Auburn football has had many unforeseen changes over the past few months, but one change that the Tigers have had control over has been building a revamped offensive line.
Junior lineman Nick Brahms is the only returning starter on Auburn’s offensive line, and it’ll be a new group of starters joining Brahms in the trenches this season. Not only will Auburn have four new starters on the offensive line, but the Tigers have a new offensive line coach as well.
As the lone returning starter from last year’s offensive line, Brahms has taken note of whose been stepping into leadership roles with three players sticking out to Brahms. Those three are players that Brahms has seen grown as leaders here as fall camp progresses.
The first teammate Brahms mentioned was Brandon Council. Council was a three-year starter at Akron before transferring to Auburn for the 2020 season. Council is the only player other than Brahms with starting experience but is from a different conference. Brahms credited Council for his demeanor and how well he has meshed in with the rest of the line.
Brahm also gave some leadership praise to linemen Austin Troxell and Brodarious Hamm. While those juniors have had setbacks during their times at Auburn, both coming into their own this season.
“Those three guys have shown some leadership even if they haven’t had starting experience in the SEC,” Brahms said. “I still see it in them, and I still see that they can play and lead the guys that need to be lead.”
Brahms said Council and Tashawn Manning have been lining up beside him at guard, but that Keiondre Jones and Alec Jackson have been competing with them.
Another addition to the team has been offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. Bicknell joined at the end of last season but started his career at Auburn almost all virtually. Bicknell, a former NFL offensive line coach, has brought some of those same NFL techniques to the Plains.
“He’s intense, in the meeting room, he’s intense,” Brahms said. “There’s a very specific technique that you have to do, get your hat in the right place, move your feet, drive your knees, put your hands in the right place. It’s more of an NFL type of approach for coaching. I think it’s going to really carry over to the practice field and the games for us this fall.”
Brahms believes six to seven guys can contribute to Auburn’s offensive line this year. The junior knows they’ve got a talented offensive line, but they just need to show it. Auburn’s offensive line will continue to come together, and the depth chart will become more apparent as Auburn looks toward its first game on Sept. 26.
“We’ve got a lot of talent like I’ve always said in the o-line room,” Brahms said. “It’s just about putting that talent on tape and making sure the coaches trust it.”
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Mattison Allen is a senior from Springville, Ala. She's majoring in public relations communications with the goal of becoming a sports information director one day.
