Beset by injuries, Auburn remains a mystery this spring – ESPN – College Football Nation Blog

Hold on to those Auburn championship hopes for now.

Maybe they’ll be ready for pickup at the start of preseason camp, but not now. Not after the way the spring has played out for the Tigers so far.

When you have a head coach defending his strength and conditioning program, as Gus Malzahn did over the weekend, you know things are not going well. A quick scan of Auburn’s inactive list reveals at least one linebacker, one defensive end, two receivers and a pair of centers dealing with injuries. And that’s to say nothing of the star quarterback Jarrett Stidhamwho underwent surgery on his left shoulder earlier this offseason and appears unlikely to participate meaningfully in Saturday’s spring game.

If ever there was a time to deal with a rash of injuries, surely it is now. It can even help develop depth in the long run, if you’re looking for a silver lining in all of this. But that in itself doesn’t make it an ideal spring. Not when you’re a team that many consider a threat to come out of the SEC as a preseason top-15 seed, and especially not when you open the season against another top-15 team in Washington.

Keep in mind that Malzahn’s offense had trouble functioning even before the injury bug hit. Replacing four starters on the offensive line was tough enough before center Caleb Kim According to AL.com, the challenge of bolstering the receiver corps was exacerbated when the starters suffered a sprained ankle. That is the stove And Will Hastings Sidelined with an ACL injury. It will be helpful to see how Stidham rebounds from a couple of bad games last season, where he committed a combined three turnovers in the SEC Championship Game and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, but that will have to wait until he’s cleared to fully participate again.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing back battle that must be played out. Except for the former starter and 1,000-yard rusher Kerryon Johnson And Camryn PettwayCompetition is wide open. Former Baylor transfer Cam MartinHe, who led all returning backs with 410 rushing yards last season, could step into a bigger role, but he doesn’t exactly have prototypical size at 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds. Rising sophomores Malik Miller And Devon Barrett and new JaTarvious Whitlow And So Martin Looks like an option, however, added another wrinkle Tuesday when Auburn Undercover reported that Barrett will move to receiver full time.

So, yes, there’s a lot to sort out in the coming weeks and months for Malzahn and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay.

Don’t be surprised if the resulting spring game is fairly one-sided, but the good news for Auburn is that it could be as telling about what’s missing on offense as the quality of the defense. While the offensive line is replacing four starters, the defensive line welcomes back three key figures Dontavious Russell, Marlon Davidson And Derrick Brown.

Clemson’s defensive line will get a lot of praise this offseason, and rightfully so considering how well it performed last year and how much it returned, but don’t sleep on Auburn. Throw in the sophomore defensive end Nick Co and pass-rushers TD Moultrie And Markavist “Big Cat” BryantAnd the Tigers should be able to get after the quarterback this season.

Trey Williams Could be gone, but the linebacker corps is in good shape as well with returning starters Darrell Williams And Deshaun Davis. One thing the defense will have to pay close attention to during the spring game is the secondary, which lost its star cornerback Carlton Davis As well as experienced security Trey Matthews And Stephen Roberts.

Taking a step back, the entire dynamic of the passing game will feel different Saturday afternoon — different quarterbacks, different receivers, different defensive backs.

With so many new faces on the field this spring and so many familiar faces sidelined by injury, it’s hard to say exactly where Auburn should fall in the SEC pecking order.

Perhaps the biggest threat to defending champion Alabama is the Tigers. Maybe they can open eyes nationally by beating Washington in the first week of the season.

For now, though, Auburn remains a mystery.