Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Auburn’s post-spring depth chart
A month after spring practice ended, here’s AU’s official post-spring depth chart. Auburn’s coaches like to take their time with this sort of thing.
I’ve got a story in tomorrow’s paper about this, but here are a few quick blog-worthy observations.
First, I’m surprised by Sen’Derrick Marks’ apparent move to defensive end. He’s listed as the starter opposite Quentin Groves. My best guess is that this means AU will spend a lot more time this season in the 3-4, with Quentin playing a hybrid end-linebacker role and Marks and Pat Sims as the ends on either side of Josh Thompson. I still think when AU lines up in the 4-3, you’ll see Marks inside and Antonio Coleman and Groves outside. It’ll be interesting to see come September.
Another change on defense that caught my eye was in the secondary, where Eric Brock is officially a “co-starter” with Zac Etheridge. I was really impressed with Etheridge last preseason, but I don’t see him actually beating out Brock for a starting job in the fall. The other “co-starter” situation is a little more interesting. Jonathan Wilhite struggled toward the end of last season and didn’t play at all in the Cotton Bowl; now he’s a co-starter with Jerraud Powers, a guy all the coaches really seem to like. I think Jerraud has a chance at that job.
Good for Steve Gandy, holding onto his starting job at weakside linebacker. Obviously the depth chart at linebacker could be in for some big changes if Tray Blackmon rejoins the team at the end of the semester. Even if Blackmon isn’t in the mix, I think Gandy will split time with Craig Stephens, who’s been really impressive since his first day of practice last summer.
Not a lot of surprises on offense. Blake Field holding on to the No. 2 quarterback job shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched spring practice. I thought it was sort of interesting that the depth chart lists all four tailbacks, but only two of the four quarterbacks. Perhaps it’s a message to incoming freshman Kodi Burns? Or perhaps not. We’ll see.
The biggest changes I see on the starting offense are Montez Billings moving ahead of Prechae Rodriguez at split end and Andrew McCain taking the starting right tackle job from Antwoin Daniels. Get ready to see McCain quoted in practically every Auburn story in every paper in the state from here on out; the kid’s a great quote and a pleasure to talk to. With Courtney Taylor and the Irons brothers moving on, somebody’s got to pick up the slack, and Quentin Groves can’t do it all by himself.
Billings was better than Prechae all spring, but it remains to be seen if he can be consistently productive in games. Missing almost all of spring practice didn’t help Tim Hawthorne. Fellow redshirt freshman Alex Rose is nowhere to be seen on the depth chart, while longtime underachiever James Swinton is a surprising second-teamer at flanker.
I think Terrell Zachery should be a big part of the offense, though he didn’t do much in any of the scrimmages. Slot receiver seems like an afterthought for AU, as it seemed to be throughout Anthony Mix’s career.
The offensive line is a little surprising, with Leon Hart the starting right guard and Mike Berry a backup at center. I’ve really been impressed with Berry and thought he had been better this spring than Hart. But they don’t pay me to make those calls. They pay Hugh Nall, and he’s certainly earned some trust from Auburn fans over the years.
Obviously the sight of beat writer favorite Tristan Davis all by himself at the bottom of the tailback depth chart is disappointing, if not surprising. Like my colleague Jay G. Tate, I’ve always thought Tristan could be a contributor on offense, but the coaches don’t necessarily appear to agree. With that said, the other tailbacks are VERY good. Brad Lester could be a breakout star, Ben Tate is very tough to tackle and Mario Fannin is as impressive an athlete as I’ve ever seen. He reminds me of former Florida State wide receiver Anquan Boldin, now with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, who I covered when he was a college star.
They have different body types and obviously play different positions, but they’re similar players: Former high school quarterbacks with big-time athletic ability and a crazy mix of size and speed. Like Boldin, Fannin has the kind of muscles you have to see in person to believe…he’s as physically imposing a redshirt freshman as you’re ever going to see.
Moving on before that gets any creepier, here’s the depth chart, in all its glory.
As always, my apologies if the tabs aren’t compatible with your browser.
OFFENSE
FB 32 Carl Stewart (6-2, 224, Sr.)
31 Danny Perry (6-2, 244, Sr.)
TB 1 Brad Lester (5-11, 191, Jr.)
44 Ben Tate (5-11, 215, So.)—OR—
27 Mario Fannin (5-11, 214, RFr.)
9 Tristan Davis (5-10, 201, Jr.)
QB 12 Brandon Cox (6-2, 209, Sr.)
16 Blake Field (6-2, 203, Jr.)
WR 80 Rodgeriqus Smith (6-2, 184, Jr.)
82 James Swinton (6-0, 177, Jr.)
13 Tim Hawthorne (6-3, 207, RFr.)
LT 77 King Dunlap (6-9, 321, Sr.)
78 Oscar Gonzalez (6-7, 294, So.)
LG 71 Tyronne Green (6-2, 307, Jr.)
57 Byron Isom (6-3, 282, RFr.)
C 68 Jason Bosley (6-2, 280, Jr.)
66 Mike Berry (6-3, 329, RFr.)
RG 72 Leon Hart (6-4, 297, Sr.)
65 Nathan Farrow (6-4, 296, Jr.)
RT 75 Andrew McCain (6-6, 262, Jr.)
70 Antwoin Daniels (6-6, 287, Jr.)
TE 87 Cole Bennett (6-5, 261, Sr.)
5 Tommy Trott (6-5, 254, So.)—OR—
83 Gabe McKenzie (6-4, 253, So.)
WR 84 Montez Billings (6-3, 184, So.)
15 Prechae Rodriguez (6-4, 204, Sr.)
WR 3 Robert Dunn (6-0, 177, So.)
81 Terrell Zachery (6-0, 197, RFr.)
DEFENSE
DE 54 Quentin Groves (6-4, 254, Sr.)
52 Antonio Coleman (6-2, 250, So.)
NG 97 Josh Thompson (6-0, 295, Sr.)
99 Tez Doolittle (6-3, 292, Sr.)
DT 95 Pat Sims (6-4, 304, Jr.)
93 Mike Blanc (6-3, 274, RFr.)
DE 94 Sen*Derrick Marks (6-2, 287, So.)
49 Michael Goggans (6-3, 258, RFr.)
LB 42 Patrick Trahan (6-2, 220, So.)
56 Courtney Harden (6-0, 229, Jr.)
LB 55 Merrill Johnson (6-0, 213, Jr.)
59 Chris Evans (6-0, 220, Jr.)
LB 26 Steve Gandy (6-2, 201, Jr.)
46 Craig Stevens (6-3, 210, RFr.)
SS 33 Eric Brock (6-1, 204, Sr.)—OR—
4 Zac Etheridge (6-0, 191, RFr.)
FS 2 Aairon Savage (5-11, 191, So.)
17 Jonathan Vickers (6-2, 204, Jr.)
LC 20 Patrick Lee (6-0, 195, Sr.)
6 Walter McFadden (6-0, 179, So.)—OR—
22 Zach Gilbert (5-10, 183, Sr.)
RC 24 Jonathan Wilhite (5-11, 182, Sr.)—OR—
8 Jerraud Powers (5-9, 177, So.)
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK 38 Ross Gornall (5-11, 191, RFr.)
18 Zach Kutch (5-9, 173, So.)
10 Tyler DiPace (6-1, 217, Sr.)
P 4 Ryan Shoemaker (6-0, 187, RFr.)
DS 60 Robert Shiver (6-3, 206, Jr.)
63 Rick Cherry (6-2, 230, RFr.)
H 20 Matthew Motley (5-10, 167, Sr.)
KOR 9 Tristan Davis (5-10, 201, Jr.) &
27 Mario Fannin (5-11, 214, RFr.)
20 Patrick Lee (6-0, 195, Sr.) &
44 Ben Tate (5-11, 215, So.)
PR 27 Mario Fannin (5-11, 214, RFr.)—OR—
3 Robert Dunn (6-0, 177, Jr.)