worried about that."
The competition is an opportunity for younger players to push veterans, but Artis-Payne said he's focused on improving his all-around game.
"I'm not really worried about competition, I'm more worried about getting better myself," Artis-Payne said. "Definitely with the speed and quickness, that's all that I really worked on this offseason. I feel like I can do everything else."
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