Top-heavy Auburn secondary focused on building depth
AUBURN — Hugh Freeze hopes to build more depth in the secondary, but all in all, Auburn’s new head coach likes how his defensive backfield is shaping up.
“I wish we had all those signees here. I feel good about our first group there, but we need to create depth,” Freeze said. “A 12-game season in this league is tough. You have to have some serious depth. We’re still lacking at every position for that adequate depth.”
New defensive coordinator Ron Roberts echoes Freeze’s thoughts.
“Honestly we don’t have a whole lot of depth in the secondary,” Roberts said. “We need to get that to nine in the back end. At defensive back, we’re not a solid two-deep yet. Some of it is because of injuries — so there’s some youth in the back with the safeties, so we have to make some progress there.”
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Nehemiah Pritchett, DJ James, Keionte Scott, Jaylin Simpson, Zion Puckett and Donovan Kaufman are the primary returners, with Marquise Gilbert, Caleb Wooden and Cayden Bridges also returning after a year in the program. Sophomore J.D. Rhym returns after limited action as a true freshman, and early enrollee Kayin Lee is turning heads, but lacks the experience.
Pritchett and James are the primary corners, with Rhym and Lee in development. Scott and Kaufman are battling at nickel, with Puckett, Simpson, Gilbert, Wooden and Bridges at safety.
This summer, Auburn will welcome in signees Sylvester Smith, Tyler Scott, Terrance Love and Colton Hood. Smith and Love will start at safety, while Scott and Hood will start at cornerback.
“That incoming freshman class are going to be counted on to be those guys, they have to get in here and get ready to go quickly,” Roberts said.
Pritchett, James, Scott and Simpson are known commodities. Their presence appears invaluable during spring camp.
“It huge because it helps J.D. and Kayin, they have veteran guys that understand the foundation,” defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge said of those four returners.
Freeze recently said of freshman Lee, “he will be a heck of a player, he’s going to play as a freshman.” And Etheridge recently said of Rhym, “he has grit. He’s a tough kid that doesn’t shy away. He’s aggressive and really smart.”
But until that depth arrives, Roberts seems to be encouraged by what he’s seen.
“I think there’s some things they have been able to take concept-wise in coverage and be able to have a correlation. They’re all athletic, they will strike you, they can tackle in space, so that is pretty huge to see,” Roberts said. “Really the objective coming out of spring is how many guys can we get in the ‘can-do’ category. Because we’re going to need them all.”
Auburn will take part in the annual spring A-Day game on April 8 at 1 p.m. CT.
