{"id":12226,"date":"2023-07-31T14:33:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T19:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=12226"},"modified":"2023-07-31T14:33:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T19:33:05","slug":"making-three-predictions-for-auburns-secondary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/making-three-predictions-for-auburns-secondary\/","title":{"rendered":"Making three predictions for Auburn\u2019s secondary"},"content":{"rendered":"

The summer offseason is in full swing, and Auburn Live is trying to survive it with our Position Week breakdowns. By the time all eight units (QB, RB, OL, TE, WR, DT\/Edge, LB, DB) at Auburn have been covered, media days will have passed, training camp will have arrived, and the return of football inside Jordan-Hare Stadium will be just around the corner. We\u2019re rolling out our positional weeks with the eighth group up: the Auburn secondary.<\/em><\/p>\n

AUBURN \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>Among all the position groups on the\u00a0Auburn football<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0team, the secondary should be the most reliable and prepared entering the 2023 season.<\/p>\n

Gone is freshman\u00a0Cayden Bridges<\/a><\/strong>, who has been removed from the team roster and not expected to return to school. Bridges finished with 19 tackles last season, good for 14th on the team and 7th among secondary players. Former Iowa State transfer\u00a0Craig McDonald<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0entered the transfer portal yet again, having played in two games and recording zero tackles last season. And former high school signee\u00a0AD Diamond<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0entered the transfer portal after two seasons at Auburn. Diamond contributed zero stats and will continue his playing career at UAB.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the only departures from Auburn\u2019s secondary entering this season under the tutelage of returning defensive backs coach and ace recruiter\u00a0Zac Etheridge<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Wesley McGriff<\/a><\/strong>, who returns to the Plains for his third stint as a Tigers\u2019 assistant coach.<\/p>\n

New to the program is four-star high school signee\u00a0Kayin Lee<\/a><\/strong>. Auburn stole Lee, the nation\u2019s No. 126 overall player and No. 13 cornerback, from Ohio State late in last year\u2019s recruiting cycle. Joining Lee as true freshmen are cornerbacks\u00a0Colton Hood<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Tyler Scott<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Jacorious Hart<\/a><\/strong>. Hood and Scott were both On3 Sports Consensus four-star prospects. The three-star Hart, hailing from nearby Loachapoka, Ala., is listed as a cornerback on Auburn\u2019s official team roster, but may also work at receiver to start his career. And from the junior college ranks,\u00a0Champ Anthony<\/strong>\u00a0joins the team as a sophomore.<\/p>\n

At safety,\u00a0Terrance Love<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Sylvester Smith<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0CJ Johnson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0all arrive as true freshmen. Love and Smith are both On3 Sports Consensus four-star prospects, with Smith being a flip from a previous commitment to Tennessee. Johnson is a three-star prospect from the state of Texas.<\/p>\n

Because of the amount of depth returning, the new Auburn coaching staff felt comfortable bringing in a deep high school class and shying away from needing transfer players in the secondary this go around.<\/p>\n

These five to six newcomers will join one of the more veteran secondary units in college football. Returning are scholarship players\u00a0Keionte Scott<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Nehemiah Pritchett<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0DJ James<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0JD Rhym<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at cornerback, with\u00a0Jaylin Simpson<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Donovan Kaufman<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Zion Puckett<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Marquise Gilbert<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Caleb Wooden<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Austin Ausberry<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at safety.<\/p>\n

Scott was fourth on the team in tackles last season with 54, with Puckett finishing seventh with 45, and Puckett finishing eighth with 40 tackles. Simpson and James both finished with 38 tackles, good for ninth and 10th on the team.<\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus ranked James as Auburn\u2019s top returning defender and top returning cover man during the 2022 season. Kaufman ranks second, with Scott third in terms of returning defenders. In short, PFF believes Auburn\u2019s best three returning defenders are all in the secondary in James, Kaufman and Scott.<\/p>\n

New assistant coach McGriff loves what he\u2019s seen from his veteran group so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a mature group. One of the things you look at is the questions they ask. You can tell they want to be coached. The thing that you appreciate about an experienced bunch is when you tell them something, they try and execute it that way. The other big thing that stands out is that leadership piece. You can see the veterans talking to some of those younger guys,\u201d McGriff said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs coaches, we can make the mistake of talking over guys\u2019 heads a little bit, but they can break it down and say, \u2018he\u2019s saying this.\u2019 You see that leadership among those guys. Keionte Scott, you can see him coaching those guys up. Nehemiah Pritchett, he\u2019s putting his arm around Kayin Lee and coaching him up. That speaks to the leadership and the bonding. That\u2019s good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Auburn Live<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is wrapping up its eighth position week of the summer by making three predictions for the Tigers\u2019 secondary in 2023.<\/p>\n

RELATED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Projecting the Auburn secondary depth chart<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mapping out the career paths of Auburn\u2019s defensive backs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Five questions around the Auburn secondary<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Prediction No. 1: James earns first or second-team All-SEC honors<\/h2>\n

Pro Football Focus ranked James the 16th-best cornerback in regards to overall coverage grades during the 2022 season. There was only one SEC cornerback ranked above James, and that was Emmanuel Forbes<\/a><\/strong> from Mississippi State. Forbes was named first-team All-SEC for good reason. He nabbed six picks last season, finishing with 14 for his career, and returned six for touchdowns over three seasons at State. James failed to earn first or second-team honors. Forbes was beyond deserving, going in the first round to the Washington Commanders. James was<\/em> 11 percentage points better when it came to reception percentage, having been targeted eight more times and allowing two less receptions last fall. James enjoyed a really good season. Now, PFF grades aren\u2019t the end all be all, but they do give a good indication of production. <\/p>\n

But when the preseason All-SEC football teams were announced at the end of July, James once again was snubbed from the first and second teams, instead landing on the third team along with teammate Pritchett.<\/p>\n

Auburn\u2019s coaches consider James a \u201cpro\u201d that decided to return for one more season. If James can earn himself onto the All-SEC team, he\u2019d be just the third cornerback in the last seven years to earn that distinction, following Roger McCreary<\/a><\/strong> in 2021 and Carlton Davis<\/a><\/strong> in 2017. James has the tools and the experience to earn himself onto the first or second-team All-SEC team by season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Prediction No. 2: Auburn will top the interception total from 2022<\/h2>\n

Simpson finished with two, and Hall, James, Pappoe and Scott all finished with one interception each during the 2022 season. The six-pick total was the lowest Auburn team total since nabbing just six in 2017. It\u2019s the second-lowest team interception total in the last 14 seasons, behind only the two interceptions by the 2012 team that finished winless in the SEC. The best season for interceptions in the last 14 was the fall of 2014, when that group grabbed 22 interceptions. Jermaine Whitehead<\/a><\/strong> and Jonathan Jones<\/a><\/strong> both grabbed six picks each. <\/p>\n

Roberts\u2019 aggressive style of defense should<\/em> create opportunities for turnovers, if the defense is executed effectively. Roberts\u2019 three defenses at Baylor finished with 12, 19 and 13 interceptions over the last three seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchematically, we\u2019re going to be multiple. You have to be multiple these days in college football. You can\u2019t just sit in a front, offensive coordinators will pick you apart,\u201d Roberts said after arriving at Auburn. \u201cThe skill level is too good. We\u2019ll be multiple in what we do, but we\u2019ll play with aggression, we\u2019ll blitz, and we\u2019ll play with an aggressive style of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

New schemes, new focus and some key defensive players hungry for NFL attention should lead to double-digit interceptions in 2023.<\/p>\n

Prediction No. 3: Wooden, Gilbert and Ausberry will face tough decisions following the season<\/h2>\n

Wooden, Gilbert and Ausberry all enter their second season at Auburn with little production on their resume. Wooden played the most, but the trio combined for just 11 tackles in 2022. Ausberry played in only four games while redshirting. Gilbert arrived as a highly-ranked junior college player, but it didn\u2019t translate, as he also played in just four games. Wooden played in six scattered games, but did play in three of the last four, tallying all nine of his tackles in those final three games played, including five at Mississippi State. <\/p>\n

With Kaufman being a junior, and three true freshman arriving at safety in Love, Smith and Johnson, plus potentially more talented true freshman like commit Kensley Faustin<\/a><\/strong>, maybe top-target KJ Bolden<\/a><\/strong> and others, playing time at safety will be ultra competitive entering next spring. Wooden, Gilbert and Ausberry may all be entering their third season, and unless major developments are made, one or all could face tough decisions regarding their future either after the season or following spring camp.<\/p>\n

The post Making three predictions for Auburn\u2019s secondary<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The summer offseason is in full swing, and Auburn Live is trying to survive it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}