Replacing star linebacker Zakoby McClain is not an easy task. With 267 career tackles attached to his name, a massive hole is left in the middle of Auburn's defense.
One linebacker spot is settled with Owen Pappoe returning for his senior season, but the spot next to Pappoe is the one in question.
Luckily for the Tigers, there are plenty of options on the roster to replace the future NFL draft pick, and many of them showed out at Auburn's annual A-Day game.
Cam Riley was awarded the Mark Dorminey Defensive MVP Award Saturday evening with his five tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss. Riley has waited his turn while at Auburn - sitting behind K.J. Britt, Chandler Wooten, McClain, Pappoe and others but eyes a larger role with a new opportunity there for the taking.
The Evergreen, Alabama native moved to Auburn weighing 207 pounds and standing at 6-foot-3 but since his freshman year has grown two inches and added 23 pounds to his frame. Riley recorded 23 tackles and one tackle for loss between his two seasons.
Fellow junior linebacker Wesley Steiner had an equally impressive performance. Steiner tallied six tackles, with four of those being solo tackles. The stout linebacker was the first named called when Pappoe missed games due to injury a season ago. Making his first start in the dramatic win over Georgia State, Steiner recorded five tackles and later turned in a career-high six tackles in the postseason loss to Houston.
Steiner was satisfied with his performance Saturday and said it is complementary to the amount of work he has put in during the spring, but also noted that there is room to improve.
"I think it's a good show of the prep-work I've done so far," Steiner said. "There's been a lots of ups and downs like every spring but you know for me to come out and play fairly okay, I'm okay with it, but there's still a lot to improve on."
Steiner, who was apart of the SEC Honor Roll in both of his seasons at Auburn, said he is eager to get back in the facility to improve on every aspect of his play.
"I'm excited to get back to the drawing board," Steiner said. "Because there's a couple things I thought I could've done better today."
Despite McClain heading to the NFL and Pappoe not playing due to injury, the leadership among the linebacker group has not diminished. Between the remaining group and the two inactive veterans, they all continue to hold one other accountable, wanting to see each other improve. In fact, McClain even made an appearance on the sideline of Auburn's spring game.
"There was a missed tackles today," Steiner said. "I talked to a couple of the older linebackers. Zakoby was out here, so I talked to him about it and talked to Owen about it."
Steiner also emphasized that even with Pappoe out, he is one of the team's best coaches and spends the majority of his time helping the others.
"Owen's been a tremendous help so far," Steiner said. "Even if he's not present on the field, he's certainly present at practice. He's still watching. He's still coaching the best he can."
As for the other linebackers on the roster, Desmond Tisdol had a solid performance with four tackles. Powell Gordon recorded two tackles and a TFL; Joko Willis sacked the quarterback once.
The homegrown freshman, Gordon, got his first run with his childhood team and showed some flashes. Steiner noted that as a freshman, Gordon has done a great job being coachable.
"It's been really fun trying to bring some young guys along," Steiner said. "Especially Powell Gordon, I think he's done a great job this spring listening to older guys and trying to take coaching as best you could."
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
