Auburn update, 8/19

Hey everyone. Just going to reset the depth chart today as I see it. Auburn will release an official two-deep in a few days. Let's see how close I am.

WR (Z, flanker) -- Courtney Taylor, Montez Billings, James Swinton, T. Zachery
WR (X, split end) -- Rod Smith, Prechae Rodriguez, Tim Hawthorne
WR (W, slot) -- Lee Guess, Robert Dunn, A. Campbell
TE (Y) -- Cole Bennett, Gabe McKenzie, Tommy Trott, Michael Goggans
LT -- King Dunlap, Ben Grubbs, Andrew McCain
LG -- Ben Grubbs, Tyronne Green, Mike Berry
C -- Joe Cope, Jason Bosley
RG -- Tim Duckworth, Leon Hart, Nathan Farrow
RT -- Jonathan Palmer, Leon Hart
QB -- Brandon Cox, Blake Field
TB (R) -- Kenny Irons, Brad Lester
TB (F) -- Carl Stewart, Tre Smith, Ben Tate

*******

DE -- Marquies Gunn, Chris Browder, O. Balkcom
DT -- Pat Sims, Sen'Derrick Marks
NG -- Josh Thompson, Tez Doolittle, Greg Smith
DE -- Quentin Groves, Antonio Coleman
LB (W) -- Karibi Dede, (Tray Blackmon), Craig Stevens
LB (M) -- Merrill Johnson, Karibi Dede, Chris Evans
LB (S) -- Will Herring, (Kevin Sears), Courtney Harden
CB -- J. Wilhite, Jerraud Powers
SS -- Eric Brock, Tristan Davis, Lorenzo Ferguson
FS -- Aairon Savage, Zac Etheridge
CB -- David Irons, Pat Lee, Walter McFadden
Nickel -- Zach Gilbert

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.
  

Auburn update, 8/14

Hey everyone. It's a busy time on the Plains these days, so let's get to a few items that have caught my eye.

• We spend so much time talking about how Pat Sims wasted time with lackluster effort for a few years, but we somehow overlook Tez Doolittle's situation. He's out with an Achilles' strain, though it seems like some people are questioning the severity of that injury. I'm not sure what the deal is, but Doolittle needs to get moving soon. He's again falling out of favor with line coach Don Dunn.
  
• Tyronne Green is a good player. Period. If he wasn't playing behind all-conference guys like Tim Duckworth and Ben Grubbs, Green would be starting. And playing well. He has good size. His feet are moving more quickly these days. He competes consistently. Green will be quite useful next season.
  
• Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but coach Tommy Tuberville has been more animated than usual during the past week. He's taken time to chide a few players for lack of hustle -- Tuberville often watches practice without saying a word to anyone -- and has asserted himself more than ever on the practice field. I'm not sure why he's doing that, but it's been an interesting twist. Maybe he's trying to eradicate complacency? I haven't sensed that out of the kids.
  
• It doesn't appear that Courtney Taylor's knee problem is serious. He returned to the practice field two days after banging his right knee during a drill, and expects to be ready for the season-opening game against Washington State. I suspect Taylor will wear a brace on the knee for a while.
  
• I've heard some Auburn fans handicapping the team's schedule lately. One thing I'd found is that AU folk don't consider South Carolina a major obstacle. I think that will be one of the team's three most challenging games this season. The Florida game also comes at a bad time in the schedule. Some people insist Florida won't be strong. I disagree.