Auburn Tigers: analyzing spring football practice

Figuring out the puzzle at offensive line

To me the biggest issue the Auburn Tigers’ faced heading into the spring was figuring out the offensive line.

Last year, even though Auburn’s O-Line unit finished as a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, I felt they were too inconsistent. In all four of the Tiger’s losses you can see the quality of the O-Line play go down.

I contribute a lot of this to the coaching of Herb Hand, who I thought was overrated as an O-Line coach and has now moved on to Texas.

Now with J.B. Grimes back, Auburn must replace four starters. Marquel Harrell will most likely stay at left guard, and having Grimes back, who is known for being one of the best teachers of the position, is sure to benefit Prince Tega Wanogho and Mike Horton a lot.

The biggest battles look to be at center and right tackle. It was assumed that former five star Calvin Ashley would take over at Right Tackle, but when the scrimmage started it was Austin Troxell at the position.

Ashley did receive some snaps with the first team, so that begs the question. Is this just a ploy to get Ashley to work harder or is Troxell a legit contender?

It could be a bit of both. Everyone wants to see Ashley get the spot considering he was the centerpiece of Auburn’s 2017 recruiting class. However, Troxell, who was also a member of that class, may not have been a 5 star but he was no small recruit either. An injury his senior year halted some of his hype but there is no doubt he’s talented.

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So will it be Troxell of Ashley? Only time will tell and the battle will probably move on into fall camp.