Auburn update, 8/18

Hey everyone. Another day, another chance to talk about Auburn football.

• Greg Smith is a big ol' boy. His official weight is 345. He's pretty impressive to me because I swear he's not that fat. He's just ... huge. I've never seen a player with shoulders that wide and a chest that big. It's pretty amazing. Looks like a grade-A run stopper to me.
  It'll be interesting to see how the Auburn coaches handle Smith's playing time. If he's not sufficiently in shape to help during September, do they redshirt him? If he redshirts and has a break-out season in 07, he'll be gone. If they play him some this year then watch him break out in 07, at least Auburn gets 1.5 years out of Smith.
  I think they'll get what they can this season.
  
• Practice today (Friday) is closed from beginning to end. You know what that means: Scrimmage time. Auburn is getting secretive about its game plan these days. Paranoia can be healthy, some believe.
  
• Tim Duckworth is a very intriguing kid. At an FCA fund-raiser in Birmingham this summer, Tuberville labeled his left guard "the biggest redneck in America." I thought that was off-base until I talked with Duckworth on Thursday about growing up on a farm. Wow. He really is country.
  
• It was nice to see that Zach Gilbert was placed on scholarship the other day. I like his style. He outhustles 95% of the people out there on a daily basis. I know it's a "all the same, only the names will change" thing, but it's still cool.