Here's who caught our eyes in Week 1 of Auburn football camp
After several hours of practice viewing and more than two dozen interviews, these are the Tigers who are turning our heads right now.
AUBURN — It’s hard to believe that, in three weeks, we’ll be in the middle of the first game week of the season for Auburn football.
The Tigers returned to the practice field last Wednesday, going through a couple of days in shorts before putting on the pads for a full Saturday practice at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Along the way, The Auburn Observer has been able to watch several hours of practice across three different viewing windows and has been a part of more than two dozen post-practice interviews with Hugh Freeze and players. It’s as much access as we’ve gotten for an Auburn preseason camp, and it’s been greatly appreciated on our end.
Because of that, we’ve been able to dig deeper on what we’ve seen in practices and share it with our subscribers. Auburn is off on this Tuesday and will get right back at it Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Before Week 2 begins, let’s take a closer look at the players who caught our (Justin and Dan) eyes the most over the first several practices. Note: Just because we don’t mention a specific player or a specific position, it doesn’t mean they haven’t done well. (You’re not going to see Cam Coleman or Keldric Faulk on here, or any quarterbacks or offensive linemen. Those roles seem pretty well set right now.)
We’ll start with the 10 players that stood out to us, along with 10 more bonus picks at the bottom of this newsletter.
RB Omar Mabson II
When Damari Alston walked over to a group of reporters and told us that “29 is the real deal,” it was just further validation of what our eyes have been seeing: Omar Mabson II doesn’t look like a normal freshman, much less one that reclassified a class up and wasn’t here during spring ball.
Hugh Freeze raved about Mabson’s physicality, which is standing out even at a time when the Tigers haven’t gone full-contact in practices. Multiple teammates have called him a “dog.” He’s got SEC-ready size at 5-foot-9 and 213 pounds, and he hasn’t looked overwhelmed by the competition yet. Mabson has performed better than his age would suggest for his entire football career, so why stop now?
Mabson looks like he’s ahead of fellow freshman Alvin Henderson right now in practices, and he also looks like someone who could crack the rotation right away. We started hearing rumblings about his potential at Auburn in the summer, even before we knew about injury concerns for Alston, Jeremiah Cobb and Durell Robinson. Now more people than just the locals are finding out about a standout freshman in a position group that traditionally is the best for getting instant-impact talent.
